Making every emergency matter
project overview
Five Star ER came to Ampersand to launch a new kind of emergency care experience in Central Texas. At the time, freestanding emergency rooms were still relatively new, and many people did not understand how they differed from urgent care centers or traditional hospital ERs.
Challenge
How do you introduce a new model of care in a category people already feel uneasy about?
Most consumers only thought of emergency care in two ways: the hospital ER or urgent care. That created confusion for patients, especially when urgent care centers could not handle more serious situations. Five Star ER needed to build awareness, educate the market, and stand out in a crowded healthcare landscape filled with hospitals, urgent care centers, and specialty clinics.
solution
We used humor to make emergency care easier to understand
Ampersand developed a campaign around a simple human truth: we are all one second away from an emergency. A spilled latte, a scooter crash, a backyard snake, or a bad jump into shallow water can turn an ordinary day into an urgent one fast.
The campaign tagline, All Emergencies Matter, helped Five Star ER communicate its role with clarity and personality. Across TV, digital, social, and out-of-home, we created a series of relatable everyday scenarios that showed the kinds of emergencies a freestanding ER could treat. The tone was empathetic, unexpected, and intentionally funny, giving the brand a memorable way into a category that rarely uses humor.
results
A new ER model became easier to recognize, understand, and trust
The campaign exceeded performance goals in under 30 days. As more consumers understood the difference between urgent care, traditional ERs, and freestanding emergency rooms, patient volume more than tripled following launch.
The campaign helped establish Five Star ER as a high-quality, approachable option for emergency care in a saturated Central Texas market. By making the message both educational and relatable, Ampersand helped turn a new healthcare concept into a recognizable local brand.
