Client: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Agency: PARTNERS+simons, HolaDoctor and Zeldis Research Associates
Objective: Make Horizon a Hispanic-friendly brand blueprint
To reach out to the large Hispanic community in Hudson County, New Jersey, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey launched a Spanish-English language pilot website, HorizonAzul.com, on April 16 as part of the Tu Seguro Azul (Your Blue Insurance) initiative. Caesar Lopez, project lead for Horizon’s Tu Seguro Azul, says the insurance company previously had some Spanish-language content and three-way call translation services.
“It was not the best practice, nor the best experience [for our Spanish-speaking members],” Lopez admits. Horizon embarked on extensive market research led by Zeldis Research Associates to evaluate how they could improve the experience. From the research findings, Horizon learned that their Spanish and bilingual members are not much different from English-speaking members when it comes to health insurance needs.
Multicultural customers want plan information and the ability to easily search for providers with one difference: “[Hispanic] consumers want to communicate through
native Spanish speakers,” Lopez explains. They also require plan information in Spanish.
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STRATEGY: It was clear that Horizon needed an exclusive Spanish-language business unit with a dedicated and well trained Spanish-speaking staff, including representatives well versed in the insurance products, and able to answer questions for Horizon’s Hispanic members.
With the assistance of PARTNERS+simons, Horizon launched HorizonAzul.com. Horizon hired translation company HolaDoctor to review the Spanish content on the site, including plan documents.
“The translators went word-by-word to ensure it was good Spanish and that it was easy-to-understand,” Lopez says. To promote the site, Horizon continues to sponsor events with partners, such as churches and gyms that cater to Hispanic communities, and offer free health screenings. Horizon recently partnered with the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey to further spread the word to Hispanic businesses.
“We’re also being methodical about this, and we have metrics for every interaction,” Lopez says. “As we grow our membership, we need to understand and gather information.”
GOALS: Lopez says one of the main goals of this pilot is to understand Horizon’s Hispanic members better in order to improve their end-to-end experience and build trust. If the pilot is successful, Horizon will expand its multicultural initiatives to its other business units, as well as its mobile site.
