Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

FDA Guidelines in the Era of Social Media

What happens when the fast-paced world of social media collides with the careful guidelines of the FDA? Our own Joe Doyle weighs in on this complex problem in the latest issue of Pharmaceutical Commerce.

HCB Explains What Agencies Want

Our agency was featured in the November 2011 issue of Medical Marketing & Media. We’re featured in the first paragraph of “What Agencies Want,” while Doug Saltel, the president and CEO of our client, Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, was mentioned in the sister article “What Clients Want.” It’s a great double-whammy for HCB Health! Read more at MMM online.

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

Click the image to read the original article in full.

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 »

Hospital Websites: Beauty is in the Eye of the User

In April, we featured a blog post entitled What Do Consumers Want from a Health Plan Website?, which encouraged health plan companies to tailor their sites to consumer needs. But hospitals and clinics should also ensure that their sites don’t leave a user feeling confused and frustrated.

Hospitals face a complex balancing act. On one hand, visitors to a hospital website want to accomplish many tasks, including finding a doctor, getting directions, making an appointment and evaluating the hospital. But they also want clear and concise pages that are user-friendly. In the information age, in which 140 character tweets and text messages rule the air, people want a multitude of information in quick spurts.

The problem is that hospital stakeholders may not even realize that there’s a problem! It becomes automatic for them to click through a series of links or deal with a messy homepage. The best strategy for an employee wishing to revamp the site is to sit down and pretend to be a prospective patient. Picture yourself as a mom whose kid has a weird-looking rash or someone with an emergency.

Once you have taken on a persona, look at your site with their eyes, and focus on four main questions: Continue reading »

iPad Apps: Cutting-Edge Sales Tools for Superior Products

Before joining the account team at HCB Health, I spent a number of years as a medical sales field rep. One job specifically required me to sell $275k+ pieces of capital equipment to surgeons. At the time, my only sales tools were paper-based brochures and my winning attitude. While I found success by forming positive surgeon relationships, I often wondered if superior sales tools would make me a more successful salesperson?

Today, developing those superior sales tools is a hefty part of my job at HCB Health. I make it a goal to lead the pack in terms of how our clients market to surgeons. For many of our clients, those superior tools are iPad-based.

iPad apps can be a unique, creative and efficient way to sell your product. The best of these are tailored to a client’s products, goals and sales rep needs. Below are a few different approaches we’ve taken to best accommodate various medical equipment products and sales: Continue reading »

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 »

Insert Your Device Name (Here) with Product Placement

Sales skyrocketed after Reese's Pieces appeared in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Photo credit: Jason at clicker.com)

All in an episode’s work?

Sure, product placement is nothing new. Hate it or love it, it cannot be ignored. But, one thing is for sure, there is no denying its impact.

Remember the yellow, orange and brown candy that made its big appearance during the movie E.T.? Although Reese’s Pieces were introduced in the market in 1979, it was not until 1982, when the blockbuster E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial featured the candy, that it instantly became wildly popular. Sales of the peanut butter-flavored candy shot up 65% in June, the month after the movie’s release. Continue reading »