tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209261059979891719.post4925544032699235668..comments2024-03-22T15:03:57.585-05:00Comments on Healthcare Business & Marketing Insight: Have you seen any goofy hospital advertising lately?Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02517755077104837270noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209261059979891719.post-24257998056978208352012-08-01T17:34:46.720-05:002012-08-01T17:34:46.720-05:00To anonymous,
I hear what you are saying, but any...To anonymous,<br /><br />I hear what you are saying, but any COO that is not holding its marketing department to the fire and demanding Return on Marketing Investment gets what they deserve. If there is no clear call to action for the consumer respond too, then why are you doing it? Because the CEO, board member or physician thought it was a good idea? <br /><br /> And from what I have seen working in both the hospital setting and health systems at senior management levels, CEOs, COOs, and CFOs. still don't understand marketing, its role, and how to even integrate it into the operational and financial plans of the organization. <br /><br />Making comparisons to Coke and others is really comparing apples to oranges in advertising. Coke, Walgreens, pharma to name a few, spend millions each year in consumer market research. They know the consumers needs and desires as well as and how they will react to their marketing before they ever go to market. So you want successful healthcare advertising, do the market research first. You wouldn't be doing much goofy healthcare advertising if the research was taking place. So don't compare what you do to others, unless you have done the research on consumer needs, desires and price point.<br /><br />Do you really believe that a consumer will choose a hospital because they say they care? Come on, that is so 1990s. Just saying you care isn't good enough anymore. Saying you have the shiniest best hi-tech equipment is not good enough anymore. Saying you have a quality award isn't good enough anymore without context around what it means to the consumer.<br /><br />A lot of healthcare adverting boarders on misinformation and downright misrepresentation. There are truth-in-advertising laws and FTC regulations, it's just a matter of time before the lawsuits fly.<br /><br />Oh and next time sign your name instead of hiding behind anonymous.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02517755077104837270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209261059979891719.post-50004338774353969262012-08-01T16:36:09.676-05:002012-08-01T16:36:09.676-05:00Come on, Michael, you're being a little too ha...Come on, Michael, you're being a little too hard on healthcare marketers. It's not like most of your complaints cannot be found in other advertising. Look at Coke, or any liquor for that matter, that makes consumers "cooler". Or chips that show you have great taste, or detergents that show how the buyer cares for his/her family, or, well, you get the point.<br />Your problem with advertising is that you think it has to be real. That may be what decides whether an ad will affect you; however, most consumers/patients are more easily swayed. Indeed, unless a consumer is searching for something specific (problem>solution, which is the most effective and easiest to demonstrate an ROI), advertising is really meant to simply place strong, clear messages that separate the client from its competitors in the viewers' heads and gives them confidence that they are making the right decision by choosing the client/brand. That's it. In essence, most healthcare advertising works like Coke. People have to be told they'll feel good by choosing the product/service. <br />The lack of "teeth" in this advertising is exactly why COO's hate it. Most of this type of advertising cannot be measured, but we all know there's some value there, including the COO.<br />Pushing a "caring" brand only works on those who haven't experienced the opposite from the brand. But it's important to say it nonetheless. Sure, everyone expects their hospital to care for them. But the ones who say it often and consistently, and can actually back it up for the most part, have the strongest brands. <br />So in summary, healthcare advertising is no different than other advertising in that it has to offer a promise from the client to the consumer that is desirable to the consumer for whatever reasons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com