Hospital Branding

This month, Springboard celebrated its 10-year anniversary.  The number of well wishes and thoughtful remarks were much appreciated and gave us "cause for pause" and the opportunity to reflect on the last decade. Obviously, much has changed in the healthcare and marketing industries; from the invent of social media to the real inroads of healthcare reform. Amidst all the changes, there is a consistent thread that has remained woven in the fabric of consumer buying, and has for decades. Yes, the concept of branding is alive and well and remains at the "heart beat" of reaching and motivating customers to choose one product or service over another. That's it - heart beat!  After spending so many years describing the concept of branding and all the text-book definitions, it comes down to these two key words.  And when contrasted with the words "chest beat," used to describe branding's first cousin, selling, it really ticks! A brand strategy makes...

At a recent breakfast branding club, featuring those in the business and not famous cereals and toaster items, the discussion popped up about the strategy of owning key phrases and images. In addition to graphic standards, which organizations develop to illustrate proper spacing and color palettes, the conversation centered on the need for companies to create key words, phrases, and images that support their brand propositions. Having once worked on Sealy Posturepedic mattresses, I recalled the "ownership" (and subsequent trademark) of the phrase, "designed in cooperation with leading orthopedic surgeons." Key words that created a franchise and contributed to a 90% awareness of the Posturepedic brand. In addition to this copy, all sales materials and advertising were required to feature the now famous mattress "cut-away," the scientific illustration that shows various layers of ticking, coils, and foam. This combination of art and copy became a hallma...

Have you noticed it in your marketplace? Hospitals and health systems are undergoing a vast resurgence in new naming strategies. Here in the Chicago area, for example, we've seen Central DuPage Hospital and Delnor Health System come together as "Cadence Health." Provena Health and Resurrection Health Care have selected "Presence Health" as their new combined name. From corporate HQ in San Francisco, Catholic Healthcare West has become Dignity Health in their 40-plus markets in the U.S. The Ohio State University Hospital changed its name to Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University. And, just recently St. Luke's Hospital in Allentown, PA announced it will now be known as St. Luke's University Health Network. These are only a handful of the many name changes happening in markets across the country. Why this surge? The reasons vary; from an onslaught of recent mergers to faith-based practices, from competitive positioning to donor recogni...

At the beginning of each new year, there's a Top 10 list for just about everything - from dieting to garage storage tips. So, while we're still in January, here's our list of Top 10 "Keep In Minds" for hospital marketers to improve their organization's marketing performance based on what we've read, discussed, heard, and pondered about. We hope 2012 brings you great success in the market. 1. Start with strategy . There are still too many organizations jumping right into execution and not enough focusing on "big ideas" when it comes to establishing a unique and strategic brand position. Building a successful brand is more than promotional - it includes five key steps; developmental, inspirational, promotional, operational, and cultural. These steps ensure that your brand delivers on a meaningful promise that you're making to the market. 2. Be consistent . Once your strategy is determined, stay the course! Why are so many organiza...

2011 has been a very good year for brand-building. "Backbone" companies such as Ford and McDonald's have recovered and performed well during the economic crunch. We've seen many brands effectively use and blend social media into their marketing strategies and their success is being measured not only in new buyers but in new "friends," "fans," and "followers" as well. And, many brands seem to have re-discovered the power of the "big idea" and not just the "big execution." The most memorable ad campaigns, according to Ad Age and Adweek, seem to be grounded in strategy and not just above the clouds in terms of production value. With all this in mind, I've picked the industry that I believe deserves the "Big Dividend Award" in 2011. Drum roll, please...and the winner is, The Insurance Industry . Yes, that boring, stodgy, and price-driven category that we support every month in several categories including li...

Andy Rooney died last week. An amazing journalist and beloved host of 60 Minutes , he will be sorely missed. He would start each section with a satirical question to which the answer was so obvious, just asking it would make you laugh. Many times his opening would be "what's all this talk about (insert subject here with ironic twist)" or, "why in the world would people (insert action here with absurd twist)." A few months ago, Laura Harner - Marketing Manager at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania - wrote this blog post for Hospital Branding in Rooney-style on the subject of patient-centered care. In Andy speak, it might have started with this: "What's all this talk about hospitals and patient-centered care? Is this a new concept? Have they been focused in the past on not providing patient-centered care? And if the not on the patient, who is the care centered around? You can almost hear him ask these questions and, in addi...

There is a real revolution going on right now among serious branding organizations. It's popping up everywhere, from many of the presentations at Brand Manage Camp (which I attended a couple weeks ago in Vegas) to yesterday's Harvard Business Review blog by Howard Schultz, President and CEO of Starbucks. It goes like this, to borrow a key quote from the Schultz blog: "It is no longer enough to serve customers, employees, and shareholders. As corporate citizens of the world, it is our responsibility - our duty - to serve the communities where we do business by helping to improve, for example, the quality of citizens' education, employment, health care, safety, and overall daily life, plus future prospects." From BP to Walmart, Starbucks to Southwest, the most well known branding companies have implemented Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to either support reputation management or improve on their reputation capital. And it's not only good ...