Mar
26

3 key findings from Ad Age Insights/Modern Healthcare study

Reply

A joint trend report from Ad Age Insights and Modern Healthcare set out to understand current generational attitudes toward healthcare and health decisions, and how the role of caregivers can influence healthcare purchases. They surveyed more than 25,000 consumers.

Three key findings that impact both healthcare providers and marketers of healthcare products:

• all age groups preferred to receive communications about health care via e-mail, followed by mail, phone and text messaging. The margins between email and other modes were wide in all but the most rural areas.

• a near majority of Americans take health-care costs into account when creating a household budget, and that those expenses increasingly absorb more of their budgets.

• they not only need to communicate with patients, but with their caregivers as well, who are often from a different generation and thus will recieve and act on messages differently. As healthcare decisions can affect entire families, multiple viewpoints and needs are evaluated when a patient is determining a course for care.

I think this last point is the most far-reaching in terms of its implications. With the rise of multigenerational households and an overall aging population, families are increasingly involved in cross-generational caregiving.

It will be incumbent upon providers and marketers to develop a clearer picture of their opportunity (and the challenges of their multi-generational audiences), and how their position and approach to the market must change to capture that opportunity.

Related Posts:

Mar
16

8 tips to create new healthcare marketing energy

Reply


Feel like you’re stuck? Like you need to inject your healthcare marketing with some new energy?

Here are eight ideas to get your juices flowing:

1. Change your view. Leave your traditional healthcare competitors behind and look to outside categories and brands for new inspiration.

2. Ask new questions. Obvious questions yield expected answers. More thought provoking questions allow you to uncover new insights and ideas.

3. Look to culture. What ideas are stirring out there and how can you relate them back to your healthcare brand and your customer’s opportunity.

4. Take a stand. Not for something, but against something. What would this be?

5. Futurecast. Write an aspirational yet reachable headline from the future. Then work backwards to how you’ll achieve it.

6. Creativity everywhere. Don’t limit your acquisition and retention efforts to the marketing department, nor to the same traditional channels. Co-op other departments, create new forums for expressing your message.

7. Marketing that matters. How does your marketing in and of itself add value to customer’s lives. Is it involving, enabling them to do more, unifying them with others. It should.

8. Surprise and delight. How are you keeping the spark alive beyond the current campaign? They might not be camping out for your next big thing, but they should be on the watch for what’s next.

Related Posts:

Mar
06

Maximizing The Value Of Healthcare System M&A’s

Reply

Healthcare mergers and acquisitions are expected to remain strong in 2012. According to a HealthLeaders M&A survey, “some 78% of healthcare leaders say they will have deals underway or will be exploring deals in the next 12-18 months.”

In some cases, deals are a matter of survival. In others, they’re to capture a larger share of the
market. But in all cases, beyond the strategies and financials, they ultimately require balancing
the inter-related disciplines of Brand, Buy-In & Marketing.

Without proper planning, healthcare organizations in the midst of a merger or acquisition will always encounter:
• a brand that struggles to support the newly-formed organization’s purpose, values and goals
• a fractured internal audience that must be reiled on to deliver unified messages and experiences
• external marketing promises that might not sync with internal delivery
• sub-optimal return on marketing investment

At Trajectory, we’ve worked with many healthcare organizations through their transitions, and
have a unique glimpse into the challenges they most often face. Here’s a top ten list of issues to consider as your healthcare systems, hospitals and medical groups transition from pre-merger competitors to post-merger partners:

BRAND

1. M&A brand team: created across your organizations to proactively act on and communicate leadership decisions and to navigate the range of tangibles and intangibles on the table, e.g. logistics, preparation, training.
2. Brand compatibility: short-term financial and market share strength will not overcome the need to develop aligned purpose, values and promises.
3. Portfolio strength: how will the merger or acquisition maximize your organizational, facilities and service line capabilities in terms of brand portfolio management?

BUY-IN

4. Cultural fit: what’s the likelihood of integrating medical staff and employees, across all functions, on both sides of the M&A table. And whose culture leads?
5. Open communication: have you established feedback mechanisms (both offline and online) for both internal and external audiences.
6. Engagement: are your organization’s truly united. You don’t know, and you can’t act upon, until you measure.

MARKETING

7. Market growth: how will the M&A guide your new entity towards achieving market reach and growth without hindering each organization’s established brands, strategic brands, key revenue generating brands?
8. Marketing philosophy and approach: is marketing considered an investment or expense. Does it tend to be brand or service line-driven? Is it directed to physicians or patients? How will you align your two organizations?
9. Local community commitment: do your organizations have the same commitment to your local communities; does bigger now mean less touch in order to serve the health needs of the larger region?
10. From follower to leader: how will you adjust your approach from being the #2 or #3 player to becoming a stronger market share leader?

Related Posts:

Feb
29

How purposeful is your healthcare system brand?

Reply

All healthcare organizations offer basically the same services. But the REAL difference (the only sustainable one) is how well you define, stake out and deliver on your purpose – which drives the employees who drive your company and deliver (or not) the care and feeding of your customers through their experiences.

Your purpose (the highest aspiration of your brand) powers and guides your organization. Regardless of the size of your healthcare system or hospital, there is nothing as motivating to those who deliver your brand than this purpose. It should be the guidepost against which every consumer-facing move your healthcare organization makes is evaluated.

For IBM, purpose is about building a smarter planet. For Zappos, it’s delivering happiness through “wow” experiences. For Disney, it’s magical family fun entertainment. And for FedEx, it’s peace of mind. And for your organization? If you’re answering along the lines of “making our communities healthier”, you’re missing an opportunity for your organization, your people, your communities, patients and their families to all be more fulfilled than they are today.

Everyone wants to be connected to greatness. To feel deep inside that connection of why their organization brand is great, and that they’re part of making that greatness manifest. If you really do believe that people are your greatest asset, you can’t put too great a price tag on inspiration.

But you need to unearth your purpose, your “greatness” first. And when you do, you’ll reap the reward of more motivation and alignment, more momentum and energy and more emotional connection both inside and outside.

Related Posts:

Feb
22

Healthcare system re-branding: think more broadly about health care communications

2

Consider every single way your healthcare organization communicates its ideas.

We’re in the midst of rebranding a healthcare system. Fundamental to the success of this effort are a few ideas that first must be conveyed and demonstrated to internal audiences. While many months away from launch, we’re already starting to capture all of the different ways the organization communicates its ideas – both top down and across all departments, e.g. medical, finance, nursing, operations, human resources, quality, IT, marketing, service lines, strategic planning, etc.

We’re way out in front with our launch planning because we have so many more healthcare communications avenues available beyond what many organizations typically consider. Of course, there are the usual tried and true mass channels. And the ones we pay for. But think more broadly.

Consider each of your departments within the organization and how they get your story, and theirs, out to the world. Begin by highjacking a room. And then start covering the walls. Capture on stickies all of the different ways you communicate, both formal and informal – in meetings, speeches, committees, task forces, retreats, phone calls, texts, reception areas, break rooms, etc. Invite people across every single department to participate.

Branding is ultimately about delivering on the promise of your vision in everything you do. This organization-wide exercise is a valuable way to help you create the alignment you need to get there.

Related Posts:

Feb
16

Healthcare re-branding: 5 internal energizing must-do’s

Reply


When it comes to your healthcare re-branding, it’s important that leadership exhibit the same behaviors that your communities and patients now expect from your brands: actions speak louder than words.

For any re-brand to be truly successful (measured in both relationship and financial terms), your internal audience needs to buy in to the story of your brand. Too often, brand vision, values and promises are rooted among senior managers, but don’t permeate the rest of the organization. What’s required is more articulation, more communications and more demonstration of your branding to your entire internal audience.

Here are five important requisites for success:

1. Paint a compelling, inspiring and tangible picture for the future that will energize the organization and inspire high levels of optimism, commitment, engagement and performance.

2. Introduce a branding strategy that will bind the organization together, while supporting individual hospital and service line identities and answering the question, “What do we (all of us and each of us) stand for?”

3. Prepare the Senior Team, Directors, Managers and Physician Leaders to enthusiastically and effectively champion to all employees your vision for the future, your strategy and your brand positioning.

4. Establish an on-going, two-way communication process to check progress, communicate successes, solve implementation problems and sustain enthusiasm.

5. Utilize all available formal communication vehicles to inform, inspire and engage internal audiences.

At the end of the day, your most effective brand guidelines – for building brand value – are people. They, not manuals, are the only way to truly maximize your healthcare organization’s brand energy.

Related Posts:

Feb
13

Healthcare marketer insight: inspiration from Hermes CEO

Reply

Hermes is seemingly, worlds away from healthcare.

But here’s a great interview with Robert Chavez, CEO of Hermes US, talking about why culture and employee engagement, a very personal customer experience and an online/digital presence are key to driving his business and brand objectives.

Could easily be an interview with a healthcare senior leader given the issues their organizations are facing today.

Related Posts:

Feb
08

Healthcare marketing: getting outside your box

Reply

Inspiration should come from many different places. Case in point being: Nestle’s New Weight Loss Program Pairs Pets With Their Owners.

Nestle’ launched this unique initiative in the US to help pet owners and their furry friends shed excess pounds together. The company’s pet and people weight management experts have teamed up to give owners of overweight pets an online program to help both them and their animals lose weight.

Is this initiative relevant to your healthcare marketing efforts? Absolutely. You just need to be open to looking at everything fresh.

Consider the power of friends (though not the furry kind) to…

– motivate each other and pursue progress together, which might lead to a “2 together” program
– influence each other, which could lead to a “BFF assist network”
– impact each other’s health and well-being, which could lead to a “power of two” program

Inspired by Nestle’s new program, we’re reminded of the powerful link between friendship and health, and therefore, a powerful marketing opportunity to be leveraged.

Related Posts:

Feb
03

The true power of your healthcare brand

Reply

Healthcare Brands

Everything starts with the desire to be more than you are today. Holds true for your healthcare organization. And your customer’s.

– You want to be a stronger brand. They want to be stronger individuals.

– You want to be more skilled in what you deliver. They want to be able to achieve more than they can on their own.

– You want to deliver a better experience. They want to feel like they’re really cared for.

– You want to be a better employer. They want to be a better parent, sister, brother, individual.

– You want your voice to be heard beyond others. So do they.

Think more deeply about your opportunity. And theirs. The intersection is where magic can happen.

Related Posts:

Jan
29

Maximizing your healthcare system or hospital brand

Reply

Your brand is the platform through which your communities and patients, and in turn, your healthcare system or hospital brand, grow stronger. 

We presented to the Board of a healthcare system client last week. We’re rebranding the organization and were reporting on our Discovery and initial Strategy direction.

To provide context for our presentation we opened with a few slides titled “Great Brands.” This cross-functional senior team, comprised of employees and community members, don’t spend much time thinking about the “b” word, so we wanted to make sure we were all on the same page from the outset of our session.

They found the slides extremely revealing as they challenged their beliefs about brands. As a result, it widened their lens and provided a much richer (and rewarding) picture of their opportunity. Expanding on the few opening slides…

Great Brands bridge brand strategy and business strategy. Using brand to differentiate organizations, products and services to maximize their value and potential – by managing all of the tangibles and intangibles that surround these offerings – successfully achieved when championed by the CEO, embraced by leadership and lived by every stakeholder.

Great Brands create relationship and financial value inside and outside the organization. They create relationship value internally by impacting recruitment and retention, staff connection and commitment, pride in the organization and confidence in the future. Externally, they enhance community health status, influence consumer choice and build loyalty, create leverage by attracting partners, enhancing relationships and allowing the organization to seize new opportunities.

They create financial value internally by optimizing marketing/spend resources, enhancing future cash flows and bond rating and promoting coherent and efficient brand management. Externally, brands influence service volumes, donor attraction and contribution, capital fundraising and higher revenue procedures.

Great Brands are built on a foundation wider and deeper than brand positioning. They are nurtured with connecting Stories, shaped by shared Values, guided by Promises, expressed by way of their Positioning and Personality, and succintly captured through their Tagline.

Great Brands know that actions speak louder than words.  To talk only of their “campaigns” diminishes their opportunity to help communities, patients and ultimately the organization itself grow stronger.  An easy example is Nike + iPod which gives you feedback while you record your run or workout and then lets you track your progress.

In short, great brands provide the energy that drive your communities, patients and organizations forward.

Related Posts: