Healthcare marketing’s secret (and unfortunate) raison d'être
Take a look at your last marketing campaign or initiative. Most likely, the documented goals were something like: “improve awareness by x%” or “increase volumes by y%” or some other marketing-related metric.
Now, how many of your goals looked like this:
“Appease chief surgeon.”
“Apply CEO’s favorite photography style.”
“Make employees feel better about themselves.”
“Get cardiologist/ortho service line director/whack board member off our backs.”
Yet, how many of you can honestly say that one of these “hidden” goals – or one close to it – didn’t play a role in the marketing initiative? Heck, how many of you would admit that one of these hidden goals was actually the driving force behind your initiative?
It’s the dirty little secret in healthcare marketing. So much of what hits the streets by way of marketing initiatives, especially advertising campaigns, is driven not by sound marketing strategy but in response to internal political pressure. Undoubtedly, politically driven marketing decisions are found in any industry (as are politically driven decisions in other disciplines, such as finance or human resources). But that doesn’t excuse the practice. Imagine how much money, how many resources and how much energy has been wasted to fulfill politically driven goals in healthcare marketing.
What can marketers do about this insidious affliction? It’s easy to say, “Just say no.” But we’ve seen situations where marketing leaders try to stand up to such pressure, and are over time either ignored, marginalized, or in extreme cases, forced out. On the other end of the scale (or sometimes because of the real or implied threats noted above), many marketers simply acquiesce, kind of a CYA approach. But not only does that produce poor or misguided marketing, it can encourage more of the behavior.
So what’s the solution? Certainly marketers should try all means to overcome secret agendas and hidden goals. But as with any difficult organizational dynamic, the key is often balance: knowing when to pick your battles. What we’d love to see is someone actually document one of the hidden goals in a creative brief, then seek approval from leadership or the board. Imagine a marketing campaign to build orthopedic business with goals that read:
“Increase awareness of XYZ’s orthopedic services.”
“Improve joint replacement surgery volumes by 10% in 2009.”
“Give Dr. Jones some billboards so he stops bitching at meetings and going behind the marketing VP’s back to complain to the CEO.”
How do you deal with the hidden political pressures driving marketing in your organization? We’d love to hear what’s worked for you, and what hasn’t.
Looks like we’re in sync on another dirty secret, Chris. I don’t know if there are, in fact, any silver bullets to prevent Dr. Jones from demanding – and getting – his billboards. However, the “bullet-proof vest” for the healthcare marketer is brand standards. Whether in the form of a manual, a brand essence guide, or something similar, hospital marketers must have a set of standards to which they adhere in order to QUANTIFIABLY reply to the CEO and Dr. Jones. You know…”we can do that, but it has to look like this,” or, “the reason we did not include joint replacement in phase I is because the criteria we established…” are ways hospital marketers can address these requests. Without these types of standards or criteria, it’s a game of ping-pong, and guess who’s the ball?
Always a pleasure,
Rob Rosenberg
Springboard
http://www.hospitalbranding.blogspot.com
Great point, Rob. To build on that, a marketing plan that is built on business priorities approved by leadership also helps. That allows the marketer to push back and say, “Hey, I understand what you’re after Dr. Jones, but as an organization, we’ve set these priorities for marketing. We can certainly revisit the plan with leadership, but otherwise we’re pursing these strategies this year.” Of course, many marketers try this, only to have Dr. Jones go to the CEO, followed by the CEO calling and saying, “I know that wasn’t a priority we agreed to, but fit it in anyway.” But at least with a plan, the priorities are documented.
Worked in three hospital mktg/pr departments, oversaw two of them. Best advice for this not-so-secret secret is to work on building your internal relationships and your credibility. Figure out very quickly who the influencers are, get to know them and get them to know you (you will need them, and they will need you). Be straightforward and direct in your communication, and clearly (and I do mean clearly) and authoritatively demonstrate your expertise. Never, ever forget that you are the expert in your field. Wishy-washy marketers/PR folks get run over, no doubt.