How Health Care Marketers Can Become Leaders
Top marketers at NewYork-Presbyterian, Virtua Health, and Mass General Brigham share experiences that shaped them as leaders.
// By Jane Weber Brubaker //
When leaders have had long and successful careers, they have stories to tell. Jill “Gigi” Austin’s 2024 book, Transformative Leadership: Self-Mastery for the New Voice of Business Success, is a collection of 25 first-person accounts from hospital executives, agency heads, entrepreneurs, coaches, and consultants — including several who have served in more than one of these roles.
These people weren’t born leaders. They had to learn how to be leaders. Some learned how to be resilient in the face of rapid change. Others learned to stand firm and not back down when they faced naysayers.
In this article we feature three of the health system leaders included in the book:
- Mark Bohen, chief marketing and communications officer at Mass General Brigham
- David Feinberg, senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer at Mount Sinai Health System and former vice president, chief marketing officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
- Chrisie Scott, senior vice president, chief marketing officer at Virtua Health
They encountered different challenges and found ways to overcome them and chart a new course, propelling their organizations forward.
Here, we share highlights of their stories as told in Transformative Leadership. Their stories of strength, creativity, and resilience are a source of inspiration for leaders and aspiring leaders as you navigate today’s choppy health care waters.
The Way the Cookie Crumbles
Mark Bohen, chief marketing and communications officer, Mass General Brigham
Sometimes our earliest lessons set the trajectory for the rest of our careers. Mark Bohen went from college to grad school straight to his first job at Nabisco where he was responsible for winding down brands after the “Soft Cookie Wars” of the 1980s.
“Some people consider this an undesirable assignment, but to me, I learned and gained experience in marketing skills, but more importantly, in the leadership competencies that allow people to be successful, especially in times of change and upheaval.”
Later, when Bohen was a brand manager, he had to be innovative to grow the profitability of his brands with a relatively small budget — larger brands like Ritz and Oreos got the lion’s share of Nabisco’s resources.
He recounts the drama of the leveraged buyout (LBO) of RJR Nabisco that dominated the headlines for several months in 1988. “I learned to function and excel in an environment of ambiguity,” he says, noting that leaders who were used to adapting to constant change outperformed others.
Bohen was tapped later by an insurance company, not because his experience matched — it didn’t. “It was my leadership competencies, specifically bringing an experimental growth mindset, being comfortable with change and ambiguity, and being resilient and agile.”
Today, at Mass General Brigham, Bohen’s leadership skills are essential as the organization evolves into an integrated academic health system in a fraught time for health care. “Health care across the country is under severe pressure and undergoing change as the mission-based, not-for-profit business model fights for survival in a post-pandemic, high-inflation environment,” Bohen says.
Seeing Red
David Feinberg, senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer at Mount Sinai Health System and former vice president, chief marketing officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Can a color signify leadership? David Feinberg believed it could and made the case to the ultimate decision-makers — the board and leadership team of NewYork-Presbyterian, the Manhattan health system formed in 1998 by the merger of two storied organizations: New York Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital.
The two hospitals each considered themselves to be “the best.” The challenge for Feinberg was to bring them together as one integrated organization with a singular brand. Together, they would be the best.
“To take full advantage of the combined resources and expertise of each hospital required a complete coming together,” explains Feinberg. “NewYork-Presbyterian wasn’t formed to be just another large academic health system. It aspired to be among the top tier of peer institutions, and full integration was key to achieving that goal.”
His first hurdle was to get the board to approve the new name: NewYork-Presbyterian. The second hurdle was to overcome resistance to the new brand color: bold red. “I chose to describe it as a strategic choice,” says Feinberg. He told his audience, “Red is the color of leadership.”
He steered clear of marketing jargon during the presentation. Instead, he says, “We helped our audience appreciate the rigor that goes into professional marketing — that it’s not a bunch of folks sitting around a table spitballing ideas, Mad Men-style. There’s a science to the art of marketing and working to help your constituents understand that yields great dividends.”
Feinberg led the effort, but emphasizes that it was a team effort, with creative strategists, marketers, designers, and researchers collaborating to create the strategy and plan. “This was far from a one-man show,” he says.
The strategy and the presentation were successful. The name and bold red color have become iconic in the New York market and beyond.
When You Wish Upon a Dandelion
Chrisie Scott, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Virtua Health
Some people see dandelions as “despicable weeds” that invade well-tended lawns. Chrisie Scott sees them as “dream whisperers.”
“I’ve always seen things differently,” she says.
Throughout her career, Scott has had the courage and creativity to challenge conventional wisdom, not an easy lift in an industry as entrenched as health care. As a leader, she gives her team a safe space to dream big. “People shine brightly when they tap into their genius,” she says. “And when they apply and share their genius, it’s like dandelion seeds showering magic.”
A self-described word nerd, Scott questions some of the language used in health care, and she’s not afraid of swimming against the current.
Consider the term “discharge unit,” for example. Scott once challenged the president of her hospital to change the name to “Good to Go Unit” to better reflect “such a hopeful and highly awaited moment.” (Spoiler alert: The president chose to stick with the same old name rather than risking being different.)
A true wordsmith, Scott heard something bigger when she and her colleagues were discussing the need to “hardwire” high reliability into the organization. While it’s laudable to prioritize safety and strive to reduce errors, Scott elevated the concept by changing one word. Why hardwire safety into your organization? Because you care. So, she changed the term from “hardwire” to “heartwire,” giving it a new and more powerful energy.
Scott’s creative leadership is inspirational within and beyond her own organization. “Creativity is … about turning our view upside down to see another way forward,” she says. “My wish for health care is that we stand in our power — that we recognize no one is coming to fix or save us from this serious business with its dated and uninspiring words and ways.”
She encourages others to imagine wishing on a dandelion and spreading new possibilities with a puff of air.
How to Become a Marketing Leader
- Be adaptable: Build resilience and agility during times of change so you’re better prepared to lead through uncertainty.
- Grow through adversity: Use setbacks as steppingstones, not obstacles.
- Unify through brand: A strong brand connects people across the organization through shared purpose and vision.
- Avoid marketing jargon: Explain strategy in plain language to build understanding and earn trust.
- Nurture creativity: Reframe old ways and words to energize teams with fresh ideas.
- Challenge the status quo: Be courageous — question conventions to spark true transformation.
- Lead with heart and vision: Model empathy, curiosity, and optimism to inspire others to follow.
Transformative Leadership: Self-Mastery for the New Voice of Business Success by Jill “Gigi” Austin is available on Amazon.
Jane Weber Brubaker is executive editor of Plain-English Health Care, a division of Plain-English Media. She directs editorial content for eHealthcare Strategy & Trends and Strategic Health Care Marketing and is past chair of the eHealthcare Leadership Awards. Email her at jane@plainenglishmedia.com.