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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- With the idea that "this is not your parent's health insurance," Blue Cross of California's (through its affiliate BCL&H Insurance Company) Tonik Health changed the way 19 to 29 year- olds looked at health insurance. With a ground-breaking approach to health insurance and attractive marketing, Tonik Health has not only met the goal of reaching a largely uninsured population, but also, gained the recognition of advertising industry leaders recently receiving the national Gold Effie Award and an AAAA Jay Chiat planning award for its effective medical insurance marketing campaign. These awards follow 11 Addy statues awarded to the campaign by the Greater San Francisco Ad club awards earlier this year.

"We are very excited to see the success Tonik has had in reaching this very important population," said Charlene Maher, vice president and general manager for Individual Plans at Blue Cross, "this recognition coupled with how popular the plan has become is a great testament to the efforts Blue Cross makes to be innovative in designing products and plans that meet the needs of our consumers."

The Tonik marketing effort -- including brand identity, web site and all advertising materials -- was developed by Grey San Francisco. "This kind of insightful, fresh and effective work can only be developed through true partnership between a client and agency," said Betsy Sperry, Managing Director of the 140-person office. She continued, "Throughout the process, Blue Cross and the Tonik product team urged us to push the envelope, to do totally new work that communicated the innovation inherent in the product. Our goal was to make the marketing as young and energetic as the audience. The business results are proof this was the right strategy."

Following its launch in California, Tonik was rolled out in Colorado and Nevada.

Blue Cross of California is a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP - News). WellPoint's mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. WellPoint, Inc. is the largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company in terms of membership in the United States. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com .