// By Peter Hochstein // Hey, there’s a pandemic going on! Hospital workers are supposed to look harassed, grave, and ready to collapse from exhaustion, right? That’s not quite the way the communicators and staff at Johns Hopkins Medicine saw it. Result? Internet views by the — no, not by the thousands, by multiples of Read More
Los Angeles is home to many world-class health care organizations, and they compete vigorously for the same patients. But even in a competitive market, joining together for the greater good may be the best way to get an important message across to the community. “It became apparent early on that people were not accessing health Read More
“The situation seemed dire at Vassar Brothers Medical Center,” writes Peter Hochstein, copywriter and SHCM contributor. “Doctors at a large medical group were under orders to refer patients to a different hospital. Then Vassar launched an ad campaign that empowered patients to defy their doctors. And everything changed.” Here’s an excerpt from Hochstein’s new article: Read More
// By Richard Cohen // One of the central issues when a health care organization acquires other hospitals or entities on the care continuum is how to get all the employees from its disparate parts on message. This was something that the folks at the Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health took to heart several years ago after Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // Los Angeles is home to many world-class health care organizations, and they compete vigorously for the same patients. But even in a competitive market, joining together for the greater good may be the best way to get an important message across to the community. “It became apparent early on Read More
Health care marketers know that building a successful brand is not just about new logos, taglines, and ads. The brand must accurately reflect the vision and beliefs that make up the culture of the organization, drive all strategic decisions, and form the foundation for communications with all audiences. “If your brand is authentic, you can Read More
As the U.S. emerges from what is likely the first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many health care organizations are launching campaigns to encourage patients to seek the medical care they have delayed. Northwell Health, a 23-hospital system with nearly 800 outpatient facilities in the New York metro area, wanted its campaign to communicate Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // The situation seemed dire at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Doctors at a large medical group were under orders to refer patients to a different hospital. Then Vassar launched an ad campaign that empowered patients to defy their doctors. And everything changed. The news arrived more than a little jarringly at Read More
View from the C-Suite: Don Stanziano, Chief Marketing Officer, Geisinger // By Sheryl S. Jackson // Health care marketers know that building a successful brand is not just about new logos, taglines, and ads. The brand must accurately reflect the vision and beliefs that make up the culture of the organization, drive all strategic decisions, Read More
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” is the motto at Richmond-based NDP. Last year, the full-service marketing and advertising agency added a media planning division — Neathawk360. As the name implies, this new service embraces a 360-degree approach to the many and diverse forms of media that can impact a consumer’s engagement Read More
// By Althea Fung // As the U.S. emerges from what is likely the first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many health care organizations are launching campaigns to encourage patients to seek the medical care they have delayed. Northwell Health, a 23-hospital system with nearly 800 outpatient facilities in the New York metro area, Read More
// By Wendy Stark Healy // “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” is the motto at Richmond-based NDP. Last year, the full-service marketing and advertising agency added a media planning division — Neathawk360. As the name implies, this new service embraces a 360-degree approach to the many and diverse forms of media Read More
“Nothing triggers an emotional reaction like watching someone trying to resist it. There’s a kids’ game in which the object is to stare at all the other kids and try to make one of them laugh while they resist. Trying not to laugh usually ended with an explosion of giggles all around,” notes veteran copywriter Read More
// By Nikki Viner // Targeted marketing is a strategy intended to match the right messages with the right consumers at the right time. To do this successfully, you must first define the audience you want to reach. The health care industry has used various approaches for determining target audiences for many years, but today Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // Sometimes the best way to trigger a strong emotional response is to emphasize the positive. Nothing triggers an emotional reaction like watching someone trying to resist it. There’s a kids’ game in which the object is to stare at all the other kids and try to make one of them Read More
“If you become a trusted source of information in a time of crisis, you are demonstrating leadership rather than simply claiming it. And people notice,” says veteran copywriter and frequent SHCM contributor Peter Hochstein. In his new article, he discusses the value of becoming a source of information and reassurance during a crisis, with key Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // If you become a trusted source of information in a time of crisis, you are demonstrating leadership rather than simply claiming it. And people notice. Are we all actually dealing simultaneously with two pandemics? There must be millions of Americans who are simultaneously struggling to avoid a pair of plagues. Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // Successfully building awareness of the complete range of services at a women’s hospital began with a new approach to an old advertising technique. There was something unexpectedly disarming about the advertising that began appearing on air and on the internet late in 2016 in the Upstate New York Capitol Region, Read More
In 2014, Edward-Elmhurst Health, a newly merged two-hospital system in the Chicago suburbs, wanted to find a way to differentiate itself from the dozens of other hospitals in the area. “We are in a very crowded health care market. We knew it would be a challenge to break through all that clutter,” says Sheri Scott, Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // Can simple charm compete for share-of-mind in a hot health care marketplace? Yes, if the charm is really charming enough. Here’s how it works in Richmond, Virginia. This probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen a bicycle treated so callously. It stands in a dusty garage, surrounded by other carelessly Read More
// By Althea Fung // Increasingly, brands are turning to celebrity endorsers with loyal and aligned audiences — and large social media networks — to influence consumer behavior. As social media has evolved, the Federal Trade Commission has also evolved its guidance on disclosure of relationships between influencers and advertisers. In 2014, Edward-Elmhurst Health, a Read More
When you have a great story to tell, you need great storytellers. Skip Hidlay came on board as senior vice president, chief communications and marketing officer, at the University of Chicago Medicine in 2016. His 30 years in journalism prior to making the transition to health care has served both organizations well. Hidlay was one Read More
// By Peter Hochstein // Sometimes there’s more to hospital advertising than recruiting and reassuring patients. One thing’s fairly certain. When a hospital with facilities that are pretty much limited to the Boston area starts advertising in New York and other major metropolitan centers around the nation, they must be doing something other than trying Read More
View from the C-Suite // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Under Skip Hidlay’s leadership, UChicago Medicine launched a new brand and a new website that helps the organization stand out in a crowded market. When you have a great story to tell, you need great storytellers. Skip Hidlay came on board as senior vice president, Read More
“If you didn’t know the whole story, you’d think last October 20 was a less-than-glorious Sunday in Seattle,” writes SHCM contributor Peter Hochstein. “It was a football day, of course, and the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Baltimore Ravens 30-16. But for two local hospitals, Virginia Mason Health System, with about 600 licensed beds, and Read More