“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.”

And to answer Steve’s question, “Dumb clients? Clueless agencies?…” I have to say, unfortunately, both.

So what do we make of the Old Spice Guy? You for sure by now have heard of the amazing success of this advertising campaign, both in breaking through with a hilarious ad during this year’s Super Bowl and breaking new ground with a real-time social media event featuring the Old Spice Guy responding to tweets with equally hilarious video spots. (For a nice recap of this success story, see this article in the New York Daily News, or check out some of the videos on the Old Spice YouTube channel.)

Perhaps even more significantly, the Old Spice Guy has utterly repositioned the Old Spice brand. Perhaps you remember the old Old Spice guy – he was a close relative of the Mrs. Paul’s fisherman, or at least that’s how my brain remembers him. (Or maybe there were a lot of cable-knit turtleneck sweaters, I’m not sure). Old Spice was an aftershave in a little pale ceramic bottle, and it was my dad’s aftershave, or maybe even his dad’s. I admit I may have used some in high school, but that’s before I was exposed in college to the real world of fashion and fragrance, and my old-school Old Spice was quickly relegated to the back of my closet.

With this new campaign, Old Spice has become a hip brand, your son’s (or grandson’s) toiletry. So, doesn’t this go to prove that, yes, in fact, advertising can overhaul your brand? Well, yes and no.

Yes, in that the Old Spice Guy campaign, and others like it, do show that the right advertising approach can rework certain brands (and let’s not kid ourselves – the social media component is a brilliant extension of that advertising effort, but is still, all the same, a promotional tactic). One key here is that Old Spice is a consumer product, and so often with a consumer product, the brand is the product. Meaning Old Spice is simply a body wash with a certain chemical composition, a certain smell, and a certain feel. How that chemical mix is positioned in the consumer’s mind is very much up to how it’s packaged, what price it’s sold at, what advertising supports it, etc. In that way, Old Spice and many other consumer brands are dependent on their advertising/promotions to shape their brand.

However, it’s different with more complex product brands or service brands. In these cases, it is very much the experience or offering delivered that shapes the brands first and foremost. If one day Old Spice is positioned as a cheap cologne for old men, and the next it’s positioned as a savvy body wash for young studs, that radical transition is possible with the right supporting packaging. But that’s not as simple with a hospital. If one day a hospital has a brand as a run-down, low-quality facility with cranky staff and mediocre physicians, that brand can’t simply be repackaged and sold through advertising as a cutting-edge, sophisticated medical facility with first-class service. Unless all of those aspects actually change, the brand remains the same. Ergo, unless the underlying truth of the experience changes, you won’t be able to change the brand. For a complex offering such as a hospital or insurance company, it’s difficult to alter that brand truth, and it often takes significant time and money. With a simple consumer product such as Old Spice or vodka, the product is very simple, allowing for many other components to help shape the brand in whatever way is desired. But in the end it comes to down to a simple branding truth: your desired brand position must reflect your actual brand delivery.

With all that said, I’d love to see the Old Spice Guy replicated in healthcare. I can here it now:

“Hello ladies, I’m Dr. Awesomeness. Look at your doctor, now look at me. Now him, now me. If only your doctor was as awesome as me, you’d be happier. I’m on a horse.”

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.”

The following quarter, Marty was asked: “Marty, why aren’t you measuring your marketing results?”

Marty replied: “Actually, I can’t seem to find the time. There’s not enough time to take care of all the meetings, marketing requests, politics, planning, PR responses – my plate is just too full. And my staff is the same way – who would I assign to take on measurement? We can barely find time to meet and properly plan a campaign, let alone build in upfront time to consider goals and objectives. Then tracking all the various metrics, reporting, trying to meet to review and analyze the results. Shoot, usually we’re half way through an effort before someone mentions measurement. Maybe we’ll start next month.”

The next month, Marty was asked: “Marty, why aren’t you measuring your marketing results?”

Marty replied: “I could probably figure this out, and find the time and resources to measure effectively, but honestly, no one is really pressing me for it. Sure, we get the occasional question about our strategy, or the “How do you know this will work?” inquiry from a physician. My CEO wants effective marketing, but so far he hasn’t pushed me to validate my approaches, so it’s just not a priority. Plus, it’s marketing, so people understand when I say this isn’t a science. Maybe we don’t have to worry about measuring after all.”

The next day, there was a knock on Marty’s door:

“Hi Marty, I’m Mary, and I’m going to be taking over as the new CEO. Tell me how you determine your marketing budget, why your staff is so large, and how effective your marketing efforts have been over the past couple of years.”

And Marty said: “Gulp.”

Don’t be the next Marty the Marketer. Despite the obvious benefits of measuring marketing efforts, many hospital marketers don’t make measurement a priority. But there may be no higher priority for healthcare marketers today than dedicating ourselves to measuring our marketing results.

For more conversation on measuring marketing efforts, be sure to visit our communities on LinkedIn or Facebook. Or check out our book, A Marketer’s Guide to Measuring Results.

1. Wellness is relevant to consumers. (You’ve heard us beat this drum before.) Whether it’s advocating for “inbound marketing” strategies or pleading that “Joe Public Doesn’t Care About Your Hospital” at healthcare marketing conferences around the country, our message is the same: Make your marketing communications relevant to your audiences.

   Remembering that consumers are constantly thinking “What’s in it for me?” provides the primary argument against daVinci Robot billboards and advertising that features physicians. Truth is, most people don’t need laser surgery or a new physician, so those ubiquitous brand-building approaches will not resonate as well. It’s not that you can’t build brand with these messages — you can. But because they’re not relevant to the vast majority of people in your community, it takes much more time and money for them to have an impact. Most people do have some level of interest in living healthier lives, whether it’s losing weight, cutting stress, exercising more, eating right, or whatever. A message focused on health and wellness is a message relevant to a lot more people, one that actually will build their awareness, along with their perception, utilization — and loyalty. And it’s a message that’s completely natural coming from a community health leader — You.

2. Wellness also helps deflect the negative focus on hospital advertising. As we noted in our last e-newsletter, there’s a small but growing “assault” on hospital marketing. Right or wrong, it wouldn’t be surprising if this sentiment spread as politicians, regulators, the media and others start to dig deeper into how our organizations spend their money. (A recent NPR story on the subject started with the on-air personality stating in a surprised manner that hospitals actually are out there competing for patients. Can you imagine?) It’s one thing to spend millions of dollars on advertising bragging about your awards or touting your new technology. It’s quite another to be focused on helping those in the community improve their health and pursue wellness. This isn’t a reason to focus on wellness as a brand position (see above and below), but it’s a nice side affect.

3. Wellness messaging will actually help improve the health of your community. Yes, anything we do as hospitals from a marketing communications perspective that brings the right patient to the right service helps improve the health of consumers (assuming, of course, the right service is your service). As opposed to marketing messages focused on promoting the benefits of your organization, however, wellness-based messaging focuses on what’s best for the audience, and is bound to help those in the community improve their health. So not only is it the right thing to do from a business perspective, it’s just the right thing to do period. (And for those in your organization who argue you don’t get “paid” for health and wellness, so why focus on it, see our blog post “Gettin’ Paid.”

The good news is that we’re seeing more hospitals and health systems attempt to build their brand on a position of health and wellness. The bad news is that if you’re not one of those organizations, you may be left behind. You see, that’s the Achilles heel of wellness as a brand position — anyone can claim it. Of course, like everything else (clinical quality, convenience, patient experience, advanced technology, etc.), how hospitals actually deliver on this promise varies greatly. But unlike some of the other potential positions a hospital could take, nearly every organization can pursue this position. And at some point, it could become ubiquitous as a position in a given market, like “we care,” or “high-tech, high-touch,” or “we’re award winning” have become.

So the key is to jump out there first and stick with it. Not for six months, not for two years, but for a long, long time. Be the first, be the most, and be the best — don’t just talk wellness, but build offerings and content that support the brand and that will consistently keep you ahead of the pack. Once you’re out there, if you don’t let up, it will be very difficult for others to catch you. Of course, if you let someone else get first dibs, the same can be said for you.

• Kentucky Society for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Fall Conference in Louisville, KY in October
• Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society (WHPRMS) Annual Conference in Green Bay, WI in October
• Carolinas Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society Fall Conference in Charleston, SC in December

The popular “Joe Public Doesn’t Care…” presentation counters the commonly held belief within healthcare organizations that if a hospital just promoted itself more, beds would fill and coffers would overflow. You may have heard it as “We’re a hidden gem!” or “We’re the best story no one’s ever heard.” But if your audience doesn’t want to hear from you, how can you expect them to listen, let alone change their perception or behavior? While there are many audiences who do have a great stake in a hospital, this presentation shows why most people in the market – “Joe Public” – don’t really care about your clinic, hospital or health system. Attendees learn the premise behind this assertion, and how acknowledging it can have a dramatic impact on marketing and communications strategies.

What do we do about bad bloggers and caustic comments?
There was a lot of angst about real or potential negativity coming from bloggers, and from those posting negative comments about hospitals on local websites (such as newspaper sites). This issue has been around for as long as these “web 2.0” tools have been around, but that doesn’t make these scenarios easier to deal with. The two extreme responses – ignoring all comments or engaging in tit-for-tat replies – are rarely the answer. As with many issues, the appropriate solution is somewhere in the gray middle, depending on the situation. (How’s that for helpful?)

How do you break down silos within a hospital?
To improve the patient experience, consistently set and measure marketing goals, to improve operations – you name it, and silos are there, causing pain. There’s no easy answer to this one (or to any of these, I guess). But try starting your engagements with others in the organization by asking them what they want, how you can help them, even if you have your own agenda. Breaking down walls starts by showing a genuine interest in helping the others behind that wall.

How can we convince leadership to do better/different marketing?
Another doozy that touches many hospitals and health systems. The logic seems simple – why follow when we can lead? why do the same when we want to stand out? why spend valuable budget on politically driven marketing requests? But this issue is more about right-brain emotion than left-brain logic. Two quick tips: find success stories that support your approach, so your idea doesn’t seem so novel. And use marketing measurement to help demonstrate what works – and what doesn’t – to help move the discussion back to the left-brain, objective side of the discussion.

What role should pricing play in hospital advertising?
An imaging center in the Cincinnati market was running an outdoor campaign featuring “MRIs for $700.” Seeing price-based advertising move beyond the more established retail healthcare services (e.g. Lasik eye surgery) to more traditional healthcare services is a big deal. MRIs are easier to “price,” given the straightforward nature of the offering (compared to, say, the “price” of joint replacement surgery, which can entail many components and isn’t always the same experience or cost). I use quotes around “price” because the actual price of a service to a patient typically depends on her coverage, including the negotiated reimbursement rate between her insurer and the provider, her out-of-pocket exposure, etc. The $700 MRI billboard is most likely targeted at those with high deductible plans, who are much more likely to shop around (especially for a commodity level item like an MRI). Is this an anomaly, or the beginning of a trend? Either way, it’s cutting edge, and it would be fascinating to learn the impact of this effort.

What’s your take on these issues? Which of these are you dealing with, and if they are front and center, how much pain are they causing?

In many cases, the problem is that without a track record of measurement to guide you in knowing what to expect from a marketing initiative, you’re making an undereducated guess. As I note in “A Marketer’s Guide to Measuring Results,” this can lead to trouble:

“The danger with setting objectives is that once they’re articulated, they can often represent success or failure within the organization, regardless of whether they were set with a clear understanding of what is to be expected. If you hope to increase orthopedic volumes 10% with your marketing campaign and you state that as the top objective, there will be some who will consider a 9% increase failure.”

And on the other end, aim too low, and leadership may question the value of the effort – “if we only expect to increase volumes .5%, what’s the point?”

If you’re just beginning to measure your marketing efforts in a consistent way, you may want to consider not assigning a specific target to your marketing initiative. You still should always articulate a goal – “increase volumes” or “improve awareness” – and measure your results. But until you can make a smart guess about what your expected outcomes should be, you may be be better off without one at all. Success can be determined by an effort ROI calculation, and if that’s not possible, by comparing the results to a baseline period where no marketing occurred.

How do you set targets for your marketing efforts? Can you think of examples of past marketing initiatives where hitting or missing the target defined success – regardless of what impact the actual results may have had?

For more conversation on measuring marketing efforts, be sure to visit our communities on LinkedIn or Facebook.

First, in early March, a state legislator from Vermont proposed a law that would prohibit hospitals from spending money on advertising or marketing. Democrat Steve Maier doesn’t approve of that type of spending when the state struggles year after to year to contain skyrocketing healthcare costs:

“It’s not producing health care,” Maier said in an interview in the Burlington Free Press.

Second is the growing trend of hospitals and health systems engaging productivity consultants to investigate and recommend cost savings throughout the organization. Typically, the recommendations are tied to a benchmark of similar organizations throughout the country, so a hospital may find it stands at the 78th percentile in spending on its oncology service line, and then can peg cost cutting to attaining a goal of, say, 50%. These assessments have been around for some time, no doubt. But they seem to have accelerated dramatically over the past two years, in the wake of the Great Recession. And it seems that in almost every case where one of these consultants is brought in, marketing takes a hit, sometimes a significant one, in overall budget allotment. Often, FTEs are reduced as well.

So what’s a healthcare marketer to do in the face of these new and potentially devastating assaults on their profession?

1. Don’t sweat the political heat.

   Banning hospital advertising is an easy mark for politicians. With all the discussion of healthcare reform and the ever-increasing costs associated with healthcare, most people in the public would have a hard time arguing with a politician calling for a ban on hospital advertising. But of course, it’s not nearly that simple. As we noted in an earlier blog post, the likelihood of a government ban on hospital marketing becoming law is very slim. But perhaps more importantly, there’s not much you can do about it anyway from your position. Certainly keep tabs on political efforts in your state (though it’s likely nothing will happen at a federal level), but if something does emerge, let your organizational leaders, trade associations and other affiliates do their jobs to combat this misguided effort.

2. Measure, measure, measure.

   Given the financial pressures many hospitals face these days, it’s understandable that they are looking to outside help to find new ways to improve productivity and save money. The best way to protect your department from budget cuts, whether from ongoing annual budget planning or from the recommendations of an outside productivity consultant, is to demonstrate that resources used for marketing are an investment in the organization’s financial success, not an expense. And the only way to show marketing is an investment that pays dividends is to measure the success of your marketing efforts consistently and comprehensively. It can take time – months, probably years – to build a system for effectively measuring the impact of marketing on your organization. But your ultimate goal is to be able to say: “Here’s how our annual investment of $2 million in marketing can be directly tied to $20 million in annual revenue, with a likelihood of another $20 million over the next two years. So instead of talking about cutting 25% of our resources – a $400,000 savings that will likely reduce impacted revenue by $4,000,000 – we should be talking about finding money to increase our marketing investment to $4 million, so we can double impacted revenue to $40 million.”

   Seem like a pipe dream? With dedication and a commitment to measurement, you have a shot at attaining this goal.

3. I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.

   We’ve talked with a few healthcare marketers who – between these new threats and their ongoing fight to establish respect within their hospital – are feeling pretty despondent about their chosen profession. While the challenges we’ve covered here are real and potentially significant, we can’t forget that our profession matters. It matters to the organizations we serve, who – whether they appreciate it fully or not – depend on our expertise to build brand and help drive in the patients needed to not only survive, but hopefully thrive. It matters to the physicians, who turn to us to help them fulfill their potential in treating patients. And it matters to the communities we serve – patients, customers, consumers – who benefit from our public service communications on injury prevention and immunizations, who learn how to deal with pain or improve their health from our educational materials, classes and online resources. And when we help connect the right patient with the right service in the organization, we help save lives.

For information related to this topic, see:

• Banning hospital advertising – it was only a matter of time.
• Truth #5: Healthcare marketing must become less of an art and more of a science.
• More on why those who cut marketing now will pay later.
• Also see “A Marketer’s Guide to Measurement: Prove the Impact of New Media and Traditional Healthcare Marketing Efforts,” (2010, HealthLeader’s Media.)

This has always been part of the hospital marketing dynamic, of course. When the industry in general doesn’t value marketing as a strategic endeavor, it’s not surprising marketing departments are used as some kind of whack-a-mole by organizations, smacking frantically at whatever issue pops up. What is discouraging, however, is that this marketing-by-spasm approach seems to be gripping more and more organizations in more and more situations.

While short-term myopia is in and of itself not very effective marketing, it carries with it a more damaging side-affect. The more reactionary marketing that’s carried out, the less time, money and energy there is for long-term strategic marketing efforts. This creates a vicious self-fulfilling cycle: the issues you’re whacking at today were likely caused by a lack of strategic thinking yesterday. If you need to increase general surgery volumes by the end of the quarter, no consumer advertising you can conceive will help that. And by not thinking strategically today (because you’re running around putting out fires), your organization is ensuring you aren’t addressing the problems of tomorrow, which then ensures more reactive panic later. And so on.

A good friend of mine told me about a strategic planning engagement he had with a small community hospital that was struggling financially. In the first meeting with the leadership group, the CEO grew frustrated and said: “We have too many problems now – we don’t have time for strategic thinking.”

And that, I believe, says everything there is to say about how many hospitals are approaching marketing. Hopefully, you work in one of the few organizations that mitigates that type of thinking. If not, at least you can take solace in the fact that you have lots of company.