Hospital Branding

Just when you thought it was safe to swallow the concept of "operationalizing" your brand, here's another one to chew on - "Organizationalizing" your brand.  A few letters apart, but the two concepts offer a world of difference to your patients and other customer groups. Before giving these concepts their just desserts (does this eating theme keeping going on?), let's explore the five steps of brand-building; 1) Developmental 2) Internal 3) Operational 4) Promotional 5) Organizational.   Step 1 is worthy of its own post and many articles and blog posts have been dedicated to the most effective ways to develop your brand strategy.  (If you'd like a refresher course, please let me know).  Step 2 is key to your brand's success.  Employees and other key stakeholders must not only be educated but inspired about their role in delivering on the brand promise.  Steps 3 and 4 are where most hospitals put the majority of their time and money.  From letterhead

J ust returned from the SHSMD 2009 conference in Orlando and delighted that - even in today's economy - over 700 hospital marketing professionals were in attendance.  Lots of good sessions and energy. I had the chance to speak on "Operationalizing Your Brand" with Susan Hoffman of Lehigh Valley Health Network.  It's a terrific story to share, but in a nutshell, we discussed the need to dig deep within your organization to uncover its true DNA (Differentiating Native Attributes), inspire employees, and have patience.  It takes at least two years for the brand to resonate in the market. Sounds simple, yet many hospital marketers aren't digging deep enough to uncover the DNA of their brand. Rather, they are settling for a strategy and  attributes that are either "me too" or "ho hum."  My favorite place to help clients look for their brand essence is in the history books of their organizations.  There's a reason every company, organization, pro

  HealthLeaders Media recently published an article on appropriate hospital marketing and messaging tactics during a down economy.  The article appeared in the August 2009 issue of Health Leaders - Springboard and its client, Lehigh Valley Health Network, were featured - click  here  to read - please add your comments on the blog and share your perspective.

On July 23, Springboard hosted an in depth look at The Service Line Manager as Brand Manager during its latest Brand 2.0 Webinar. The healthcare service line manager brings top-down and bottom-up understanding of how a service works – clinically and operationally – and where it fits in the organization’s “big picture.” This latest Webinar offers insights into how some of today’s most successful healthcare organizations are leveraging centers of excellence to take vertical brand management to new heights. It also discusses how economic pressures are putting some Service Line Managers’ jobs at risk – and at the same time, potentially jeopardizing the brand. We also hear from one organization that has successfully stayed the course with their Service Line Management structure, with excellent brand-focused results. Donna Arbogast from Springboard Brand & Creative Strategy hosted the Webinar. Panelists included: Theodore Michalke Managing Partner, NeuStrategy, Chicago, IL Former Direc

While driving through a metro area recently, that music popped into my head.  You know, the theme that introduced "The Dating Game," the landmark game show of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. A bachelorette would question three bachelors, who were hidden from her view and at the end, choose one to go out with on a date paid for by the show.  (Sound familiar?  Come to think about it, maybe game shows were the original reality TV that took one episode instead of dragging us through 13 weeks.) Back to my road trip and why that musical theme popped into mind.  On three consecutive billboards (and yes, I do look at them), there were hospital ad messages.  In a competitive market this otherwise would not strike me as odd, but it was the content that nearly caused me off the road. The first billboard claimed "Rated #1 for heart surgery."  The second featured a well-known magazine masthead and cited "One of the country's best in neurosciences."  The third

Lots of terrific feedback and post-posting comments about social networking from the last blog entry ("Is your social networking strategy a portal or a porta-potty").  In fact, several requests for a follow-up on how hospitals can differentiate their social networking strategies, much like they do their brands. Raises a very interesting point.  Your social networking strategy using tactics such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and others, should stay the course of your brand strategy and become yet another demonstration of your brand promise in the marketplace.  Not veer off, exit, or take a sudden turn from your brand pathway. At the time of this writing, as researched by Ed Bennett (ebennett.org) , 277 hospitals are involved in social networking.  Here's a breakdown of how many are using what:     135 YouTube Channels 101 Facebook pages 201 Twitter Accounts 25 Blogs The list is growing fast and, predictably, so is the "vanilla flavor" (aka undifferentiated) of m

Someone you follow on Twitter just posted this important message -  "I'm going to the gym, it's going to feel great!"  On Facebook, Friend 214 placed an important quote from President 16 on your wall.  What did you ever do without social networks? With millions of users on networks such as Facebook and Twitter - nearly 18 million users on Twitter alone (representing over 10% of internet users per eMarketer, April 2009), social networking has turned into an explosive personal and professional marketing tool.  When used properly, these networks have an amazing impact on search engine optimization, brand awareness, and potential sales generation.  From a personal standpoint, it is a great way to network with friends and family - and with the fastest growth segment on Facebook becoming Baby Boomers, it's also replacing greeting cards and party invitations!  The key issue is this:  Is your social network a portal:  providing valuable new ideas and links to your user ba

Quite a diverse group of individuals.  Yet, as we heard during Springboard's first Brand 2.0 Webinar, that's precisely who needs to work together in order for a brand launch to be successful. And it's the hospital's brand manager who needs to sew it together. Brand management, the concept which will celebrate its' 78th birthday this May - after born in the hallways of P&G - is moving forward in healthcare organizations.  Hospitals in particular are looking for ways to bring together all aspects of strategic planning, marketing, communications, and patient experience together under the leadership of a brand manager.   That's quite an evolution from the mid-80's, when hospital PR departments simply hung out a sign that read "Marketing Department" while changing little else. Brand managers fall within two categories;  organizational and departmental.  The organizational brand manager is responsible for how the brand strategy is implemented across

When my sons were just 5 and 3, we visited a restaurant with real tablecloths. No vinyl, no plastic – just bright white fabric! To top it off, the host gave the boys paper placemats and crayons. I immediately cautioned them not to make any marks on the cloth. My oldest – a rule follower then and now – proceeded to draw carefully in the center of the placemat. My youngest – not a rule follower then or now – started outlining the placemat with his crayon, getting as close as he could to the edge without going off the paper. And he grinned up at me as he did it! Their unique personalities were shining through. And if my sons were organizations, we would call their personalities their brands. The Link Between Brand Personality and Employee Engagement I could no sooner force them into a different personality mold than I could force a hospital or system to adopt a brand that is created “for” them. Brands are. Brands live within your organization. At the Forum for Healthcare Strategists

A short, but telling post.  At every branding conference during the last 10 years, Starbucks has been used as an example of die-hard brand loyalty.  The hypothetical question asked was:  "If the economy ever turned upside down, what item would you least give up?"  "A cup of Starbucks" was always the answer.  People felt that at $2.50 or so a cup, it would still give us a taste of luxury in tough times. Well, guess what.  Starbucks has closed and will close hundreds of stores, its stock has been grinded down, and the famed "experience" is now realized while grocery shopping or pulling up in the "Drive Thru."   The lesson?  Real fans put their money where their mouths are.  The rest of us are quick to find less costly alternatives that still satisfy the basic needs.  Now that's something to think about.

In 1993, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles wrote another book in their series of short reads covering the "One Minute Manager" to organizing for greater corporate efficiency. One of their best selling titles, "Raving Fans, Revolution in Customer Service" caught the interest of many of us in the service sector. In the classic marketing behavior model, our job as brand-builders is to move customers from awareness of our product/service to loyal users. Along the way, we create preference, likeliness to use, and advocacy. And then we all talked about moving loyal users to fans...customers who would throw themselves on a sword for our services and recommend us to all their friends and neighbors. Back then, it was all talk because it was difficult to quantify a "fan base." It sounded right in theory. Hello 2009 and social networking sites like Facebook. Now, it's possible to count your fans and gauge your effectiveness in truly creating a fan base for

Think icebergs. Nearly 90% of their mass floats below the surface, leaving just 10% (or the tip) in our view. The expression tip of the iceberg implies “a small indication of a larger possibility,” according to Wiktionary . Now think taglines. Nearly 90% of the work, process, and strategy used to develop these three to six words are below the surface and unseen by the consumer’s eye. And a tagline is a short indication of a larger promise. The point (or tip) I’m offering here is this: A tagline is what consumers hear and see about your brand through advertising and other communications efforts. Yet 90% of your brand’s promise is delivered under the surface or internally in your organization. And that can make your brand swim or sink. In many hospitals, taglines are thrown together to complement a new Web site design or business card. Often, they are bland and not very memorable. Predictably, they include several words that shouldn’t be used by hospitals: “care,” “exceptional,” “a

I want to try a vegetable garden this spring, so I bought a ready-made kit to get some small plants rooted this winter. And naturally, that made me think of the next wave of health care branding! Seriously. Establishing “brand roots” is Brand 2.0 – brand management in health care. While marketing communicators can’t control every aspect of the customer experience, we can help to establish “brand roots” throughout the organization to nurture the living, breathing brand. A brand position is not an end in itself; it needs continuous feeding, care, maybe even some pruning, to keep it alive, energized and growing. This organic process means helping employees answer questions like: -- What does our brand mean in my daily routine? -- What if I don’t even work with patients or the public? How do I “live the brand”? -- What do I do if I see a gap between our brand promise and a patient’s experience? Who do I turn to? Is there a way to bridge these gaps? For the marketing communications team, th

This is an idea we were talking about during a meeting today - it involves hospitals being true to their brand and not sabotaging with false claims.  Watch for this next week! Rob