Is Kindness Trendy?
Posted: May 5th, 2011 | Author: Kenya Gibson | Filed under: All Junto Health Posts, The Whole Enchilada, Trends in Health & Wellness | Tags: Compassion, Trend Spotting, YouTube | 2 Comments »Marketers are always searching for the newest trends and movements, from flash dancing mobs to the use of Foursquare and other geo-targeting social marketing movements.
The latest trend highlighted by trendwatching.com, a global trend-spotting firm, is “Random Acts of Kindness” (R.A.K). 
Unlike other marketing trends that feel perfect for young consumers but challenge healthcare marketers to package to more mature audiences, Random Acts of Kindness fit perfectly with our audience and our healthcare brands. Health and wellness companies are compassionate by nature. Opportunities abound and don’t require big budgets to have big returns.
A few ideas:
- A potted plant for a patient who loves gardening
- Providing free inspirational books like Chicken Soup for the Soul to patients and family members of cancer patients
- Sunscreen and bottled water for a local high school track team before a meet
- Passing out free umbrellas to walkers on rainy days
- A homemade jug of Splenda-sweetened tea for a Diabetes patient
- Batman, a clown, Dora the Explorer or another childhood favorite showing up for an underage in-hospital birthday
- A group of nurses organizing a food drive and giving bags of free groceries to needy families in the community
- Monitoring Twitter for people commenting on needing to lose weight, feeling tired or run down and sending them notes of encouragement
- For hospitals in urban areas, leave gift certificates to drivers who’ve received parking tickets or cover people’s bike seats when it rains
Royal Dutch Airline has started an amazing campaign where social media stalking meets Random Acts of Kindness to really personalize gifts for their customers.
Like any other tool we use as marketers, there is an art to effectively using it. Trendwatchers.com identified nine guidelines to consider while developing this type of program.
- Be genuine
- Be personal, but not too personal
- Be compassionate, not crass
- Make it shareable
- Be generous
- Have meaning and purpose
- Get real
- Don’t intrude, or be pushy, or sell.
- Don’t make R.A.K. too frequent.
Need more ideas? You can read all about the trending Random Acts of Kindness!
Has your team already hopped on the kindness train? Seen any great ideas? Tell us about them and send your kindness viral!
[...] Renew your focus on patient experience and try out a “Random Act of Kindness“ [...]
It is out! Check out 2012′s trends at trendwatching.com