Post #1: The End of Hospital Marketing
Brandon Edwards
Seasoned healthcare executive in marketing and managed care services
Chris Bevolo's new book is inspiring, and i'm not just saying that because ReviveHealth sponsored its publication. It highlight all that's best about health system marketing, and why we should celebrate the progress we've all made in elevating our craft in this sector. So here is the first in a series of posts that highlight really great content from Joe Public 3: The End of Hospital Marketing.
"There has often been shade thrown at the label “hospital marketing.” The qualifier “hospital” has carried with it an inflection of negativity, of something lesser — less sophisticated, less advanced, less innovative, less scientific. To be fair, some of that shade has been deserved. As an industry, we have traditionally trailed behind in adopting the marketing strategies, tactics and technologies that are effective and common place. True brand building. CRM. SEM. Social media. Personalized marketing. Data marketing. Digital. Of course, hospital marketers have toiled in an industry unlike any other — with complex regulation, conservative mindsets, incredible political dynamics, a Shakespearean level of co-opetition, and organizational leaders who neither understand nor value our discipline. We’ve often been relegated to supporting only one of the four classic P’s of marketing (promotion), unlike our peers at Procter & Gamble or Starbucks or Marriott who drive all four (promotion plus price, place and product). It has never been easy to be a hospital marketer, and we’ve definitely struggled to keep up with our peers in other industries, no matter the situation.
But it’s a new day."
Indeed, it's a new day, and the best hospital marketers are helping lead this change. We're proud to be a small part of that.
Experienced Senior Strategy Professional Dedicated to Improving the Health of Organizations that Serve the Community
6yBrandon, This was an interesting post. One of the other challenges you did not mention was that health care has never behaved like a traditional market with a fractured relationship between those who paid for the care, those who drove the purchasing decision and those that actually utilized the services. With the shift in financial burden from employers and insurers to consumers that market will rebalance and healthcare providers will have to dramatically evolve their marketing efforts to include all of the "P"s. Our promotional tactics priorities and investments have all changed and they will look radically different in just a few short years.
I solve physician recruiting and healthcare marketing challenges with strategic, integrated approaches 🔅 I love building stakeholder relationships 🔅Digital marketing is one of my passions 🔅Texas Exes Life Member
6yI have never felt hospital marketing to be "less than" some other marketing sectors. Rather, being a hospital marketer elevates my craft to a place of compassion and understanding. Health care marketers provide a much needed service in an industry that's riddled with quality, compliance, and privacy considerations. The work may be grueling at times, but the reward of providing services to consumers who really need our expertise is outstanding.