INTERACTIVE MARKETING GUIDANCE
FOR MEDICAL SERVICE COMPANIES

October's Digital Strength newsletter completes a two-part series continued from last month. If you want to read, or re-read, the first three symptoms of a healthy medical brand - please visit our archives. Click here for Part One of this series.

Briefly recapping - healthy brands have five very distinct characteristics. Last month, we discussed three of the five distinguishing traits or "symptoms" of a healthy brand. Healthy Brands (1) Are embraced as a valued leader and trusted friend, (2) Raise standards and lower price sensitivity and (3) Allow people to personally identify with the brand. I will characterize symptoms four and five, summarize all five symptoms and provide you with a handy diagnostic tool: the Ten Tests of a Healthy Brand.

FIVE SYMPTOMS OF HEALTHY BRANDS IN THE MEDICAL MARKETPLACE

(PART TWO)

Medical symptoms typically represent physical or mental markers that could indicate a certain condition, but they can also indicate the existence of something else. In this series, I am particularly interested in signs or "indications" of strong, healthy brands.

Similar to last month, take a moment to reflect on what you believe to be a strong, vibrant brand in the medical community. While both companies and products have brands, think of an individual company - one that you respect, trust and admire. Think about what traits make that company seem so special to you - what are its brand values? Once again, keep those brand values in mind as we continue.

SYMPTOM FOUR
Affection toward healthy brands creates passionate advocates.

Last year, Yahoo's Brand Advocate Study identified the characteristics of people who are more than twice as likely to talk about and advocate on behalf of brands. The study defined brand advocates as "loyal and engaged consumers that are word of mouth powerhouses." Among several qualities, Yahoo found that advocates are more educated, more affluent, believe "good brands are worth talking about" and are twice as likely to email their opinions to others, as well as twice as likely to post their opinions online.

So that means you can create a brand advocate who is going to be a highly intelligent, well-to-do individual who will pound the pavement on your behalf AT NO COST TO YOU by creating communities of enthusiasts for your brand? Sign them up, you say? These are the ways that advocates spread the word for you:

• Word of Mouth: Through free-of-charge, word-of-mouth advertising, within relevant client circles such as, cocktail parties, networking groups and/or events and other targeted social and professional organizations into which your budget could not dream of delving.


• Endorsement: Through highly targeted, voluntary endorsements via phone calls and e-mails with prospects who just happen to be the friends, contacts and companions of your brand's advocates.


• Activism: Advocates and their converts continue to cultivate new activists exponentially because a halo effect prompts activities such as blogging about your brand online, which then boosts your search engine relevance and positioning in organic searches.


• Etcetera: Through a host of other under-the-radar activities, unbeknownst to you, which create immeasurable effects.

By now, you get the picture. Your advocates feel that they know and understand you. They believe in you, feel a sense of belonging - and they will root for you or fight to defend your honor for absolutely no financial compensation at all. In fact, you cannot buy loyalty like this.

To create these relationships, healthy medical brands must carve out a position in the marketplace that commands respect while also gaining something much more powerful - affection. Affection yields "passionate advocates." Positioning is the first step in creating affection - healthy brands are well-positioned brands. (Read more about positioning in the next Digital Strength newsletter)

Brand affection involves the consumer not only feeling a fondness for the brand, but also expressing these feelings to others. Comments like "I love my...," "Thank goodness for...," and "Have you heard about..." are all examples of the affection advocates express before they talk about your brand.

SYMPTOM FIVE
Trust in healthy brands ensures that marketing is "heard."

Recently, we led one of our laboratory clients through a "service safari" - an extraordinary team-building exercise gleaned from Emergence 2007, the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design "Service Design" Conference. Each member of the group was challenged to explore the city to find, document and photograph three "good" brand experiences (as seen through service design) and three "bad" brand experiences. After the safari, we re-convened to compare notes and photos about what we had discovered. The findings all related to quality, service and communication-design. An overarching theme emerged and we were able to translate it back to the client's business. The main theme was so simple, yet so powerful: "If you think it is difficult to get me to 'buy' once, remember that it can be twice as hard to get me to buy the second time around." If the quality is inconsistent and the communication is unclear, you will lose your opportunity to create a loyal customer (client) let alone an advocate for your brand. If you cannot build trust, you cannot build a loyal following for your brand.

Trust is powerful, but it is not easy to get and it is even harder to maintain. Healthy brands consistantly build trust. And yes, your client's small concerns matter just as much as their big ones. Bill Marriott is known for training employees to see a service disappointment as an opportunity to prove the brand promise. Marriott has created numerous advocates and strong trust in its brand through successfully implementing a global philosophy of brand service.

Senior management is responsible for developing service excellence standards and a philosophy/culture of customer service. Today, it is cliché to say you have great customer service. Those that have it, own it and the market knows it. Customer service is not a procedure in ideal companies - it is a way of life. Service is practiced at all levels. Every customer contact is a top priority by every employee. Customer service philosophy must be clearly and realistically thought through and communicated to all employees. Usually, our favorite companies are those that inform, support and service the market, rather than those that try to actively sell to the market. These brands build strong, healthy brands. Recently, in an email correspondence with Bill Cook, Bill explained that "We [Cook Medical] command a pre-eminent position in the medical profession, are known for our innovation, and for our low-key marketing approach--we prefer to inform as opposed to sell." By engaging, challenging and most importantly creating a culture of servicing the marketplace by informing the market - Cook has indeed built a healthy brand known for its service, as well as its innovation.

A healthy medical brand's trust gives us the ability to rely on them. If you or a family member has an uncommon medical problem, you need to be able to trust the diagnosis: furthermore; you want the best care possible. You will seek care from the most trusted and sought-after physician available. Consumers, executives and managers need to think the same way in regard to the medical brands they represent. Healthy brands are companies that earn trust by consistently performing in a certain way, to a certain standard. Even if you think a McDonald's hamburger is not the best hamburger you have ever eaten, if you are on the highway and need to choose between the local Al's Diner and McDonald's - which one will you choose if your children are in the car?

Trust ensures that your marketing message is not just heard; but that it is believed. Belief is the key ingredient, as marketing dollars are too expensive to fall on deaf ears.

Think about the brand you identified earlier as a trusted brand. What is their brand promise? What do they claim as their area of expertise? Are they sought-after within this category? Is it a trusted brand?

IN SUMMARY

THE TEN TESTS OF A HEALTHY MEDICAL BRAND

1. Is the brand acting like a leader?
   Leaders are sought after because they effectively facilitate change. If they are not proficiently inspiring action, communicating identity, transmitting values, fostering collaboration, "taming the grapevine" and sharing knowledge - then category leadership is most likely questionable.


2. Is the brand educating the whole marketplace?
   Thought leaders pave the way through un-chartered territory by sharing expertise, research, best practices and lessons learned. For which, the market, as a whole, gladly rewards them. Without a spirit of academic collaboration, firms unknowingly convey a lack of category leadership.


3. Does the brand command a premium?
   Higher profit margins are a key indicator of low price sensitivity. Brands that consistently raise the bar stay ahead of the competition. Less price sensitive customers are still content, even with higher pricing.


4. Is the brand incurring the Cost of Sale, or do clients incur a Cost to Buy?
   There are costs inherent within the brand-consumer relationship, of which the weaker partner must accept. Truly healthy brands have a low cost of sale; their customer incurs the cost to buy. They understand that they are investing in the continued good health of the brand and their valuable services.


5. Does the brand neutralize fear of risk?
   Healthy brands help diminish the fear associated with risk by fostering a feeling of trust in their clients and vendors. Healthy brands challenge themselves as well as the industry to regain a feeling of security, brand equity, and above all, value.


6. Can (and does) the brand lend credibility?
   Trusted brands are credible brands. They are able to direct the marketplace toward new ideas, products, and services, which the loyal client will embrace as credible through association.


7. Does the brand cultivate affection?
   When consumers feel that they know and understand a brand - and they identify with those feelings, they will defend the brand's honor and cheer for the brand's success. Their affection translates into one of the most powerful tools one can have in the marketplace - unsurpassed loyalty.


8. Are unpaid advocates promoting, challenging and defending the brand?
   Brand advocates will endorse their company in the face of skeptics and conservatives, as well as challenge the brand to innovate beyond their wildest dreams. Their overt trust for the brand ultimately generates a collective, motivating trust in the marketplace.


9. Is the brand making a promise?
   Healthy brands build trust based on their promises. Clear communication of a promise, backed by the act of actually supporting that promise, allows consumers to rely on a brand, validating that promise and generating loyalty.


10. Do people believe the brand promise?
    Every interaction with the consumer is an opportunity to make or break a brand's promise. If a brand cannot keep its promise it will soon lose its credibility and any loyalties formed with the consumer.

Rick Cancelliere
Principal and Creative Director
JDAnthony Medical Marketing
rick@jdanthony.com
800.983.6792 USA
412.682.2522 International