When marketing healthcare brands, achieving top-of-mind awareness is good. Most preferred healthcare brand is even better. Most likely to return and to refer to others -- fantastic. But how about love for your healthcare brand? Read more »

Most hospital branding campaigns involve associates in the research or execution phase: interviewing or featuring the individuals who represent the hospital's brand. But hospital branding efforts rarely deliver those brand messages back to the associates, and we think that is a mistake. Read more »

For many hospitals, branding has lost its top spot on the priority list. For some, it’s the lack of long term funding. For others, it’s internal pressure to promote only service lines. Still others lack the marketing culture required to really implement such large-scale change. Regardless of the reason, it has resulted in many great hospitals not being known as great hospitals. Read more »

You may have seen our previous blog on taboo topics for women. Well, guys, you’re not getting off that easy. There are a slew of topics we know you’d rather sweep under the rug (and often do). These brands are winning over men by not being afraid of being provocative. 1. Viagra could have gone the way of punchlines. Instead, the brand’s newest campaign taps deeply into an audience of Boomer men who don’t run from adversity. Read more »

Cardiac services is one of the most popular services for hospitals and health systems to market to consumer audiences. For good reason. Cardiac services is often one of the hospital's most profitable service lines. (Even if you're a non-profit, remember the maxim, No margin, no mission.) Consumers "get" the need for advanced heart care. There's no need to "sell" the average person on why expertise is important. Read more »

Adapted from Franklin Street's Healthcare Marketing Trends Report Where's your smart phone right now? Chances are good that it's within arm's reach. According to a Morgan Stanley study, 91% of smartphone owners keep their phones beside them 24 hours a day. (An interesting office poll: ask your colleagues how many sleep with their phones. The number who do will surprise you.) Read more »

We spend a lot of time talking about good branding and what it means in healthcare. But even the great branding efforts will fall flat if it’s not executed consistently across all media—including signage. After all, the best ad campaigns in the world won’t help you if people can’t find their way around. And since patient satisfaction and feedback also affects government reimbursement, good signage is more important than ever. Read more »

Adapted from Franklin Street's Healthcare Marketing Trends Report. A new form of self-help in healthcare and health and wellness is emerging. Brands like Nike are embedding "feedback loops" into their products, allowing people to get real-time reactions on their activities – while reaping brand loyalty and profits in the process. Call it Do It Yourself (DIY) Healthcare or "Help Me Help Myself." Read more »

One of our clients reminded us recently that healthcare is a two-sided coin of Life and Death. Unlike any other business category, healthcare marketing and branding requires engaging prospective patients who would rather avoid the conversation altogether. We are starting to see the trend of audiences becoming increasingly engaged in proactive healthcare lifestyles. Read more »

In the 2012 Presidential Election, the Democrats taught the Republicans the value of a good Ground Game, or, in marketing terms, grassroots marketing. The Democrats got their base out to vote by spending millions and committed even more in man hours to ensure people made it to the polls on Election Day. Wisely, the Democrats saw grassroots marketing as an important element in their overall approach to winning the election.But, if you're told Read more »