In recent years, Cigna reoriented from helping people finance sick-care to becoming a company that champions well-care, helping Americans prevent illness, while maintaining their health. In 2018, they realized the close connection between loneliness and chronic health diseases and decided to take bold action. They conducted the country’s most robust study on American loneliness and revealed startling results, putting in concrete terms how American adults are feeling. With most Americans are self-classifying as lonely and nearly half 46% sometimes or always feeling alone, loneliness has reached epidemic levels. After achieving close to 2,000 stories and more than 9B media impressions, the study captivated the attention of media, clinicians and policy makers. For Cigna, this understanding of emotional strain guided an approach that unearthed a major opportunity: educating people about the effect conditions like loneliness, as well as stress and sleep loss, can have on their physical health.

In the lead TV spots, we explore how our influencers cope with various issues – like how sleeping problems can lead to depression, stress can lead to chronic pain, loneliness can lead to lack of focus in the workplace. We (literally) see into their minds where they either are afflicted by, or manage stress in different ways. Through light humor and disarming delivery, Nick Jonas, Queen Latifah, and Ted Danson encourage America to be open about how they’re feeling when talking with their doctor – in body and mind. In other integrated work, we hear personal health stories from the talent and how they’ve noticed the body-mind connection in their own lives, and maintain a consistent health routine despite busy schedules. And we encouraged employers to remind their employees about the importance of the annual check-up.

We live in anxious times, fraught with change and uncertainty. It’s no surprise then, that stress, loneliness and sleeplessness are all on the rise. Less known is the toll all this takes on our physical well-being. So while most health insurance companies focus on the health of our bodies, Cigna believes that preventing illness today requires changing the conversation. We brought together three distinct icons with three distinct medical histories and fan bases to dramatize the way our minds and bodies affect one another and encourage everyone to be open about both at their next check-up. We’re inspiring people to walk into their annual check-up armed with the right kinds of questions. Because while routine tests are critical, a visit to the doctor’s office is only as valuable as the information you share with them.

The campaign launched at the close of 2018, after the Cigna acquisition of Express Scripts. On December 29th, each of the (3) talent posted the launch spots across their social platforms, and Cigna pushed out the new creative on owned channels. 2019 has seen a staggered rollout across paid platforms, with sequenced PR days featuring our talent on broad national platforms like E! News. All digital banners and online videos drive viewers to a “body & mind” microsite, where people can learn more about the connection, and useful tips for how to make the most of their check-up. The campaign also reaches across different verticals of Cigna’s business with content focused on B2B sales, and direct to consumer health activations like the mobile Health Improvement Tour.

Because of the strength of the insight and relatability of our three talent, the campaign has been a resounding success in early results. We’ve reached over 1 Billion earned impressions in just the first quarter of 2019, stressing the importance of the body-mind connection to a wide range of audiences. More than 500 placements have picked up the work, and Cigna B2B sales teams have already put the Queen Latifah materials to use in pitches and client forums. As we continue to monitor trends in Cigna customers through the year, we expect to see a continued trend in check-up rate increase from the past 3 years – furthering our mission to save 100,000 lives a year.