Hospital Branding

You have a new name, an exciting new brand platform, and a breakthrough idea for an ad campaign.  You're ready for launch!  Then budgeting reality hits and now you feel like a NASA astronaut stuck on the launch pad, grounded by a weather delay or mechanical issue.  Dollars spent on the up-front planning phase have greatly reduced what's available on the back-end.  Or, senior leadership has determined that operational issues need to be in place prior to launch and these costs are coming out of your budget. With countless branding initiatives taking place among hospitals throughout the U.S., balancing budget issues with effective brand launch plans might have you seeing stars, and not from light years away. A new brand strategy is more than just the promotional component.  It's actually a 5-step process that includes developmental, operational, inspirational, promotional, and cultural elements - all competing for marketing launch dollars.  So, given l...

While there were some great takeaways from the crowded exhibit hall, including Chicago’s hometown popcorn and popular business books, the SHSMD Connections conference also provided tasty takeaways to apply to the hospital branding field.  Here’s ten that made our list: Accelerate and the need for speed – Hospital branding has traditionally been pegged as a six to nine month planning process, resulting in a two to three year strategy.  Several of the education sessions and case studies discussed the need to be more nimble, aggressive and faster to the marketplace.  Competitive activity and changing political landscapes were cited as key drivers of the need for speed, but most agreed it is important to remain strategic and have a well thought out plan.   Just do it faster and get there quicker . Create more energy – Maybe a direct result of the need for speed was the reference that today’s hospital marketers need to create more energy in their bran...

For years, marketers involved in the branding of healthcare organizations have been frustrated about their role in delivering on customer service.  In essence, delivering on the brand promise.  Unlike traditional consumer goods and services, where the customer transaction can be standardized - think hot burgers and personal shoppers - healthcare organizations have multiple layers of customer interactions which fall on the ability of individuals, not processes, to deliver.  Additionally, healthcare consumers are not necessarily customers by choice.  There are some exceptions to this, but for the most part it's not where and how people want to spend their time. As a result of this inability to control the delivery of customer service across the total enterprise, hospitals have looked for other brand platforms that can be more consistent.  Technology, clinical breakthroughs, quality rankings, and national accreditations are examples of common hospital bran...

You know the symptoms:  your ears hurt when your hospital's branding team talks about digital marketing, your throat is sore when speaking to your media planner about re-marketing, your body aches when you click on your web page and see little continuity between it and your off-line communications.  All classic signs of Digitalitis - that nagging, uncomfortable, and sickly feeling that you're not fully embracing the role of digital marketing and it's causing bloating to your marketing budget and efforts. After recently attending a couple national hospital marketing conferences, I have learned that Digitalitis is more prevalent than expected.  Roundtable meetings and several discussions with leading brand thinkers in the hospital space reinforced that this condition is occurring even in the most sophisticated of healthcare organizations. Why the outbreak? Senior marketing professionals have grown up in an era of traditional, off-line media.  Where bra...

From Paul Szablowski and Rob Rosenberg's recent presentation at Forum for Healthcare Strategists. Hospital Branding:  7 Deadly Words of Healthcare Marketing Jacqueline Fellows, for HealthLeaders Media  , May 29, 2013 Being descriptive in healthcare marketing can be a challenge when you stop using these seven words that no longer have the power to distinguish your organization or its services from those of your competitors. In the early 1970s, stand-up comedian George Carlin delivered what would become the bit he was best known for, "The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television." Google it and you'll be treated to a filthy and hilarious not-safe-for-work rant. Hoping that a portion of that phrase  stands the test of time , Paul Szablowski, vice president of public relations, marketing, and communications for Dignity Health, and Rob Rosenberg, president and brand strategy director for Springboard Brand & Creative Strategy, have developed their own l...

Organizations in every industry are recognizing that the "silo mentality" or vertical strategy is  an ineffective and disruptive way of doing business. The horizontal strategy has emerged as a best practice and enables cross-thinking among employee departments and populations.  Automobile and technology leaders were among the first to recognize that bringing engineering, design, marketing, and financial teams together provides far better returns than those passing strategic plans from one department to another. The same strategy holds true for hospitals seeking to brand their organizations in their respective markets.  The days of developing a brand platform in the marketing department and then informing the rest of the enterprise about what it is and how employees should act are quickly disappearing.  Those organizations that include teams and staff in the development and cultural integration of the brand will create brand champions who contribute to t...

As hospital marketers, there are several terms that come into play each day in writing and conversation.  From an organizational perspective you have words such as mission, vision, values, culture, and pillars.  From a marketing standpoint, there are words like goals, objectives, tactics, positioning, brand, strategy, promise statement, essence, and character.   Each is very different but oftentimes, and mistakenly, is used interchangeably. Since this blog is about hospital branding, let's keep the focus there.  Of all the terms referenced above, only one speaks to your customer - the brand promise .  The others are internally-focused and help structure your organizational and marketing thinking.   Jack Trout and Al Ries in their classic book, "Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind," define the concept of positioning as a goal.   The space you want to occupy in the minds of your key customer groups.   And, regardless of audience, your pos...

Each year, J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) releases a major study on the key upcoming trends impacting the business of marketing and advertising. This year's list is comprised of some you'd expect, but others that are new and very relevant to today's lifestyles - for example, "intelligent objects," "predictive personalization," the "sensory explosion," and "the mobile fingerprint." Also on this year's list is a trend which has great implications for the healthcare industry: the correlation between health and happiness and the scientific findings which support this relationship.  Among them: Researchers at University College London have found that happiness improves the functioning of key biological processes. Research has shown that more optimistic people are up to 50% less likely to suffer a heart attack or a stroke. A study on "flourishing" published in the American Journal of Public Health links positive ment...