In this Colleague To Colleague we talk to William Schneider, who heads the San Francisco office of Lippincott & Marguiles, a corporate and brand identity firm. He offers insight and suggestions on building your brand in the ever-changing healthcare climate.
Q. It seems that HMOs have turned the work of making people well into a competitive, market-driven enterprise. But while healthcare now is big business, most players in this complex marketplace have not yet developed something big businesses need: a clear brand image that customers can identify. How can they do that?
A. There are a tremendous number of messages from all different types of companies in healthcare bombarding the consumer every day. Few have created clear, distinctive brands that consumers can believe in. To create brand recognition in the healthcare field a company needs to know its core strengths; the idea central to consumer expectations.
Q. Short of sounding too trite, what exactly is a brand and what is brand imaging?
A. A brand is not a name, a logo, a catchy slogan or a heart-rending advertising campaign. These can be important elements that help define a brand, but none of them is the brand.
Brand image in healthcare includes product features, pricing, customer service, employee behavior and appearance, the look and feel of the facilities, and a distinctive and memorable identity.
These elements are particularly necessary in the rapidly changing field of healthcare. The effects of shifting regulations, frequent mergers and acquisitions between providers, and increased competition are impossible to predict, adding to the value of a clear branding strategy. This is the era of the cloudy crystal ball.
One thing obvious through the fog is that healthcare is a "high-touch" industry.
Q. What do you mean by "high touch"?
A. It's the one high-touch industry without a service leader -- a company whose brand communicates excellent customer service. The healthcare industry is ready for a service brand on the level of a Lexus, Ritz-Carlton, or Nordstrom.
As additional competitors appear on the healthcare market, differences in product offerings will blur. Softer, service-oriented attributes will become important branding and selling points.
All elements of interaction, from ease of scheduling an appointment to a genuinely caring attitude from each and every physician, are opportunities to make the customer feel valued and important. These will define the experience.
Q. What can marketers do to create this?
A. Healthcare marketers who want to create a brand niche should consider consumers' growing wariness of the health-care system and confusion about levels of coverage and service offerings.
In building a brand, a healthcare provider can eliminate confusion by communicating a clear idea of what it offers and what the experience will be.
Healthcare companies should learn from the branding successes of companies in other industries. Effective brand management is not limited to soft drinks and shoes.
Healthcare companies, too, can build customer preference, customer loyalty, and market share through branding strategies.
And they should take a cue from service leaders in other industries. (William Schneider, 415/274-5800)
What You'll Need To Build Your Brand
- Positioning based on the unique strengths of the service.
- Understanding of the importance of the brand positioning throughout the company.
- Recognition that all brand drivers must reinforce a central brand promise.
- Commitment to create an organization that can deliver on that brand promise.
- A communications plan that targets the brand promise to different audiences.
- A distinctive and memorable identity.
(Source: William Schneider)