September's Digital Strength newsletter begins a two-part series which will continue next month. If you want to read the next two symptoms of a healthy medical brand - please click here for Part Two of this series.
Healthy brands in any marketing community create vital opportunities for the directors and marketing executives that represent them. Unhealthy brands do not. Jerry and David, co-creators of Yahoo!, realized that “Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web” would not have the staying power, or “stickiness,” that “Yahoo!” has. They recognized the impact that a brand name would have on a company’s or product’s success.
Unhealthy brands have little to no expectation or value placed on them. These brands often lack identification and affection in the marketplace. In short, unhealthy brands do not elicit trust. Unhealthy brands are weak in terms of having the kind of qualities that (1) direct buying power, (2) command top price, (3) instill confidence and (4) earn the endearment of your target audience. In the medical marketing space, I noted five unmistakable symptoms of a healthy medical brand.
FIVE SYMPTOMS OF HEALTHY BRANDS IN THE MEDICAL MARKETPLACE (PART ONE)
Symptoms in the medical world typically represent physical or mental markers that could indicate a certain condition. Symptoms can also indicate the existence of something else. I am particularly interested in signs or “indications” of strong, healthy brands.
Take a moment to reflect on what you believe to be a strong, vibrant brand in the medical space. While companies and products both have brands, think of an individual company – one that you respect, trust and admire. Reflect on the firm’s traits, what you believe to be its key brand equities; and now, keep those values in mind as we continue.
SYMPTOM ONE
Healthy brands are embraced as a valued leader and trusted friend
Leaders in an industry are sought after. Primarily, leadership facilitates change. Author and consultant Steve Denning (“the Warren Buffet of business communication”) describes seven traits found in brand leadership:
- Sparking action
- Communicating identity
- Transmitting values
- Fostering collaboration
- Taming the grapevine
- Sharing knowledge
- Leading others into the future
Healthy medical brands are positioned in such a way that foster the leadership and trusted friend relationship between brand and consumer. This often involves speaking, writing and teaching. Essentially, symptom one boils down to the brand leader, or a representative of the healthy brand, acting as an educator in the marketplace.
The thought leader paves the way through uncharted territory. Speaking to, publishing in and teaching the marketplace allows a healthy brand to breathe life into the market by sharing expertise, research, best practices, lessons learned, etc. We all realize that trust is earned. Healthy brands earn their position as esteemed innovators by sharing their knowledge. By engaging in the spirit of collaboration, leaders reach a far higher number of people and earn more and/or deepen the affection for their brand. The benefits far outweigh the risks, which boldly lead the firm into the highly coveted zone of symptom two.
SYMPTOM TWO
Healthy brand value raises standards and lowers price sensitivity
Kellogg’s understands the value of “Frosted Flakes” – similar to how pharmaceutical companies know the value of a branded drug. “Frosted Flakes,” with legions of brand loyal consumers, can command a higher price compared to a second-tier runner-up, such as “Frosties.” In all likelihood, the Frosties will never overtake the Flakes.
However, consider for a moment the aggressive marketing of generic OTC drugs – positioning generic products in similar packaging and shelving them right next to the market leader’s brand. In fact, your pharmacist or doctor often encourages the use of a generic prescribed drug. The “$4 prescription drug” list is getting longer every day.
In the same way that Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes devotees will gladly pay the premium for their beloved brand of cereal, stakeholders will pay a premium for high-value medical brands in the marketplace. If a medical leader consistently (1) raises the bar, (2) generates comprehensive value and (3) educates the marketplace – price sensitivity for their products and services drastically decreases.
Essentially, stakeholders in the brand, even sometimes consumers, realize and readily accept that in paying the premium – they are investing in the continued good health of the brand, the business and by default – the industry and the overall marketplace. It is the marketplace, ultimately, that rewards even the most expensive front-runner if the value provided is perceived as worth the investment. Medical innovations are often met with a collective sigh of relief and wave of gratitude for fulfilling an unmet need.
For example, Dr. Rick E. Robinson, former Chief Experience Officer at Sapient and co-founder of eLabs, a research and design consultancy, utilized ethnographic research to model the framework of the common cold. His work led to the realization that while the cold and flu medicine industry is focused on what to do to alleviate the discomfort of those suffering with a cold, there is a giant market for products designed to help the healthy avoid becoming sick. This work awakened not only his client, Warner-Lambert, but also the whole industry to the notion of treating the lifecycle of the cold. Drug manufacturers quickly filled the gap with products packed with cold-prevention ingredients such as Echinacea, Vitamin C and zinc. When Dr. Robinson’s groundbreaking work for Warner-Lambert spread throughout the industry – everybody won: rival manufacturers, shareholders and most importantly, consumers. The market rewards brands for being innovative. Healthy brands, such as Sudafed and Actifed, set a precedence, which bolstered the value of their brand names. This leads us to symptom number three.
SYMPTOM THREE
People identify with healthy brands
Healthy brands are more than a strict adherence to a standards manual or an online portal. They go much deeper than that. Brand stewards need to be more proactive than ever to get their brands noticed and they have to work harder yet to find “gaps” that their products or services can fill in order to become a market leader. This differentiation is what is strived for because it allows various segments within the target audience to identify themselves, i.e.; their values, with a certain brand.
Healthy brands create rites of passage. Computers made little sense to the consumer market until IBM created the software that demonstrated why every business should have one. Eventually, the once unthinkable thing happened and people started buying personal computers for their homes. When Oprah started Oprah’s Book Club, she instantly popularized “reading” all across America – a counter-intuitive move for someone who makes a fortune by encouraging people to watch television. When she adds a book to the Book Club’s reading list, the power of her personal brand catapults that book to the bestsellers list almost instantly.
In the medical world, “r-i-s-k” is a four-letter word. Healthy brands engender feelings of trust and comfort among stakeholders and consumers. When Tiger Woods endorses TLC Laser Eye Centers, consumers think “Surely, if Tiger can trust the LASIK eye surgery performed at TLC Laser Eye Centers, so can I.” With Tiger Woods endorsing TLC, consumers can rest assured that the eye surgery is safe and effective because without clear vision – Tiger Woods would no longer be able to play golf, win tournaments nor command the enormous sums of money paid to him for using his brand name to promote anything – not a golf ball, not a Buick. You have to have good vision to drive either one of them!
In the industry, we know shareholders are concerned with their company health in the form of profits, margins and revenues. A healthy brand has a major impact on the bottom line. The difference between a healthy brand and an unhealthy one can mean the difference between the adoption and the complete dismissal of new ideas, products and services. I am often amazed at the wildly innovative ideas that simply get pushed aside. Many brilliant ideas wither away due to a lack of credibility that stems from deficient, unhealthy branding practices.
This problem, which is definitely not a new one, created many new opportunities, such as the birth of brand licensing. We now see a plethora of co-branded, mixed and shared brands. Oftentimes, industry weaklings are lucky enough to be accepted by industry leaders that recognize an opportunity to co-opt the innovation, energy and breakthrough technology of the upstart. Obviously, this comes with a price tag for the newbies while the powerful brands reap their just rewards. By grafting the reliability, integrity and notoriety of the healthy brand onto the smaller, unknown brand – the smaller brands realize enormous benefits too. The healthy brands, in effect, broker their hard-earned success. In the same way that using a celebrity personality has its benefits as well as its pitfalls, this arrangement has the potential to work out incredibly well for both parties and again, for the consumer.
Setting the standard is not easy; it means principles must be constantly challenged. I read once that thriving on challenges requires “thinking the unthinkable, doing the undoable and starting where others leave off.” This is what healthy brands do. They challenge themselves, their clients and vendors and their industry overall. Healthy brands embrace an entrepreneurial spirit while constantly capturing new opportunities that yield soaring returns in much more than just dollars. Returns come in the form of brand equity and value – what often becomes a firm’s most important asset.
In the next issue of the Digital Strength Newsletter, I will discuss symptoms four and five where, we will explore Advocacy and Trust. The next issue will also contain a summary of all five symptoms, plus the Ten Tests of a Healthy Brand.
You probably noticed by now that symptoms of healthy brands are starting to link together. It is a chain reaction: leaders that raise the standards that they have already set are well compensated for challenging themselves to “kick it up a notch.” Take a minute to reflect on the brand you first thought about at the beginning of this article. Rank that brand against the first three symptoms of a healthy medical brand and please, feel free to share your thoughts with me. I welcoming hearing about any connections you made through this month’s Digital Strength Newsletter.
Upcoming issues of the Digital Strength Newsletter will focus on how “unknown” brands can build strong, organically healthy brands without necessarily requiring the assistance of more established brands. Until then, I will look forward to receiving any feedback you might wish to share with me.Rick Cancelliere
Principal and Creative Director
JDAnthony Medical Marketing
rick@jdanthony.com
800.983.6792 USA
412.682.2522 International
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800.983.6792 
