Marketing Healthcare in a Changed America

In the wake of September 11 and America's declaration of war on terrorism, companies across all industries are pausing to evaluate their marketing strategies in a changed country. With increasing unemployment, market fluctuations, a drop-off in business, apprehension to spend, fear of unknown enemies and unimaginable acts of terrorism, even the fear of opening your own mail, America has indeed changed.

The stakes are high for healthcare marketers as we try to balance the need to do the right thing for our communities, the need to continue marketing services and the need to reassure our communities that we are prepared to meet any crisis. Questions abound.

• Do we cancel our current and planned marketing programs?
• How do we address the current situation in the country in our communications programs?
• Do we change our philanthropic philosophy to benefit the institution as well as others in need?
• How do we weave charitable initiatives into our marketing efforts?
• How do we demonstrate that our organization is caring and concerned about the public and the country in general?
• How do we demonstrate that our organization is safe for employees and patients and able to meet any healthcare crisis?

There are no easy answers and there are no ready benchmarks. The Gulf War serves as one example. Initially many advertisers pulled back on their marketing. A period of patriotism and national support followed. Finally, as the conflict continued, businesses returned to more normal marketing levels.

The reality is that we are in uncharted waters. And what is best for one organization may be very different for another. Factors such as location, size, mission, history, resources and audiences all come into play as marketers determine how to move forward.

Where to Start
Address each audience individually in your planning effort--looking at issues from all sides and taking into account the various stakeholders in the organization.

After evaluating your audiences, build a model for how to approach spending and cultivating messages based on various scenarios. While the models may not be perfect, they may at least offer a degree of planning and forethought that may help prevent indecision or reactionary moves that don’t benefit the organization.

Demonstrate Safety and Preparedness

Now more than ever, people want to feel safe and secure. They want to know that their hospitals are safe and that they will be able to respond to terrorist attacks and other crisis situations. You need to demonstrate safety and security, and marketing and public relations need to be at the forefront. Now is the time to review disaster and recovery plans and make sure you have a seat at the table to discuss plan implications with senior management. If your plans leave something to be desired, shore up all holes to make them sound—from an implementation standpoint and from a public relations standpoint. Rehearse and rehearse. And once sound, showcase your preparedness. Disaster drills that showcase preparedness should be planned in conjunction with local agencies and should be publicized. Show that you have the capacity to treat mass casualties. But also assure the public that you can treat the "invisible terrors" such as anthrax and other biological or chemical threats. And position your designated staff as experts for media interviews to focus these national health issues closer to home. Some hospitals have chosen to use their websites to help educate the public about biological and chemical agents. Cross-training hospital telecommunications staff and call center representatives is another good idea. Whatever you do, be sure the information is accurate, tied to a credible source like the NIH (National Institutes of Health), or CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and is presented in an educational way consistent with your other health education initiatives.

 Safety and security in your own facilities are equally important issues. It’s important for the public to know that your facility is a safe one. Look at the processes, systems and personnel procedures in place and be able to answer the hard questions. Who has access to your facilities? How do you hire and screen employees? What security measures are in place? What surveillance methods are used? Now is the time to reacquaint your employees and physicians with your safety and security initiatives so that they can reassure patients, families, neighbors and friends. Incorporate Safety into Marketing CampaignsLook at ways to incorporate safety themes into your campaigns. For example, the security of maternity services and the safety of newborns have been constant concerns over the years. Weaving safety and security messages about processes in place to protect newborns would be a natural item to include in marketing materials for these services.
Compassion during these times is paramount, so you need to be careful about how you sell yourself. Cute, funny and over the top may have been good three months ago, but this nation is changed and people are going to look to their bedrock institutions for comfort and support. Similarly, messages wrapped in patriotism can be tasteful or appear overly self-serving, so use good judgment.tal health services will be key community support mechanisms during these times, so marketing these services is appropriate. Marketing can be subtle and still achieve results. Holding town hall meetings or health lectures that give the community an opportunity to collectively heal will also give exposure to your facility and its staff.
Now is a particularly good time to acknowledge to the good deeds your staff does everyday—not only in the hospital but also in the communities they live in. Neighbor helping neighbor, Americans united—these stories are being played out every day since this national tragedy. But in truth, hospitals and their employees have always had these stories in their back pockets.

Carefully plan direct mail campaigns. People don’t want to open mail from people or places they don’t know. Maybe it's time to mail postcards or rethink your e-mail strategy. The tactics of how you package a promotion send an important message.

Balance Marketing Needs with Community Consciousness
Remember the saying "charity begins at home." In this case, home can be the community in your backyard. While efforts have been appropriately focused on the terror victims over the last months, and should be continued as needed, there is much charitable work that can be done for causes in your own community.

• Donate advertising space to charitable organizations. For many organizations with preplaced advertising campaigns, it’s easy to donate space.

• Promote charitable causes and organizations within your own marketing. NASDAQ ran a brief five-second message of support for families of victims at the end of its television ads.

• Leverage your organization’s website for other causes. Apple replaced its usual website homepage with a simple message of support and a link to the American Red Cross.

• Donate talent, resources or money. Hundreds of companies have found ways to donate office space, equipment, supplies, business or clinical expertise, money and even volunteers to help other groups and individuals. Can part of your fundraising efforts be directed toward community causes? Can your United Way campaign get a boost through marketing tie-ins?

Many organizations are finding the best way they can support the country is to get back to business as usual, resume their normal marketing and do their part to stimulate the economy. Building brand and market share during slow times and continuing marketing spending is a classic strategy among market winners. Media Buyer’s Daily recently reported that nearly two-thirds of consumers believe it’s appropriate for ads to air on television during times of crisis. Perhaps marketing and advertising is so much a part of our culture that many of us accept and expect it.

Addressing marketing strategies in times like these is neither easy nor intuitive. Marketers must balance their organization’s overall mission and business objectives with the needs of their customers and the community at large. Take the time to truly understand your own hospital's situation and market as appropriate to your situation while continuing to reassure that you are there and prepared to serve, as you have always been.

Written by:

Anthony Cirillo, CHE, ABC
President
Fast Forward Strategic Planning and Marketing Consulting
Huntersville, NC
704.992.6005
e-mail: anthony@4wardfast.com

Daniel Fell
Partner
Daniel+Douglas+Norcross
Chattanooga, TN
888.619.8697
e-mail: dfell@ddngroup.com

Quotes to be used as graphic enhancements to article:
"As repercussions from recent events continue to unfold, it's even more important for hospital marketers to stay close to their audiences. It's clear more information is needed at this time, not less. Those marketers who move quickly to understand this mindset will better understand the emotions at play, benefit from these insights and, perhaps more important, avoid sensitivities that could be costly."

~~Jerry Hobbs, Vice President, Healthcare Marketing, Prairie Dog, Kansas City, MO