Strategy
Banning hospital advertising – it was only a matter of time.
Over the past year we’ve pondered periodically in our podcast why we haven’t heard a call for a ban on hospital advertising, given the national debate on healthcare reform. Well we finally have our first salvo.
According to an article in the Burlington Free Press on Monday, Vermont state representative Steve Maier is proposing legislation to ban hospitals from spending money on advertising or marketing in the state. Here’s a quote from the article:
“‘It’s not producing health care,’ Maier said of the money spent on advertising.”
Given the focus on healthcare costs at a national level, it’s not surprising a politician has latched onto the relatively easy mark of hospital advertising. (It is surprising that it took this long). Let’s put aside the argument surrounding advertising that supports public health issues such as obesity, smoking or wellness for a moment. There are at least three reasons I can think of why such a proposal doesn’t make sense. Read the rest of this entry »
Potential marketing disconnect topic of interview with Chris Bevolo
When the HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey 2010 was released, the results illustrated a number of potential conflicts between healthcare organization leaders and marketing leaders on how marketing is valued. That disconnect was the primary focus of an interview with Interval President Chris Bevolo in a story titled “Marketing: Potential and Pitfalls Ahead,” featured in the February 2010 issue of HealthLeaders magazine. Read the rest of this entry »
Marketing hospitals is stupid
That comment came from a discussion with an operations director at a health system, who was told by the senior vice president for strategy that “anyone spending time or money on marketing a hospital is stupid.” (The names in this story have been changed to protect the innocent and short-sighted.) Read the rest of this entry »
Two words that often kill great ideas: “prove it”
When it comes to healthcare marketing, one of the most feared comments from executives, physicians and operational leaders is this: “If you can’t prove this will work, then we’re not doing it.”
As we’ve stated many times over the past year in our blog posts, podcasts, and paper, we feel passionately that marketers should strive to measure the success of their efforts whenever possible. Measurement allows you to demonstrate marketing’s value to leadership, and, more importantly, to better understand what works and what doesn’t. That kind of measurement discipline can help marketers answer that dreaded question by allowing them to pull from past experiences and demonstrate that yes, this can work, and this is how it has in the past.
Except in one case: when the idea is brand new and hasn’t been done before, either by you and your organization, or, even worse, by anybody else. Of course, launching a new idea before anyone else can lead to great success (iPod, TiVo, Starbuck’s “third place” experience, etc.) But in a conservative culture, the lack of a proven track record is often what kills an innovative idea. An article in this week’s BusinessWeek titled “Innovation’s Accidental Enemies” does a great job of reminding us why the lack of a proven track record should be considered an opportunity, not a deficit. Read the rest of this entry »
