Archive for the ‘Consumer Marketing’ Category

How to Get the Most from Mobile Marketing in Pharma

Click on the image to visit Med Ad News and read the full article.

Our interactive director, Joe Doyle, weighs in on the criteria needed for successful pharmaceutical DTC smartphone apps. The full article in Med Ad News from PharmaLive includes a full view assessment on digital, social, and experiential marketing strategies from leading healthcare marketing strategists.

Read the full article here.

Striking a Balance: Emotive Websites that are Usable

During an internal creative review meeting for a hospice website this week, I heard something that I never thought I would hear: “That call-to-action is too strong.” You could almost hear the wheels start spinning in everyone’s mind.

After discussing the call-to-action further, we realized that the problem wasn’t the CTA itself, but an unbalanced execution.

Half of the room thought that the website was not emotionally branded enough and the CTA was too much, too soon. They believed it needed to be about the connection first and foremost. The other half of the room agreed that the emotional branding was very important, but that the usability of the site needed to come first.

They’re both right. We just needed to strike a better balance. Continue reading »

The Art of Campaign Teasers: More Bang for Your Budget

Last week, we blogged about rebranding California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) without using clichéd images. In this blog post, we’ll tell you how we launched CPMC’s rebranding campaign with an outdoor reveal.

When California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) approached HCB about positioning and rebranding the San Francisco-based hospital group, all parties agreed that the approach would need to be special. The brand positioning we created revealed and elevated what CPMC does best — medical care delivered on a truly personal level.

San Francisco is a dynamic, vibrant city. It’s an attractive market for advertising, but many organizations, marketers and media planners find it difficult to deliver powerful product messages through all the clutter. Companies that had succeeded there in the past usually sported more recognizable products and bigger ad budgets. Continue reading »

A Name Without a Face: How We Rebranded a Hospital Without Clichéd Images

Many times in healthcare advertising, we see images of smiling people walking along the beach, dancing through fields of daisies or playing with grandchildren. It’s understandable that these images are used so often; after all, the end benefit of any healthcare product or service is that you get to experience life with health and happiness.

But we all know that the market has become saturated with the same imagery. Recently, HCB Health decided to find a way to show personal care — without showing the face of a person.

The image of two hands in the shape of a heart became an icon of the campaign.

California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco asked HCB Health to create a new branding campaign to help them compete against aggressive academic hospitals, where several students may perform various parts of a procedure. CPMC, however, has renowned physicians who want to be hands-on with each patient. The Hands-on Healing theme line was born from this brand differentiation and sums up the brand’s promise in a warm and memorable phrase. Continue reading »

A Five-Star Content Strategy for Medicare Plans

Have you updated your content strategy to reflect the latest changes in the Medicare world? Not only will leveraging your Medicare rating help you win over plugged-in seniors, but the 2010 federal health law tied the ratings to cash bonuses, too. Five-star-rated plans will also have the ability to enroll members year-round, while other plans abide by Medicare’s annual open enrollment period (Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 this year).

Medicare ratings measure how well health and prescription drug plans perform on more than 50 items, which are grouped in five different categories, such as customer service and cancer screening. The reviews are based on a five-star ratings system created to help seniors become better shoppers (PDF). Continue reading »

Hospitals Resuscitating Their Ad Budgets

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A September 2011 article by Marketing Forecast examines the need for increased hospital ad budget spending as a result of institutions feeling the growing competitive pressures, higher expenses, decreasing reimbursement from insurance providers and the prolonged economic downturn.

The article gives helpful insights, like focusing on one benefit that differentiates your institution from the competition. It also encourages the need for hospitals to step outside of comfort zones of traditional media such as television, newspaper and billboards. Continue reading »

Taking a Broad-Spectrum Approach to Healthcare Marketing

Change is everywhere.

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Pharma pipelines are thinner, devices are gaining in sophistication, hospital systems are preparing for healthcare reform and insurers are looking to build their brands before 2014 health exchanges come into effect. What does this mean to us, the brilliant minds who build strategies and brand preferences for healthcare clients? Opportunity.

At HCB Health, we practice broad-spectrum healthcare marketing to gain a fuller understanding of the interconnected parts that contribute to improved health. In fact, we wrote an article about it for the MM&M Viewpoint.

Join the conversation below, if you’re so inclined. Thanks.

Five Ways to Test the Strength of Your Hospital Brand

I’m often asked to speak to hospitals around the country. East Coast, West Coast and everywhere in-between, I’m always happy to have those conversations and consequently I’ve gained firsthand knowledge about the struggles many have with their branding. Of course every hospital and hospital system is unique to its market, but there are some key questions to ask before a brand is launched or relaunched to the community.

Tell your stories in a way that communicates a broader benefit.

1. What’s your elevator pitch?

We all know how slow hospital elevators can be but imagine having to describe the essence of your brand between floors 1 and 2. Could you or any of your employees do that? Does your organization believe in its relevance? Would you need more time to explain it?

2. Do you promote your successes?

I’m amazed at how little hospitals do to tout their accomplishments. To some it may feel braggadocios but letting the world know what great things you’ve done helps perpetuate quality inside the hospital and out. Don’t let those high quality scores or those amazing procedures fall by the wayside. Just make sure they’re told in a compelling way. Continue reading »