One component of a communications strategy that is sometimes overlooked by many companies is the organization letterhead.
Bradley Memorial Hospital gives its letterhead top billing. The hospital, located outside of Chattanooga, Tenn., treats its letterhead like a 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch billboard.
Over the course of a year, thousands of these small billboards end up on the desks or in the homes of people who may know a great deal or very little about Bradley Memorial, said Dewayne Belew, director of marketing and public relations at the hospital.
"As hospitals and health systems reengineer in order to address shrinking revenues, communications professionals are being challenged to fine-tune their organizations' numerous and varied messages," said Belew. "At the same time, we must determine which means of communicating are most effective and affordable. At Bradley, the oft-forgotten letterhead is one tool that continues to fit with our overall marketing communications plan."
Belew said he came up with the idea to focus on stationary when he was sorting through his own pile of mail.
"The mail that I usually chose to read first had my named spelled right and had nice looking stationary," he said.
Although Belew said that he has not done any focus groups on the effectiveness of the paper change, he feels it is part of the hospital's overall image change.
While the cost of their branded stationary is generally low --about 4 cents to 6 cents a sheet (depending on how many are printed) --the marketing returns can be high.
"Our letterhead provides the opportunity to make an impression and enhance our hospital's image," said Belew.
From the design perspective, the 250-bed medical center's letterhead might be considered somewhat simple. Centered at the top of the light sand-colored recycled paper is the hospital's two-color logo. Introduced in 1990 when the hospital embarked on a 10-year, $30-million construction and campus design project, the logo reflects the high top-of-mind awareness of the hospital's name.
The graphic image, an inverted pyramid, represents the hospital's commitment to turning the organization upside down with the primary focus on its guests (patients, employees, physicians, vendors, volunteers, and visitors).
Beneath the logo is a simple four-word statement - "Miles Ahead. Minutes Away" - which was introduced through a multimedia advertising campaign designed to position the organization as a full-service regional medical center.
"We chose the words to reinforce the idea that Bradley Memorial is advanced in terms of staff, facility, and technology. At the same time, we wanted to enhance our position as the regional medical center in our five-county service area that is close to home," said Belew.
Aside from including the mailing address, the hospital takes advantage of the far left side of the page by listing four achievements and affiliations in a shaded vertical bar: being selected one of America's Top 100 Hospitals in 1994 from among the more than 5,600 hospitals evaluated by HCIA and Mercer Consulting; receiving an honorable mention in 1995 for the same distinction; and being a member of the Ocoee and Galaxy Health Alliances, two organizations with limited consumer name recognition.
Ocoee Health Alliance is a physician-hospital organization (PHO) formed in 1995 to meet the needs of local business and industry in the age of managed health care.
Additionally, the hospital is a founding member of the Galaxy Health Alliance, a partnership currently consisting of 13 hospitals located throughout southeast Tennessee, northwest Georgia, and northern Alabama.
Galaxy is designed to enhance the ability of all partners to provide health services on the local level when possible and at the tertiary and quaternary level when required.
(Dorland, Sweeney, Jones, 215/928-2488; Bradley Memorial Hospital, 423/559-6000 Leland/Godfrey, 515/987-6754)