Interval client launches new online wellness campaign
On August 15, new Interval client Inova Health System (Fairfax, VA) launched “FitFor50,” a new online wellness campaign. The campaign features former Washington Redskins great Darrell Green as a passionate spokesperson, and provides a 50-day wellness program through the FitFor50.org website. The online experience includes videos, tips from Darrell and Inova physicians, wellness content, and an interactive Wellness Playbook, which allows registered users to log their own wellness goals and update their personal progress. Interval designed the FitFor50.org website and Wellness Playbook.
“The concept of creating an online community based on wellness is a natural extension of Inova Health System’s branding promise,” says Chris Boyer, Senior Manager of Digital Communications for Inova Health System. “The FitFor50 site also integrates a number of social media platforms, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We’ve made an effort to ensure users of the site can interact with the content in ways they are most comfortable.”
According to Boyer, the FitFor50 website had more than 6,000 unique visitors within the first 10 days of the campaign, and more than 2,000 people had registered for the Wellness Playbook
“This is a terrific example of a health system using health and wellness to engage consumers and build its brand,” said Interval president Chris Bevolo. “Rather than the typical approach of touting specialties or technologies that many consumers don’t need or can’t relate to, wellness is actually relevant to most people, and Inova has done an amazing job of leveraging wellness to connect with those in its market.”
Ahh, my favorite: a heated rant about billboards
Poor billboards – what did they ever do to hurt anyone? Except for suck it so often. So much money down the tubes. We beat up on “billboards” so often, I’m not sure there’s anything left to say. But here’s a great rant from Steve Davis, whose blog “Health Care Strategist” I follow.
And to answer Steve’s question, “Dumb clients? Clueless agencies?…” I have to say, unfortunately, both.
Can advertising alone change your brand?
For years, we’ve been lamenting the over-reliance on mass consumer advertising in hospital marketing, and with it, the exaggerated expectations many organizations have for such a tactic. At the same time, and in the same vein, we’re imploring hospitals to take brand building seriously, focusing on the idea that hospital brands are built and improved through the patient experience. “Advertising doesn’t build brands,” we’d admonish, “the experience you deliver does.” And we’d often trot out cases like the Mayo Clinic or Starbucks as examples of companies that have built world-renown brands without any advertising.
So what do we make of the Old Spice Guy? Read More
Marty the marketer meanders on measurement
One day, Marty the hospital marketer was asked: “Marty, why aren’t you measuring your marketing results?”
Marty replied: “I have no clue where to begin. Every time I start to think about it, it overwhelms me. What are our goals? What objectives should we target? Whose approval do I need for those? What are we going to measure? How are we going to measure it? What metrics should we use? Where do we get the data? How will we know if we succeed? I believe in measurement, but I don’t really know how to do it, or where to begin. Maybe next quarter.” Read More
Will you be the first to own wellness in your market?
We continue to push and cajole hospitals to establish a brand positioning in their market around wellness. That is, if your hospital is known for one thing, let it be known as the resource for health and wellness support, resources, content and offerings. Why wellness? Here are three primary reasons: Read More
Bevolo slotted for three keynotes in the fall
Interval owner and healthcare marketing thought-leader Chris Bevolo is scheduled as the keynote speaker at three conferences this fall. Read More
What’s on your mind, healthcare marketer?
I was on the road last week speaking to two healthcare marketing groups. First, we talked marketing measurement at the Cincinnati AMA monthly meeting. Then, I presented “Joe Public Doesn’t Care About Your Hospital” to the Virginia Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations (VSHMPR) in Charlottesville, Virginia. In talking with attendees and fielding questions, a few common points of interest seemed to emerge at both venues. What was top of mind for marketers in these two markets? See if any of these sound familiar: Read More
Be careful when setting expectations
Expectations are a funny thing. A former president famously attributed his political success to setting low expectations and then beating them. While some might argue he struggled to accomplish even that, his point is worth considering when it comes to how you set objectives for your hospital marketing efforts. It’s the old “perception vs. reality” equation at work again – the perception of whether you hit or miss your established target can be more powerful that the actual results themselves. Read More
The Assault on Hospital Marketing
Hospital marketers can be forgiven if they feel like they have a target on their backs these days. While many marketers are used to having to battle budget pressures and an ignorance or undervaluing of marketing from within, now two new sources from outside the organization have their sights set directly on hospital marketing. Read More
More whack-a-mole marketing
Perhaps it’s the economy, or healthcare reform, I’m not sure. But for whatever reason, we’re seeing more and more hospitals in reactionary mode when it comes to marketing. Reacting to competitive advertising. Reacting to new awards. Reacting to physician demands. Reacting to drops in volume. Reacting to whatever has popped up this week, today, this morning, NOW. Read More