Havas Media Network has set up an advertising marketplace to help companies reach patients who are cut off from healthcare by geographic or socioeconomic barriers.
The newly formed Health Equity Marketplace reflects concerns that broad-based campaigns can fail to get information to underserved communities across North America. Patients who live far away from hospitals, clinics and pharmacies can struggle to access care. Similarly, socioeconomic barriers can stop people from receiving care. Those issues in turn lead to poor outcomes among minorities, rural communities and the underinsured.
Havas is betting that health equity-focused communication tools can help fix the problems. The agency has picked a set of spaces where brands can run ads that reach underserved communities, focusing on ad opportunities that are safe for brands and protect people’s privacy.
By collating the ad opportunities, Havas has created the Health Equity Marketplace. Users will get access to the selection of health equity-focused inventory, as well as targeting capabilities designed to reach patients who are cut off from healthcare resources.
Havas cited opportunities for co-pay assistance and patient support programs as examples of the health information that companies can communicate using the marketplace.
Greg James, CEO of Havas Media Network, said in a statement that the marketplace “creates a direct pathway for life-changing health information to reach patients who have been systematically underserved.”
The launch is part of Havas’ “Meaningful Marketplaces” framework, an initiative that the agency said has boosted click-through rates by 40% and cost per action by 9%. Havas previously created a Social Equity Marketplace to give advertisers access to minority-owned and LGBTQ+ media properties.