Hospital Branding

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...