Extending your healthcare
brand
by Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC
Energizer, the battery company,
conducted a survey about Baby
Boomers. Not surprisingly, they
found that Boomers are living longer
and leading more active lives than
their parents, yet still have room
for improvement in long-term health.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of baby
boomers feel younger than their
chronological age, and more than
half (55%) said they feel healthier
than their parents were at the same
age. Yet according to the National
Center for Health Statistics, half
of Americans age 55-64 have high
blood pressure and two in five are
obese.
Based on the study that they
originated and conducted, they
launched a program out of their
specialty battery division entitled
“Keep Going. Live Healthy” and
teamed with fitness expert Denise
Austin and well-known Boomers to
launch it. The company is also
partnering with audiologists to
provide expertise on hearing loss
prevention, as well as aligning with
physicians who will provide tips on
diabetes management and heart
health.
In addition, the program features
grassroots events, including
community health fairs and free
health screenings.
According the Energizer, the
program is a year-round campaign to
educate people about better ways to
live a healthy, active lifestyle –
with some help from key
battery-powered devices.
Did you catch the last part, With
the help from key battery-powered
devices? That’s brand extension.
Live a healthier life and, while you
are using different devices such as
glucose monitors, blood pressure
monitors, hearing aids, and insulin
pumps to do so, consider powering
them with Energizer batteries. And
we will help you. Go the Web site.
Tell us about yourself. Join our
fitness movement. And receive
discounts for battery purchases.
What can we learn from
the bunny?
Energizer is in the process of
implementing classic crusader
marking tactics, harnessing an army
of ambassadors through social media
and community convergence. Here are
some takeaways:
- Sponsor a study.
Energizer took it upon itself to
do original research based on
timely and popular issues and
audience segments — Baby Boomer
health. What original research can
you sponsor?
- Tie it to a cause.
The company took the results –
Boomers think they are healthy but
really need work — and tied to a
cause of getting fit. What is your
cause?
- Collect information.
When you go the Web site and
register for the promotion, the
company collects key information
about you and your battery-buying
habits. They’ll be better able to
market to you based on these
selections and will likely collect
more information in the future as
they look to intersect your
interests. How are you collecting
information? Or, an even more
fundamental question, do you
collect information at all?
- Tie it to product and
services. At the end of
the day, the promotion ties back
to battery sales—plain and simple.
Is healthcare missing an
opportunity?
One could argue that a hospital or
health system should have been the
one to initiate a promotion like
this, enlisting Energizer as a
partner. Radio Shack did something
similar a few years back when it
launched a line of health-related
products, the same products that
need those batteries, by the way.
Hospitals also missed a brand
extension with retail health
clinics. Some are now pushing to
catch up but the more heavily funded
Wal-Mart and CVS clinics, among
others, have already left the gate.
A brand extension can be a great
tool to increase brand awareness,
bring together cause and community,
and tie back to your core mission.
But it takes visionary internal
leadership as well as a visionary
board to reach beyond their comfort
zone to accomplish this.
