How Special Events Can Build Your Reputation and Brand

by Ritch K. Eich, PhD

Special events have been an integral part of health care organizations for centuries. For example, back when Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy religious order in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831, charity functions—sermons, bazaars, and other appeals—were an integral part of social life.

In his 1955 book about that period, Catherine McAuley: The First Sister of Mercy, Roland Savage reported that charity bazaars were “a striking feature in the social life of Dublin … and were an unfailing source of revenue for the city’s many charities.”

Today, special events continue in the health care industry, although two different points of view have evolved regarding their purpose.

The first point of view is that a special event is executed to meet a one-time goal, such as fundraising for a new service, building, or alliance.

The second point of view—one that I’ve always embraced—is that a special event has a much more expansive goal that includes underwriting key marketing and public relations initiatives, such as relationship building, reputation enhancement, and patient acquisition. This can lead to a delightful, fruitful experience for all who participate!

Special events, when properly conceived, managed, and leveraged, are a very important part of a health care organization’s overall reputation-building strategy. For example, they can:

• Help enlist strategic allies and partnerships.
• Create a forum for both new and established supporters.
• Provide positive media coverage.
• Build market share.

These objectives should all complement one another and lead to making the hospital, clinic, or insurance plan the preferred choice among patients and customers.

Special events must be an integral part of an organization’s overall brand strategy. Viewing them as such will help ensure consistency in both message and timing when combined with other marketing components such as social media, direct mail, advertising, media relations, publications, and online navigation, content, and design. One of the best ways to ensure all of these elements work in concert, and that their potential is maximized, is to ensure they are skillfully led.

Unfortunately, some health care executives have been largely indifferent to the impact special events can have on their organization’s bottom line. Special events are sometimes treated as a fringe activity or worse, and events coordinators are not seen as integral members of the team.

I’ve known industry leaders who have treated special events as if they were nonaligned, self-determining events with maverick volunteers. This is a huge mistake and undermines the many tangible and intangible benefits that special events can bring to an organization.

As rightful extensions of the health care entity’s brand, special events can help bring a community together, alter an institution’s image, or hone existing messages. They can provide invaluable media exposure, help grow business, build inpatient and outpatient census, stimulate philanthropy, and foster goodwill in the community. In other words, they can improve patient care, customer satisfaction, and the organization’s bottom line.

Well planned and orchestrated special events can also bolster employee pride, especially if employees are involved with volunteers in their planning and execution.

One of the notable special events I oversaw for several years was the “St. Joe’s Holiday Ball” for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor (part of St. Joseph Mercy Health System). This signature bash, now in its 39th year, is recognized by many as the premier social event in the region and signals the beginning of the holiday season in southeastern Michigan.

This annual special event has allowed St. Joe’s Mercy Hospital to expand, grow, and better serve the community, as can see from the list of themes and beneficiaries over the years:

For an organization’s key constituencies, special events can represent a turning point in their decision-making process.

A special event may establish the first personal contact someone has with the institution, and cement a long-term relationship. An event can be the catalyst for transforming a visitor’s abstract interest into tangible appreciation.

A well-planned and well-executed event can convert a fence sitter into an advocate or a passive board member into an active one. On the other hand, disorganized and poorly executed events can have the opposite effect, by discouraging interest and attracting the wrong media exposure.

Enlightened health care leaders realize that if a special event is to have an impact, it takes much more than a dream or wish. It takes hundreds, sometimes thousands, of volunteer hours of expertise and dedication.

Whether large or small in nature, if an event is to be successful, it must be guided by a skilled organizer who is a combination of marketer and business leader capable of ensuring that the event’s objectives—along with budget parameters—are in keeping with the institution’s mission and overarching business goals.

Ritch K. Eich, PhD, is President of Eich Associated, a management consulting firm, and the author of two leadership books: Real Leaders Don’t Boss (Career Press, 2012) and Leadership Requires Extra Innings (with Second City Publishing, 2013). He is the former chief of public affairs at Stanford University Medical Center and the past chair of the board of trustees of Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, CA. He previously served as vice president at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Catherine McAuley Health Center.