Healthcare Advertising

Healthcare Branding: Leave Good (Marketing) Alone or Change?

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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Healthcare Marketing: Consider Newspaper Website Ads

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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Healthcare Marketing: Consumers Say Ads Influence Purchases

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.

Healthcare Marketing: How Consumers Are Using Internet as Health Resource

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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Healthcare Television Marketing: Less Can Be More

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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Healthcare Marketing: Social Media Screw-Ups

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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Healthcare Marketing: CAPTCHA as a Marketing Tool

Those annoying CAPTCHAs may soon be a viable advertising medium delivering a captive audience. 

You know those CAPTCHAs.  They are annoying and time consuming.  And most of the time very difficult to decipher.  CAPTCHAs, Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart, are those squiggly, indecipherable text strings websites require you to discern and type to gain access and provide security.  They protect websites against bots by generating and grading text that humans can read but current computer programs cannot. But now they can become a branding tool.

Solve Media is a new start-up company that is offering the opportunity to substitute those hard to read texts with clear concise words that can be a brand or product name.  So instead of typing in words or a series of letters that mean nothing, you can be forced to type the name of a brand or product. What a captive audience! And what a way to get consumers to type your brand or product, which is much better than just seeing it.

Of course it’s not free.  Advertisers will be required to buy the words on various sites.  The company is currently pitching it to major brands and advertisers.  The anticipated cost will be 25 -50 cents for each time a consumer types in your brand or product.  Seems rather expensive.  The revenue will be split with the website publisher.

The idea requires the consumer to be engaged and actually type the name of the brand or product, which the company claims, will increase recall. It does not provide a link to the advertisers website or a video or an ad for the advertiser.  The value is simply creating recall by the consumer seeing and typing the name.

What a novel idea. What a potentially promising advertising venue.  It’s early, so no one knows if the company will get traction or if brand and product managers will adopt it as a viable option.  But it does point out two things.  The first one is that branding happens everywhere. It’s omnipresent and ubiquitous. Nothing is sacred or off-limits if it can possibly give a brand or product an advantage.  The second is that advertising and branding is only limited by the boundaries of our creativity. New and exciting advertising opportunities appear almost daily.  The proliferation of media is seemingly endless.

Which means, as health care marketers, we must always be open to new opportunities.  And we must use our imagination and creativity to discover new but effective ways to market our brand.


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Healthcare Marketing: Marketers Use of Social Media Not Keeping Up With Users Consumption

Some companies are having great success with social media, but overall use of social networking is still very modest. 

Most companies are at least dabbling in social media. This includes hospitals and health care organizations.  The number of hospitals that have Facebook pages and that tweet continues to slowly increase.  But overall, the statistics indicate overall involvement and investment is still very modest.

Social Media and Online Media Report conducted by Econsultancy reveals that almost a third of companies are not spending anything on social media marketing while another third spend very small amounts.  Only about 10% of companies are spending a significant amount of their budget on social network sites.

Several reasons are given for not investing very much in social media.

  • Lack of resources  49%
  • Lack of knowledge and understanding  35%
  • Lack of budget  30%
  • Company culture 29%
  • Inability to measure success  24%
  • Fear of reputation issues   22%
  • Lack of senior buy-in  15%

Although these figures relate to all businesses, we can  safely assume the numbers for health care marketing would be very similar.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ford Motor Company uses social media extensively and very effectively.  In an interview with Ford’s CMO Jim Farley and reported by Mack Collier, Farley stated Ford has effectively used social media to lower marketing costs.   Farley, referring to social media states, “by launching a new vehicle early, getting people talking about it before it goes on sale, we can lower the amount of traditional advertising we do after the vehicle goes on sale.”  He adds Ford  spends 10% of the amount normally spent on traditional media on social media before a launch.

So two very different approaches to social media.  Two very different attitudes.  And these two are pretty representative of the marketing landscape.  Some marketers embrace social network marketing and claim great success while others are still skeptical and limit their use of social media.  It’s the nature of new media.  There is always a period of experimentation and uncertainty.

The lessons to learn are to watch, explore, experiment and learn.  There are ways to use social media that can be effective, but it may not be time to sell out and transfer significant amount resources and budget to a mostly unproven medium.  True some health care marketers have invested significant amounts in social marketing, like the Mayo Clinic.  However, they are generally an exception.  For most hospitals, the investment and effectiveness of social media is limited and varied.

There is still much to learn.  And the learning process will be adventurous, challenging and perhaps exciting.  Stay tuned as we watch what others do, explore new opportunities, experiment with new ideas and learn.  Social media will most likely consume more resources in the future but for now it’s a mixed bag for sure.


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Healthcare Marketing: How to Reach Elective Procedure Prospects

The affluent are depending less on magazines for their news and information and turning to other sources. 

Readership of magazines by heads of households earning more than $100,000 annually declined 16% over the past year according to the annual Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey.  Magazine readership has been slipping for several years but the previous year was first time the decline was in double digits.

The same research indicated internet usage among the same group increased 12% during the past year and increased their purchases of e-readers and tablet computers.  This group of consumers are obviously shifting to e-readers and mobile devices for their information. “The consumer is getting more and more comfortable with the alternative platforms”, stated Ipsos Mendelsohn president Bob Shullman, in article in Ad Age by Jeff Neff.    He believes “affluents are simply getting their content in a different format. Not doing away with it.”

In contrast, television viewership among the affluent remained unchanged with 17.6 hours per week and internet time increased to an average of 25.3 hours per week.

The survey also indicated, surprisingly, that affluents age 18 to 34 were 13% more likely to be interested in TV ads than older affluents. In fact the younger group were more likely to be interested in every type of advertising except newspaper ads.

The affluent account for only 21% of the population but makes up 60% of household income and 70% of the wealth in the U.S. The affluent are more likely candidates for elective procedures. Are we communicating with them through channels that are most likely to reach them?

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Healthcare Marketing: Strategy, Creative or Media Most Important?

Strategy and creative are usually more important than the media buy.

There is so much emphasis on media these days.  With all the traditional and non-traditional media options and a growing array of new alternatives, so much scrutiny is given to media effectiveness.  Do you continue to rely on traditional media?  How much of the media budget do you shift to non-traditional media?  How do you effectively utilize online advertising, social media, mobile and digital?  And how do you evaluate and analyze all the analytics that’s available to you?  So much of the critical analysis for an advertising campaign is about the media buy.  If the campaign is not effective, the media plan most often takes the blame.  Jack Neff made this point in an article in Ad Age.

But more important are strategy and creative. Even with the perfect media buy, if there was one, if the strategy is off target or the creative mediocre, the campaign will not be effective. True, media is very important.  And great emphasis should be given to the myriad of critical media decisions.  Media planning has become more complex and complicated and requires much attention.  But in the diligence to maximize media decisions, the real keys to advertising effectiveness takes a back seat. Strategy and creative are in the front seats.

Strategy is the essential foundation to every effective ad campaign. Nothing is more important than strategy.  Nothing trumps strategy.   It requires hard work, research, analysis, consumer understanding and smarts.  It is the basis of every successful advertising campaign.  Without a sound strategy, no media plan can be truly effective.  Strategy drives everything.  Strategy is the prerequisite to every other element of the campaign. It is the chief factor in determining how effective the advertising can be.

And the next most important component is strong creative.  Creative that communicates, that resonates, that grabs attention.  It’s the big idea. The concept that builds a brand and drives sales.  Creative that is rooted in the right strategy that communicates with the right tone and style.  The combination of thought and visuals that stand out.  That captures heart and mind and speaks to the soul.  Very little is as powerful as a great idea!

Advertising and marketing seem to be dominated today with discussions and debates about the media landscape.  What’s new and what works.  But more time, more energy, more emphasis should be spent on strategy and creative.  With proper attention to these two, the odds of the media plan being effective increases tremendously.

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