February 11, 2011
Women turn to the internet for health information over family, friends or doctors. 
Women are uncomfortable discussing health concerns with other family members, friends, doctors or even spouses. And as a result they turn to the internet for information and answers. iVillage conducted an online poll for Harris Interactive, which revealed women’s dependence on the internet for health concerns.
Some of the results from the survey are:
- 82% of women are uncomfortable discussing health concerns with family and friends
- 62% are twice as likely to turn to the web over their own mothers about health issues
- 64% use online communities to discuss health concerns
- 49% stated that online would be the first place they would go to research health issues. More than twice the amount who would go to their doctor first (25%) or family (15%) or friends (6%).
- 30% gather information from online communities to prepare them for their doctor’s visit.
These results verify women’ s dependence on the web for health information. Healthcare marketers must recognize this and develop web strategies for communicating to women. Robust web sites, web advertising and the development of social networking sites are some of the tools that may be used to reach women. Even directing consumers to existing websites can be helpful in creating relationships and building strong brand perceptions.
Women are traditionally viewed as the primary influencer and decision maker in regards to their family’s health. As they increasingly turn to the web for valuable information, healthcare marketers must recognize it and create ways to meet them there.
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Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Internet | Tagged: Ad Agency Huntsville, Ad Agency Tuscaloosa, Advertising Agency Alabama, Advertising Agency South, Advertising Agency Southeast, Harris Interactive, healthcare marketing, Hospital Marketing, internet use by women, iVillage, Jimmy Warren, Lori Moore, Nancy Siniard | 
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Posted by Jimmy Warren
February 10, 2011
Baby Boomers who provide care for aging parents are heavier users of social media than boomers in general.
Baby boomers are embracing social media. Faster than any other segment. According to Pew Internet the number of 50-plus who use social networking sites grew 88% during the past year. Now practically half of the adults over 50 regularly use social media. In the more narrow 50-65 age group its almost three fourths. Healthcare marketers are learning that social media can be a very effective way of reaching and connecting with baby boomers.
But those boomers who are caregivers to aging parents are even more likely to embrace and use social media. Age Lessons partnering with Comscore found that approximately 15.5 million of the 78 million boomers are caregivers. They are split 60/40 female to male and the level of care ranges from daily phone check-ins to live-in help.
As reported by Matt Carmichael in Ad Age these boomer caregivers use social media an average of 150 minutes a month and view 70% more pages than average internet users. They are dependent on social networking sites for information because they have so little time for other types of socializing. Their free time is limited and they are often restricted by the demands of caring for their parent(s). It is often the easiest and fastest way to stay connected with family and friends. They also use social media to validate and reinforce their feelings by finding others in similar situations and communities that provide support and encouragement.
The study also found this group is more likely to use the internet to find information, conduct research and make purchases. The top sites for boomer caregivers are Facebook with a 91% reach, Amazon with 76% and Wal-Mart at 41%. Twitter has 21% reach.
These caregivers are important influencers and decision-makers for not only their own immediate family’s health concerns but also for their parents. This makes this group especially important to healthcare marketers.
Marketing to niches can be very effective. They are more easily identifiable and the message can be very focused. The use of social media, especially Facebook – whether in the form of a page or ad, can be extremely useful tools reaching this key demographic.
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Leave a Comment » | Hospital Advertising, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Age, Ad Agency Huntsville, Ad Agency Southeast, Ad Agency Tuscaloosa, Advertising Agency Alabama, Advertising Agency South, Age Lessons, boomers use of social media, Comscore, elderly use of social media, healthcare advertising, healthcare marketing, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Jimmy Warren, Lori Moore, Matt Carmichael, Nancy Siniard, Pew Internet | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
January 30, 2011
The strongest brands are the ones that hold a consistent marketing message year after year after year. 
In marketing we like to tinker. Tinker with ideas, messages and positioning. Update the logo, change the commercial, freshen the copy, etc. And sometimes we make wholesale changes. Tinkering is necessary from time to time but unless our brand position is entirely flawed it rarely needs major changes. It’s not uncommon for brands to make radical changes year after year. We somehow think changes are necessary. But are they really?
Take Fed Ex as an example. They positioned themselves as the overnight carrier. Remember, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”? They branded that message in our brains. There was no doubt who they were and what they stood for. As a result they became very successful. Can you tell me what their brand position is today? What do they stand for? Why did they think they had to change from that brand position? They were highly successful, why did they need to change? If you’re like me, you remember their initial brand position and the funny television spots that supported it. I can’t tell you any of the various other brand statements they’ve had since. In my mind they are still the overnight carrier. That is still their market advantage regardless of all the other positions they’ve tried to take over the past decade.
Remember “Pizza. Pizza.” I bet you can tell me what brand is associated with that positioning statement. Little Caesars. They had a simple brand position: two pizzas for the price of one. With it they rose out of obscurity and became the number two pizza chain in America. What is their brand statement today? And what is their market position today? As Al Ries outlines in an article in Ad Age, Little Caesars evolved from that one simple concept to trying to be other things with multiple brand messages. They emphasized delivery and then “Big” pizza and abandoned the “Pizza. Pizza.” message. Now, Little Caesars’ sales have declined 42% and they’re a distant fourth in market share. They had a simple, solid concept and a strong brand message. But they felt the need to change it. Can you tell me what their positioning is today?
There are many other brand examples that could be cited but the point is clear I think. Those brands that have a strong and effective brand position and stick to it usually become stronger. But brands get tired of their position. The market says they need to change and evolve. Marketers feel like they need to change to justify their jobs. And so we change for all the wrong reasons. And more often than not, we end up with multiple and diluted messages and no strong brand position.
Sure, sometimes market situations require a change. But not nearly as often as we think. Can you say Fed Ex could have a more powerful message today that “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”? Or that Little Caesars could have a more relevant message in the marketplace than “Pizza. Pizza.” – two pizzas for the price of one?
For brands, change for change sake is not a good thing. For healthcare marketers, we need a strong message, a story that resonates with the consumer, a brand with a promise. And we need to stick to it. Continuity ad consistency with one simple, and powerful message will make our brand grow stronger and stronger over time. We must resist the change for change sake.
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2 Comments | Branding, Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing | Tagged: Ad Age, Ad Agency, Ad Consistency, Ad Contiuity, Al Ries, alabama ad agency, Changes in Marketing, Cici's Pizza, Consistent Marketing, Fed Ex, huntsville ad agency, Jimmy Warren, Little Caesar's, Lori Moore, Nancy Siniard, Pizza Hut, South Ad Agency, Southeast Ad Agency, tuscaloosa ad agency | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
December 19, 2010
Although newspapers have been pronounced mortally ill they now reach 61% of the adult population - online.
Newspaper websites reached a total of 102.8 million unique visitors in 
September of 2010. That represents 61% of the total adult population. A study conducted by comScore and reported by the Newspaper Association of America found that on an average day newspaper websites attract 20.3 million unique visitors and the average visitor makes 8.5 visits per month.
These web visitors spent more than 3.3 million minutes reading newspapers online and viewed over 4 billion page views. Newspapers readers online outpaced other web news sites. Yahoo News reached 51% of the adult population, 22% visited CNN online and 26% visited MSNBC.
And those who visit newspaper websites tend to be more affluent too. Twenty-five percent of adult visitors to newspaper websites had annual household income of over $100,000 compared to 21% of all internet users.
So even though newspaper circulation is declining, more consumers are reading their newspaper online. Healthcare marketers should take notice and seriously consider a web presence on local newspaper sites. The web audience will undoubtedly continue to grow as circulation continues to decline and healthcare organizations can capture this growing audience by having a significant web presence on newspaper sites. Readers are going web and so should healthcare marketers.
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Posted by Jimmy Warren
December 19, 2010
Baby Boomers are into technology, spending more money on technology than any other age group.
Technology and social media are ways to reach the younger generations. Right? Not so fast. Baby boomers might be the real target. The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that baby boomers have fully embraced technology. They are the biggest spenders on technology according to Forrester Research’s annual benchmark tech study.
Think about the boomers you know. The typical boomer has a desktop computer at work, a laptop at home, are on facebook, have a smartphone, have multiple accounts on the internet, DVRs their favorite television shows and is wishing for an iPad. If they don’t already have one.
“It’s actually a myth that baby boomers aren’t into technology. They represent 24% of the population, but they consume 40% (in total dollars spent) of it”, stated Patricia McDonough, senior VP-analysis at Nielsen and reported by Beth Snyder Bulik in Ad Age.
Baby boomers are not early adapters but they certainly pile on. Ten years ago only 25% of boomers went online daily. Today 70% go surfing everyday. And examine these stats about baby boomers:
- 47% use social media
- One in five use social media every day
- A full 66% use their cell phone for texting
- 91% use email
- 88% use search engines
- 78% use the internet to research health information
- 74% get news from the internet
Baby boomers are aging and have become huge users of health services and that will grow tremendously as they age. To healthcare marketers they are a huge and critical target audience and if we think they can only be reached by traditional media we are making a critical mistake. Technology and social media have been embraced by boomers and have become a very common and pervasive part of their lives. Technology, new media and social networking are effective ways to reach, communicate and even build relationships with those 45-64 ears old.
Boomers are the greatest spending generation. And they spend their money and their time on technology. It would be a huge disconnect for healthcare marketers to assume otherwise.
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Leave a Comment » | Hospital Advertising, Internet, mobile marketing, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Age, ad agency specializing in healthcare marekting, Ad Agency Specializing in Hospital Marketing, alabama ad agency, baby boomer use of DVR, baby boomer use of facebook, baby boomer use of smartphone, baby boomer use of social media, baby boomers use of technology, Beth Snyder Bulik, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Forrester Research, huntsville ad agency, Jimmy Warren, Lori Moore, Nancy Siniard, Nielsen, Patricia McDonough, tuscaloosa ad agency | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
December 14, 2010
A majority of consumers admit advertising is helpful when deciding what to buy. 
Consumers like to attest that advertising has no influence on their buying decisions. But a recent survey by Adweek-Media/Harris Poll found that in unguarded moments consumers admit advertising is influential when deciding what to by.
Sixty percent of consumers admit they find advertising to be helpful in their decision-making process. But the influence wielded by different media may be surprising.
The poll found that the most influential medium is television. A full 25% say television is the most helpful in deciding what products or services to buy. Television ranks even higher than Internet search engine ads, which came in second at 18%. Newspaper was cited by 15% of the respondents as being most helpful and only 2% selected internet banner ads.
In a time when many are skeptical about the effectiveness of traditional media, this survey indicates it still plays a major role influencing consumers. Healthcare marketers can still have confidence in advertising effectiveness. Advertising is still an asset and effective.
Additionally surprising, the poll indicates television is effective in influencing even the 18-34-year-olds. Twenty-four percent of that group rate television as most helpful in making buying decisions. And even more surprising is that 20% of 55-plusers rate internet banner ads as most helpful compared to 16% of the 18-34 group.
Maybe our stereotypes about effectiveness of various media among different age groups are not entirely correct. Research is very helpful in dispelling some of our preconceived ideas. And research certainly shows that advertising still does influence buying decisions.
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Posted by Jimmy Warren
November 17, 2010
Almost 90% of Americans who use the internet have gone online to search for health information.
Next to their doctor, Americans depend on the internet more than any other source for health information. And the type of website visited depends on the stage of the
health condition. The MARS Online Behavior Study was recently released and provides a wealth of information about how consumers use the internet as a health resource. The study conducted by Kantar Media reveals that consumers use health information sites more than search engines across all stages of the 40 ailments covered in the study. And the sites most visited are those that offer helpful tools or connect them to a larger community of people with the same condition. Sites that offer access to medical professionals are also generally preferred.
Here are other findings from the report:
- Of the 178 million Americans who go online monthly, 89% have used the internet for health research with the typical user being females under the age of 50.
- The primary reason for going online is to gain general information about a condition (71%) followed by researching specific symptoms (59%).
- 56% stated a healthcare professional recommendation makes a site trustworthy followed by 46% who cited inclusion of academic articles or scientific research.
- 79% believe the internet is very helpful in providing health and wellness information but 74% were very cautious about which sites to access.
For those recently diagnosed with a condition, 77% say they turn to the internet for information second only to 81% who depend on a healthcare professional.
It’s obvious, and no surprise, that the internet is a major source of healthcare information. For healthcare marketers, the challenge is to discover how to tap into this behavior and become a viable source or clearinghouse for Americans who rely heavily on the internet for health information.
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Leave a Comment » | Hospital Advertising, Hospital Marketing, Internet | Tagged: Ad Agency Huntsville AL, Ad Agency Tuscaloosa al, Healthcare Advertising Agency, How Consumers Use Internet for Health Info, Jimmy Warren, Kantar Media, Lori Moore, MARS Online Behavior Study, Nancy Siniard | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
November 16, 2010
Advertisers are finding that :15-second spots can be more effective.
Advertisers are going to the extremes. Long format video ads are very common.
They are being placed on the web and on popular sites like YouTube. The spots can range from one to five minutes and even longer on occasions. Longer videos are produced to provide increased entertainment value.
But the opposite is true too. Many advertisers are moving to :15 -second TV spots. According to Nielsen, the number of :15- second spots have increased 70% in the past year and now make up 34% of all national spots. In fact it’s not uncommon to see five spots in a minute and a half. There are two primary reasons for this shift.
The first is viewers’ attention spans are generally shorter than in the past. Digital video recorders and attention grabbers like laptops and smart phones have shortened viewers’ attentiveness There are too many distractions and too much competition for viewers’ attention that prevent longer periods of concentration.
The second reason for the movement to shorter spots is cost. A :15-second spot generally costs 50-60% of :30 second spots. Thus for essentially the same amount of money advertisers can increase their exposure by doubling the number of commercials, advertise an additional service line, or decrease the television spending altogether while maintaining adequate reach and frequency.
The message for hospital marketers is that :15-second commercials could be a very viable option. Of course not all messages can be effectively delivered in :15 seconds but if the message is simple and succinct, a shorter spot can be very effective. Plus when budgets are tight, a :15-second spot can certainly be effective in stretching the budget without significantly hurting exposure.
One possible negative factor to consider is with many local television stations the placement of a :15-second commercial can be limiting. Shorter time slots may not be available in some desired programs. The good news is there is shorter commercials are usually available in locally originated programming like local news.
Shorter television commercials can effectively fight against attention fatigue of viewers and stretch an already strained marketing budget. So less can really be more.
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Leave a Comment » | Hospital Advertising | Tagged: :15 Television Commercials, Advertising Agency in Huntsville AL, Advertising Agency in Tuscaloosa AL, Hospital Marketing, Jimmy Warren, Lori Moore, Nancy Siniard, Nielsen, Shorter Commercial Lenghts, Shorter Format Commercials | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 25, 2010
In just seven short years there have been social media missteps that show the power and risks of social networking. 
In a little over six years Facebook has gathered 500 million members. Over 14 billion videos are watched on YouTube each day. And Twitter has more than 165 million users. There has been so much attention given to the strengths and advantages of using social media as a marketing tool. But there are also considerable risks as social networking has shifted power to the consumer.
While there have been great success stories for companies who have used social media, at the same time there have been major headaches and embarrassments to companies who have been victimized by either consumer advocacy or their own mistakes. Matthew Yeomans, a co-founder of Custom Communication created “A Short History of Social Media Screw-Ups”. The presentation is a walk down a short memory lane and shows us some of the pitfalls and dangers of “social media”. As health care marketers, we should learn from the mistakes of others and commit to not repeating the same mistakes.
Watch the presentation here: http://www.slideshare.net/socialmediainfluence/social-media-screw-ups.
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3 Comments | Hospital Advertising, Social Media | Tagged: "A Short History of Social Media Screw-Ups", Advertising Agency in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Custom Communication, dangers of social media, Healthcare Advertising Agency, Hospital Marketing Ad Agency, Huntsville, Jimmy Warren, Lori Moore, Matthew Yeomans, Nancy Siniard, Risks of Social Media, social media missteps, social media mistakes, TotalCom Marketing | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
October 24, 2010
African-Americans, Hispanics, women, southerners and teens talk and text on their cellphones more than others. 
African-Americans average 1300 minutes per month on their cell phones, the most of any demographic. Hispanics are second averaging 826 minutes per month. This is compared to Caucasians who average only 647 minutes per month.
Nielsen conducted a yearlong study to determine who used their mobile phones the most. In their report, Mobile Usage Data, they determined that African- Americans and Hispanics also text the most. African-Americans average 780 messages a month with Hispanics averaging 767 per month. Caucasians average 566 texts per month.
The survey analyzed the cellphone bills of 60,000 mobile subscribers each month in the United States. The analysis indicated women talk more than men with 856 minutes per month and 666 for men. They also text more than men averaging 661 text messages per month compared to 447 for men.
To no one’s surprise, teen’s text the most, averaging 2,779 texts per month. The average each month for age 18-24 decreases to 1299 texts per month and 25-34 decreases even more to an average of 592 messages. Voice usage is more uniform with 18-24 year-olds using 981 minutes per month while 25-34 age group averages 952 minutes per month.
Additionally, southerners use more mobile minutes than those of other regions, averaging over 800 minutes per month.
As mobile marketing becomes more viable and more adopted by marketers, it’s important to identify the heavy users of their mobile devices. The use by calls or texts varies significantly among different demographics. Practically everyone is relying on their mobile phones to communicate and the numbers continue to increase. Mobile marketing has indeed become a mass medium. And as health care marketers discover and implement mobile marketing tactics we can know whom we are most likely to effectively reach.
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4 Comments | Hospital Advertising, mobile marketing | Tagged: Advertising Agency Alabama, Advertising Agency in Tuscaloosa, Healthcare Marketing Ad Agency, Hospital Marketing Ad Agency, Huntsville, Jimmy Warren, Lori Moore, mobile marketing, Mobile Usage Data, Nancy Siniard, Nielsen, usage of cell phone by African-Americans, usage of cell phones by caucasians, usage of cell phones by Hispanics, usage of cell phones by southerners, usage of cell phones by teens, usage of cell phones by women | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Warren
