Trends
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 »
What we tell ourselves is hooey
We’ve spent a lot of time in some recent podcasts harping on the idea that many traditional means of research – especially surveys and focus groups – fail to provide true insight into consumer motivations because what people say often doesn’t correlate with what they do. One of our favorite sources for this philosophy is Martin Lindstrom, author of the best-seller “Buyology” and consultant to Fortune 500 companies. Lindstrom’s recent work 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 »
