Ad Age's America's Hottest Brands – where are the healthcare marketers?

What’s the story here? Are there no healthcare brand upstarts or stalwarts setting the pace for innovation and getting results – right now? To that, I say….
The 11/16 Ad Age includes a feature on America’s Hottest Brands – “meet the upstarts and the stalwarts who have found the upside of the downturn; setting the pace for innovation – and getting results – right now.”
These brands run the gamet – from Jameson, to Jetblue, Digiorno, Panera, Subaru, Bing, Barnes & Noble, Diapers.com, Five Guys, Ped Egg and 30 others.
I went through each one of the stories and synthesized the magic behind the results (of course, the key criteria for inclusion on the list). Just some of these include:
• Managing to get consumers psyched about their category/their brand again
• Creating partnerships to help change the nature of conversations
• Using social media and customer service as marketing tools
• Recognizing that it’s not about your product, but about their lifestyle
• Knowing who we are and speaking of things relevant to customers
• Engaging the people within our community
• Creating mobile apps to generate new revenue streams and sales channels
• Engaging folks during a period of time where it can be mayhem; and building a whole mission around providing help during these times
• Having a connection and a closeness with customers that no one else can rival
• Not talking at our consumers, but rather challenging them and supporting them
I know healthcare brands (pharmaceuticals, healthcare systems, hospitals, home care, medical devices, etc.) are typically not included in Ad Age’s list. But I don’t care. I say it’s time to look beyond traditional consumer products boundaries.
Because in healthcare – from blogs to online communities to business models – there are many upstarts and stalwarts setting the pace for innovation and getting results. In fact, these results often translate to saving lives. And it doesn’t get much hotter than that!
So to Ad Age, I say, we’ll make our own list of America’s Hottest [Healthcare] Brands. The brands that save lives. The brands that contribute to healthier, stronger and happier lives. The brands that actually allow each of America’s hottest brands to have audiences healthy enough to participate in theirs.


I'm President of Trajectory. We re-energize businesses across the health continuum by helping our clients to imagine and create new value. Before Trajectory, I was EVP Management Board member at Interbrand, the world's most influential brand consultancy. I've also held senior level marketing positions at Faberge, L'Oreal and Beiersdorf.




November 16th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Great insight into what really constitutes great brands–including those service brands that truly impact our lives (health related certainly meet this criteria). It’s time for these brands to be recognized as real leaders and innovators in today’s competitive marketplace. What better measure of real results than doing everything possible to improve the health and well being of the people these health care companies serve–now that’s what I call measurable outcomes!
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
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November 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Excellent! I would really like to see an Annual Healthcare Brands list based on impact on health outcomes and consumer preference!
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
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November 23rd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Good idea Paulo. Maybe the two of us should pursue. Make it the equivalent of the Ad Age Hottest Brands…
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
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December 14th, 2009 at 10:38 am
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December 14th, 2009 at 11:35 am
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RT @ericbrody: Ad Age’s America’s Hottest Brands – where are the healthcare marketers? [link to post] #hcsm
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March 1st, 2010 at 8:18 am
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March 1st, 2010 at 8:31 am
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June 18th, 2010 at 6:20 am
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