Can a healthcare system brand become a lifestyle brand?
Why not. Aren’t many of the pieces there already? Isn’t your healthcare system already evolving from point-of-care to care [health] everywhere?
I recently read that Mastercard is transforming from a payments to a lifestyle brand. Raja Ragamannar, global chief marketing officer, says the “Priceless” campaign is now laser focused on connecting with customers across nine lifestyle passion points. This follows countless other brands which started life as an electronics, food, apparel, fashion or home furnishings brand, but then extended beyond their core to declare their “lifestyle brand” status.
According to wikipedia, a lifestyle brand is a company that markets its products or services to embody the interests, attitudes, and opinions of a group or a culture. Lifestyle brands seek to inspire, guide, and motivate people, with the goal of their products contributing to the definition of the consumer’s way of life.
Why can’t a healthcare system brand make this transition to become the first “lifestyle brand.” Sure, your core will be your traditional health care services. But your future success rests upon health, wellness, education, prevention…inspiring, guiding and motivating people to live their best lives possible.
Just a few examples of stepping outside the box include: Orlando Health is the jersey sponsor and official medical team for MLS’s new franchise Orlando City SC. And the two organizations are united in the advancement, well-being, growth, and passion for their community. New Jersey-based Summit Medical Group, through its Road To Health Tour (developed by Trajectory), participates in health fairs, farmers markets, family sporting events, etc. The Mayo Clinic offers The Mayo Clinic Diet – a plan for weight loss, and ultimately better health, developed by the Clinic’s weight loss experts.
Lifestyle brands create an aspirational lifestyle. But who ever said that a brand needed to be “upscale” or inspire the loyalty of millions of people to qualify for lifestyle brand status. I’d say helping people on their quest to better health, wellness and quality of life is pretty aspirational.
Vision your evolution from an organization focused on your precise area of know-how today (e.g. providing healthcare), to having a wider center of interest that lets you play a bigger role in people’s lives (e.g. inspiring and supporting health and wellness). Can you reach true lifestyle brand status? Certainly it’s a stretch. But someone has to jump to the front of the line. Why shouldn’t it be you?