Humana: Helping People See a Path to Coverage
Covered and Sign Up Saturday
Creative leadership, documentary storytelling, and enrollment
Choosing health insurance usually begins with a simple question and soon becomes personal: cost, uncertainty, family needs, and how suddenly life can change. For Humana, our job was to make coverage clear and relevant, helping people feel confident moving forward. That clarity strengthened engagement and increased enrollment.
Covered and Sign Up Saturday linked the importance of coverage with a practical way forward. The film series showed the human side of the decision; the national CVS partnership gave people a clear opportunity to learn about coverage and take action.
At Edelman, I led Humana’s creative work as our public relations role expanded into a content-marketing partnership. I brought account, strategy, social, digital, and production teams together regularly, using audience insights to connect member stories, educational content, and enrollment experiences across channels. I prioritized Spanish-language content, built a member-interview framework, and chose local filmmakers to capture community voices. Audience understanding guided which stories we told, how we shared them, and where they fit.
Begin with people who recognize the question.
We focused on people considering coverage for the first time and members deciding whether to renew. Social strategy planning showed that life changes, like becoming a parent or moving, made coverage more relevant and drove the strongest engagement. People needed to recognize their own lives in someone else’s story. That recognition made the stories more meaningful and useful.
That insight shaped the stories we shared: how choosing insurance made everyday things possible, from caring for family and getting help to feeling ready for the future. Those details gave coverage meaning people could use in their own decisions.
I requested audience and member demographics to guide casting, planning English and Spanish content alongside viewing contexts and formats. Audience, story, and distribution developed together. We saw higher engagement in key markets, especially with Spanish-speaking audiences.
Design the conversation before shaping the film.
The interview process was part of the creative work. I helped develop and refine questions about life before coverage, what prompted enrollment, how members chose, and what insurance meant for their families.
I rewrote the member explanation so people understood our request, how a conversation could lead to filming, and how their permission would be used. Clarity supported honest conversations.
Before an early interview, I clarified who would introduce, ask questions, and handle production details. I wanted a thoughtful, comfortable conversation. The way we listened influenced what people felt comfortable sharing.
I stayed involved in interviews and creative review, finding settings, relationships, and details that could carry a story on screen. Bringing production into client conversations early let casting, permissions, logistics, and creative goals develop together.
Covered: Erin · Documentary storytelling from the enrollment program. Series creative direction: Dave Kuhl.
Watch on Vimeo ↗Let the person carry the story.
Covered grew into a collection of enrollment content grounded in real Humana members’ experiences. Dave Kuhl led the filmmaking as creative director. I set the creative strategy, connected documentary storytelling to enrollment goals, and kept themes and messages consistent across channels. I translated audience and client needs into briefs, shaped stories with writers and filmmakers, and led reviews against creative and business goals.
Erin’s film shows the approach. Her town, family photos, home, and interview place her experience in a familiar context. Community, relationships, and daily life help viewers understand who she is and why her choices matter. Coverage becomes a real part of her life.
The series let Humana address an important topic through people’s experiences. I wanted viewers to recognize themselves and consider what the story could mean for their next decision.
Connect recognition with a useful next step.
The national CVS partnership for Sign Up Saturday gave those stories a practical enrollment context. Covered appeared online and at events in key markets, helping explain the value of health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
One connected enrollment effort
A human story. A useful way forward.
- Recognize
Documentary stories make a life situation familiar.
- Understand
Helpful content connects that situation with coverage questions.
- Take a step
Sign Up Saturday and the CVS partnership connect people with enrollment support.
The films made coverage personal. Sign Up Saturday gave people a moment to ask questions, understand their options, and take the next step.
For HumanaHelps, we combined educational, inspirational, and basic content in a structure spanning a national page and local content across 29 markets. The team could see what worked everywhere and what needed to reflect someone’s location and situation.
As content grew, the original information structure struggled with new content types and local changes. I led a content mapping workshop to identify the most common user journeys and helped redesign the site around them. We considered WordPress, responsive templates, local pages, and page-level tracking, creating a manageable structure that answered people’s questions and kept the experience useful.
We also planned short social clips, longer videos, photos, and content gathering around local enrollment events. Each format served a purpose: attract attention, build understanding, or help someone find their next step.
Sign Up Saturday · Atlanta
Sign Up Saturday · Detroit
Give the work a coherent center.
The work connected real member stories, a practical enrollment opportunity, and content supporting the decision between them. Covered remains the strongest visual expression of that idea; Sign Up Saturday gave people a direct way to explore coverage and act.
Other Humana projects addressed health education, prevention, and participation. This effort shows the connection I care most about: creative work that helps someone understand an important choice and feel ready to move forward.
The story and the next step need to work together. Aligning creative direction, conversation, and experience around the same human need made the work more useful. By linking personal stories with a clear call to action, we saw a measurable increase in engagement and enrollment, strengthening the audience experience and business results.