Advertising

Expressions of Rage? Or Inspirational Pep Talks? Whatever You Call Them, Hospital Ads with an Aggressive Stance Could Make Your Market Sit Up and Take Notice

August 6, 2019

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // Fighting words and images may be just the thing some hospitals need to break through the miasma of inattention. In an upcoming issue of this publication, a fellow contributor, James A. Gardner, will write about a campaign for the Canadian pediatric hospital, Sick Kids. The campaign Read More

Advertising Campaign Meant to Do Good Also Does Remarkably Well — With a Boost from Judiciously Deployed Radio

July 3, 2019

What can radio deliver for hospital advertisers that other media can’t? It’s more than just another way to reach your target market. Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // As often as not these days, radio advertising is an afterthought — part of the creative mix that gets done after someone has written Read More

A “Big Reveal” Approach To a Successful Rebrand

May 9, 2019

For well over a century, Flagler Hospital has gone to great lengths to care for the physical health of residents living in St. John’s County in northeastern Florida. But while its commitment to health has remained constant over the decades, in recent years its focus has broadened beyond the physical aspects of providing inpatient care Read More

How a Florida Health System’s Rebranding Campaign Hit a Hole in One

May 7, 2019

// By Lisa D. Ellis // What happens when a health care entity outgrows its name? One Florida-based health system recently tackled this challenge, reinventing its brand to better reflect its identity in an exciting new way. For well over a century, Flagler Hospital has gone to great lengths to care for the physical health Read More

What Can Negativity Do for Your Advertising? At the University of Rochester Medical Center, Talking About “The Bad Stuff” Is Doing Lots of Good

May 7, 2019

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // Here’s a powerful technique for building emotion into your advertising. If you dare to use it. Advertisers in almost any business — and the advertising agencies that service them — usually hate negativity. They look for emphasis on the upbeat. They like to portray, as the Read More

Why the Medium Determined the Message in a Winning Campaign for Children’s Minnesota

April 5, 2019

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // How can a hospital facing lots of local competition successfully undo commonplace misperceptions in a fresh way? For Children’s Minnesota, it involved taking one approach in print advertising and another in TV. There was a good reason for the inconsistency. Sometime ago, Children’s Minnesota, a 381-bed Read More

Just One Powerful Word Helps MU Health Turn Negative Attitudes Toward Academic Medicine to a Positive

March 5, 2019

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // Sometimes, showing some “attitude” can sell your expertise better than simply presenting all the things you’re expert at. Here’s a case in point. What’s with the peculiar convictions some health care consumers have about teaching hospitals? They’ll seek out a top-tier school for their kids, and Read More

CTAs + Measurable Outcomes = Valuable Engagement

February 14, 2019

When you take the time to develop compelling calls to action (CTAs) tied to measurable outcomes, you can effectively engage people you want to reach on a very personal level. This can be key to your marketing efforts’ success. “Health care organizations must provide altruistic, valuable content to consumers in order to build engagement over Read More

Are Your CTAs “Sticky” Enough?

February 1, 2019

The answer to this question dictates success — and failure — in Norton Healthcare’s efforts.  // By Lisa D. Ellis // When you take the time to develop compelling calls to action (CTAs) tied to measurable outcomes, you can effectively engage people you want to reach on a very personal level. This can be key Read More

Hackensack Meridian Health Orchestrates a New Brand

February 1, 2019

// By Wendy Healy // One of the themes of this article is that brands evolve. We covered the Hackensack Meridian merger back in December 2016. The consolidated health system’s first-generation brand has now been replaced with a new brand, built on consumer research and a solid brand strategy. Two-and-a-half years after two large New Read More

A New (and Effective) Spin on Health Care Testimonials

January 24, 2019

In the testimonial-heavy world of hospital advertising, is there a fresh way of doing a testimonial campaign? How well can it perform for you? And what can you do to increase the impact of the advertising? In our new article, SHCM contributor and veteran copywriter Peter Hochstein looks at a new type of testimonial that Read More

How To Market When Your Specialists Are Booked Out

January 10, 2019

In our new article, David Marlowe, principal, Strategic Marketing Concepts, and Strategic Health Care Marketing Editorial Advisory Board member, shares results from five recent nationwide studies he’s conducted of what consumers consider to be “reasonable” wait times for routine, non-urgent visits. Will this type of information give marketers the hard evidence they need to stand Read More

“Docu-monials?” Whatever You Decide to Call Them, Testimonials with a Difference for White Plains Hospital Demonstrably Motivate Appointment Requests

December 23, 2018

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // In the testimonial-heavy world of hospital advertising, is there a fresh way of doing a testimonial campaign? How well can it perform for you? And what can you do to increase the impact of the advertising? Is there room in this world for yet another hospital Read More

Should You Market Physician Practices When Access Is Limited? 6 Factors to Consider

December 21, 2018

// By David Marlowe // In a recent SHSMD discussion board posting, one member raised the question: “Do you continue to market your specialists that are booked out for six weeks?” This posting highlights a challenge that has faced marketers in medical groups, hospitals, and health systems for many years — do we yield to Read More

Turning Hospital Employees Into Ambassadors for Your Health Care Brand

December 13, 2018

The latest marketing efforts at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts have a very important goal: to engage employees to do whatever it takes to provide the very best experience for patients. While most health systems recognize the importance of internal engagement, Newton-Wellesley’s approach — which includes seeing the employees as “brand ambassadors” to extend the system’s Read More

Health Care Branding: How One Suburban Medical Center Developed Its Brand Promise from the Inside Out

November 29, 2018

// By Lisa D. Ellis // The latest marketing efforts at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts have a very important goal: to engage employees to do whatever it takes to provide the very best experience for patients. Tackling a Challenging Market While most health systems recognize the importance of internal engagement, Newton-Wellesley’s approach — which includes Read More

Emory Healthcare vs. This Mindset: “I Know You’re Great. So Sure, I’ll See You — If I’m Ever Ill with Something Serious.”

November 6, 2018

  Is there a strong reason to create a hospital branding campaign that dispenses with emotional appeals to make a rational sales argument? How can you keep it visually surprising and compelling? And how can you show that you’re talking about a hospital without resorting to the visual clichés? Notable Health Care Advertising // By Read More

2019 Trend: Staying Relevant as Consumers Take Health Care into Their Own Hands

November 4, 2018

// By Braden Russom // What drives consumers to look for alternatives to traditional medical care? And how can health care marketers respond? Here, Braden Russom, account planner at Smith & Jones, shares some of the factors contributing to changes in consumer behavior, particularly among millennials, and recommends proactive marketing strategies to stay relevant. 2019 Read More

How to Set a Public Health World Record for Flu Inoculations

October 5, 2018

An inspired name — and a bit of student high jinks — transmogrifies a mass vaccination program into an annual form of entertainment. Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // Quick, which would you rather do? Interrupt your daily routine, stand in a long line, and then get poked in the arm by Read More

Using Experiential Marketing for Health Care: Live Events Help Connect With Your Audience

August 23, 2018

Some of the savviest health care marketers are reaching out to connect with people on a personal level through live events. This premise is at the heart of a growing trend called experiential marketing. According to Becca Lyon, senior manager, marketing strategy at agencyEA, “Some of the innovative ways the health care industry can leverage experiential includes using technologies like virtual reality, which allows people to experience a facility from a remote location, hosting grand openings for a new hospital or clinic, so people can come and take an in-person tour, and sponsoring a booth at a trade show to introduce new products, medications, or supplies to a large audience.”

Clearing Up Brand Confusion at Georgia Cancer Center

August 9, 2018

What would you do if your ads were actually sending your customers to your competition? Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University recently faced this challenging scenario. Further complicating matters, the brand had gone through several name changes in recent years, leaving its target audience confused about what the health system was and what it stood Read More

Getting Emotional — In an Understated Way — Helps a Hospital with a Good, Strong Reputation Stand Up to Another Hospital with a Good, Strong Reputation

August 7, 2018

How do you stand out in the crowd — especially when your #1 competitor is a world-famous brand? Pamela Maas, Gundersen’s chief business development and marketing officer, was able to overcome this challenge. “It seemed like so many systems in health care were looking and feeling exactly the same,” she says. “We recognized that brand positioning was really about building an emotional connection with consumers.” In Peter’s latest column, we’ll see how a new campaign triggered a deluge of fan mail — accolades from patients who had been touched by Gundersen staff members.

How Health Care Marketers Can Use Experiential Marketing to Build Personal Relationships with Their Target Audience

August 6, 2018

// By Lisa D. Ellis // As the name implies, experiential marketing builds on the concept of creating in-person experiences that directly engage the target audience. For health care marketers in particular, experiential marketing provides an opportunity to get people to pay attention to what you have to say, even in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

How Georgia Cancer Center Repositioned Its Marketing Strategy to Beat the Competition

August 3, 2018

// By Lisa D. Ellis // What would you do if your ads were actually sending your customers to your competition? Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University recently faced this challenging scenario. Further complicating matters, the brand had gone through several name changes in recent years, leaving its target audience confused about what the health Read More

New Campaign Aims to Destigmatize Mental Illness

August 2, 2018

If you’re traveling through Logan Airport in Boston anytime soon, you’ll probably be drawn to a collection of portraits, and accompanying personal stories, lining the walls between terminals. You’ll see beautiful, larger-than-life portraits of: Teens. Single men and women. Parents. Grandparents. Athletes. Lawyers. Physicians. Musicians. An author. A former soap opera star. Some have light Read More