While online advertising is becoming a conventional way to market healthcare services, Web site sponsorships are another business opportunity marketers should consider.
For example, on March 4, 1997, Nashville-based Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. [COL] (http://www.columbia.net), in conjunction with ESPN's and Starwave Corp.'s online sports news and information venture, ESPNET SportsZone (http://espnet.sportszone.com), launched Health and Fitness, (http://espnet.sportszone.com/editors/health/index.html), an area on the sports site providing sports medicine information.
ESPNET SportsZone, which approached Columbia with the idea for Health and Fitness late last year, was interested in teaming with an organization that could help develop a sports medicine area and generate more revenue for the Web site. "We try to provide unique vehicles [for marketing] instead of banners," said Eric Handler, coordinator of corporate communications for ESPN.
The deal with Columbia is the first for ESPNET SportsZone involving ongoing contribution of content to the site.
Although Columbia launched its own sports medicine site in July 1996 (http://www.columbia.net/sportsmed/index.html), Tod Fetherling, director of interactive marketing for Columbia, said the organization was interested expanding its online presence to "further solidify Columbia as the premier provider of sports medicine," he said.
Fetherling calculated that the sponsored site brings 5,000-10,000 visitors every week to the Columbia Web site which normally receives 75,000-80,000 weekly page views.
As a sponsor, Columbia's role with the site is much greater than simply that of an advertiser. "They are aligned with a particular area [and] will produce content for that area in conjunction with us," Handler said.
After developing its share of the content, Columbia's editorial contributors, both employees of Columbia's interactive marketing department and physicians from the healthcare corporation's member hospitals, work with an editor from ESPNET SportsZone before putting the material for the weekly segment online. Health and Fitness also contains links to articles and related information exclusively on Columbia's own Web site.
Ideas for stories originate with both Columbia and ESPNET SportsZone's staff while the clinical information for the site comes from Columbia. "Columbia brings access to a wide range of information and a team of orthopedic physicians," said Fetherling.
These physicians provide clinical information and insight into the injuries sustained by well-known athletes, making the content valuable to fans as well as online visitors who participate in sports.
Aside from posting original articles about topics such as hamstring pulls and anterior cruciate ligament injuries, the site also hosts chat sessions with Columbia Health Care's doctors. Recently, Health and Fitness hosted a session with a Columbia Health Care doctor and race car driver Kyle Petty. Online visitors and the two hosts discussed racing injuries and physical conditioning for race car drivers.
Fetherling likes the participatory sponsorship role of Columbia with regard to the Health and Fitness area and sees it as a useful way to link people with the Columbia Web site. But Columbia's sponsorships that develop its reputation as a sports medicine provider extend beyond the Web. The healthcare provider is the presenting sponsor at the Family Circle Cup Tournament, a women's professional tennis tournament held March 29-April 6, 1997, in Hilton Head, S.C.
Columbia is also the official healthcare provider for professional sports teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies and the Miami Dolphins. Team sponsorships provide Columbia with brand exposure on advertisements in stadiums and the opportunity to act as the first-aid provider for spectators. According to Fetherling, sponsorships help Columbia in its mission to be "as ubiquitous as possible and easy to find," he said.
Jeff Prescott, public relations spokesman for Columbia, felt that the Health and Fitness sponsorship was particularly valuable for Columbia in affiliating its brand with athletic injury treatment and prevention. "It will definitely enhance the accessibility of our sports medicine information," he said.
While neither Columbia nor ESPN would disclose the cost of Columbia's sponsorship of the Health and Fitness area, Shelley Morrison, director of advertising for Starwave, an interactive programming production company and joint owner of ESPNET SportsZone, said there is no flat rate for sponsorships.
Morrison said factors such as site impressions and the agreed level of participation from the sponsor in the project are included in a calculation of the sponsorship fee. (ESPN, Eric Handler, 212/916-9319; Starwave, Shelley Morrison, 206/957-3635; Jennifer Yazzolino, 206/957-2026; Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, 615/327-9551)