Brand journalism strategy boosts hospital’s profile

When a British Parliament committee recently recommended taxing soda to deter childhood obesity, Jeff Calaway saw an opportunity.

The senior content specialist at Texas-based Cook Children’s Health Care System newsjacked the story with a piece titled, “Tax it or not, sugar can be dangerous for kids.”

Noting that U.K. recommendation was part of an international trend, the hospital jumped in on a health issue when it was making headlines. The story, which quoted a staff endocrinologist and pediatrician, once again demonstrated the effectiveness of the hospital’s brand journalism site, Checkup Daily.

The brand journalism strategy has changed the way the nonprofit hospital handles news. (The site is run on PressPage software, which eases posting and social media sharing. PressPage is a Ragan partner.) The hospital no longer must go hat in hand to reporters and beg for coverage.