Health care marketers are sometimes on the defensive when proposing budgets to their CEOs and CFOs, feeling the pressure to justify the expense and project the expected return on investment — especially for “softer” initiatives like brand building. So, it was refreshing to hear a different perspective from Bill Robertson, CEO of MultiCare, a 12-hospital Read More
MultiCare’s CEO believes brand-building is the key to sustainable growth, and that it supports acquisition. It’s not either-or; it’s both-and. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Health care marketers are sometimes on the defensive when proposing budgets to their CEOs and CFOs, feeling the pressure to justify the expense and project the expected return on Read More
Today’s health care media landscape is drastically different from the era of print magazine ads and TV spots. It is now characterized by a fragmented array of channels and diverse media formats, which has made media planning more complex than ever. Do you recall what media buys looked like five, 10, or even 20 years Read More
Today’s media landscape is a far cry from the days of print magazine ads and TV spots. It’s fragmented across countless channels and media formats, making media planning more complex than ever. We sat down with Kara Rozek, VP, media at SPM Marketing & Communications, to learn how health care marketers can adapt to today’s Read More
When working with a creative agency, how do you ensure the end product meets your marketing team’s expectations? John Ferin, in a new article, describes the scenario like this: “The meeting is about to begin. Your creative agency has spent days, weeks, maybe even months massaging their concepts, tactics, and messaging into the perfect presentation. Read More
Want great work from your agency? The way you share feedback can have a dramatic effect on how your creative team responds. // By John Ferin // The meeting is about to begin. Your creative agency has spent days, weeks, maybe even months massaging their concepts, tactics, and messaging into the perfect presentation. You can Read More
In the middle of the pandemic, Michigan Medicine launched a new brand campaign, Michigan Answers, spearheaded by Rose Glenn, the organization’s chief communications and marketing officer. In explaining the meaning of the campaign, the branding guidelines emphasize, “At Michigan Medicine, we believe there’s a difference between an answer and a Michigan Answer. Michigan Answers are Read More
In the first three months of 2023, more than 70 mass shootings have already occurred in the U.S. Gun violence is a public health crisis. // By John Marzano // The politics surrounding gun ownership and control are infinitely polarizing. Yet, one truth believed by all Americans is that the use of guns and other Read More
To find the right answers, ask the right questions. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // In the middle of the pandemic, Michigan Medicine launched a new brand campaign, Michigan Answers, spearheaded by Rose Glenn, the organization’s chief communications and marketing officer. In explaining the meaning of the campaign, the branding guidelines emphasize, “At Michigan Medicine, Read More
Let’s talk about something that often isn’t talked about enough in the health care industry: health care stigma. But more specifically, the role marketing can play in impacting social stigma around medical conditions. If you’re embarrassed by your medical diagnosis, you will probably keep it hidden. You may not seek help, or if you do, Read More
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Lung Association found success by focusing on the positive. // By Cheryl L. Serra // If you’re embarrassed by your medical diagnosis, you will probably keep it hidden. You may not seek help, or if you do, you may find under-the-radar, less-credentialed and less-qualified people. You likely Read More
As a health care marketer, you’re acutely aware of how important it is to not only acquire patients and drive patient volume, but also to engage and retain those patients in order to establish long-term brand loyalty and improve ROI. The history of service-line promotion dates back to the early 1980s when marketers built brand Read More
Times have changed. Your health care organization is no longer the star of your advertising and marketing. The consumer is — or should be. // By John Marzano // The history of service-line promotion dates back to the early 1980s when marketers built brand awareness of their organizations’ high-end specialty care using visual and emotional Read More
Health care brand positioning requires more than a clever tagline or slogan. It requires a strategy and rallying cry that inspires an organization and connects a community. It’s rare in marketing that you get to start from scratch on anything. Wherever you jump on the moving train, that’s your starting point, complete with legacy systems Read More
Brand positioning is more than a clever tagline or slogan. It’s a strategy and rallying cry that inspires an organization and connects a community. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // It’s rare in marketing that you get to start from scratch on anything. Wherever you jump on the moving train, that’s your starting point, complete Read More
Nurse recruitment is vital to the growth and survival of every health care organization today. A successful nurse recruitment effort requires that departments break down the silos and come together to ensure that best practices from operations, human resources, internal communications, marketing strategy, and analytics are brought to the table. So what does it look Read More
It’s not news that nurses are in demand. Here’s how one health system combined the talents of two disciplines — marketing and HR — to tackle it together. // By Susan Dubuque // Nurse recruitment is vital to the growth and survival of every health care organization today. A successful recruitment effort requires that departments Read More
Does your organization invest heavily in generating leads through your marketing channels — social media, website optimization, paid search — only to have little new-patient growth? If so, you may have a prospective patient ghosting issue in your patient pipeline. Ghosting is when a valid lead who has taken some kind of action — a Read More
If you spend scarce marketing dollars to attract new patients to your high-margin service lines only to have them ghost you, a solution may be within your REACH. // By Jessica Walker // Does your practice invest heavily in generating leads through your marketing channels — social media, website optimization, paid search — only to Read More
View from the C-Suite: Heather Geisler, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Communications and Experience Officer, Henry Ford Health A strong brand acts as a unifying force to express the shared values of an organization. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When Heather Geisler joined Henry Ford Health two years ago as executive vice president Read More
We’re all storytellers these days. Well-told stories have the power to influence behaviors and decisions. We tend to “lend an ear” to our neighbors. Community experiences matter, which is why tapping former patients from small towns and cities across a vast geographic service area made perfect sense to Geisinger for its health care brand journalism Read More
Patients speak from the heart about their health care experience at Geisinger in unscripted videos shot from their hometown. “What’s more powerful than that?” asks the health system’s marketing chief. // By Marcia Simon, APR // We’re all storytellers these days. Well-told stories have the power to influence behaviors and decisions. We tend to “lend Read More
Welcome to a new age of “Post Health System Brands.” This is another way of saying that moving a brand beyond the product offered to deeper meaning is now expected by consumers as well as by the workforce and the communities where they live, work, and play. Health system brands have been built the same Read More
A strong and sustaining health system brand is a living organism. It is conceived from the system’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan. It is hatched from empathy. It is nourished and allowed to flourish when expressed in one voice. So how does a health system bring its brand to life? What steps must be Read More
Health system brands have been built the same way for 40 years, with a focus on self-promotion: If you get sick, we’re the absolute best to treat you and get you on the road to recovery. But if the past two-plus years have taught us anything, it’s that this approach may no longer be enough Read More