CHRIS BEVOLO: "Joe Public Doesn't Care About Your Hospital"

I once worked with a hospital marketing director who was trying to manage the high-pressure demands of one of the organization's key physicians. No amount of advertising was ever enough, and the doctor's idea of what constituted "effective" marketing focused, shockingly, on himself as the star of the campaigns. When the marketing director finally pushed back with alternative strategies for accomplishing the physician's goal more effectively (which was, at least explicitly, more patient visits), the doctor went straight to the organization's CEO and complained. The CEO in turn went to the marketing director and said, "Give him what he wants. I don't care whether it's actually effective or not - just keep him off my back."

To be sure, healthcare marketers themselves hold the primary responsibility for moving beyond the tired, ineffective marketing we see so often in our industry. But if they are not allowed to pursue the strategies that can drive superior marketing results, how can they support the growth and success of the organization? When it comes to unlocking the potential of marketing transformation, as CEO, COO or other leader of your organization, you hold the keys.

How Leadership Can Obstruct Transformation
In my book, Joe Public Doesn't Care About Your Hospital: A Manifesto for Transforming Healthcare Marketing, I identify five key philosophies organizations must embrace if they want to break from the past and move their marketing strategies forward in new and better ways in the midst of dramatic industry changes:

1. Engage consumers with relevant messaging and content.
2. Embrace new tools and techniques.
3. Break bad marketing habits.
4. Drive brand building.
5. Build a marketing measurement discipline.

To illustrate the role the C-suite can have in influencing this transformation, let's focus on the first philosophy noted above - engaging consumers with relevant messaging and content.  It should be no surprise to hear that the vast majority of the people in the market you serve do not currently have a need for your organization, its services or its physicians. The certain but painful truth is that if consumers don't need a service, they don't care about that service. They don't care that you have the daVinci robot. They don't care that your physicians are board certified. They don't care that you won the latest award. They don't care that you have the best people, or the latest technology, or the best amenities. They just don't care.

To reach Joe Public, then, we have to stop talking about ourselves, and start using messages and content that are relevant to Joe Public. Health and wellness messages are great examples of this. While the vast majority of consumers may not have a need for a new physician or hospital service, most do have some desire to improve their health in some way. Yet organizations spend more marketing dollars on advertising to Joe Public - and most often with "look at us, we're great" messages - than on any other marketing activity.

One perfect - and ubiquitous - example of ignoring the idea that Joe Public Doesn't Care About Your Hospital is the promotion of industry awards and rankings. Such chest-pounding promotion is in direction opposition to the type of messaging that Joe Public would potentially find relevant. In my experience, the push to focus mass advertising on awards and rankings almost never comes from within the marketing department. Sometimes it comes from physicians, sometimes from the board, but most of the time the pressure comes directly from leadership.

The demand to advertise awards and rankings may stem from a desire to show how great the organization is (despite the fact that in almost all cases, awards and rankings do little to distinguish one organization from another), a response to seeing other, competing organizations tout awards (what I call "Me Too Marketing"), or in some cases, because the leader has been contacted directly by the company issuing the award or ranking, and told how important it is to promote the prize. So despite the Joe Public argument and ample research that shows consumers don't understand or value hospital awards and rankings, healthcare marketers are being asked to dedicate a significant chunk of their limited budget to a marketing strategy that is very unlikely to support the business goals of the organization.

You Hold the Keys to True Transformation
As a leader of the organization, there are many steps you can take to support your marketing team in transforming the way your organization approaches marketing. Provide marketing with a seat at the strategic planning table and rely on their knowledge of the market to help guide your organization's growth. By all means, demand accountability for marketing results, while understanding that marketing must work in concert with operational and clinical leaders to have a true impact. But most importantly, support the efforts of your marketing leaders to transform their methods, and provide backing when they face criticism or political pressure from others in the organization who, while well-meaning, most likely do not have a real understanding of what makes for effective marketing. In the end, allowing your marketing leaders to pursue effective marketing by providing them with the cover and support they need may be the most important transformation of all.

Chris Bevolo is author of the new book, Joe Public Doesn't Care About Your Hospital. He is a healthcare marketing change agent and owner of Interval, Minneapolis-based healthcare marketing firm that is leading the transformation of healthcare marketing. He is a frequent keynote speaker and author. Learn more about Chris at www.chrisbevolo.com.