Are Healthcare Campaigns Overlooking Them?
Women are by far the undisputed healthcare decision-makers for American households. That explains why most campaigns focus on this market. But it begs the question: Are men being overlooked?
While it's important to have solid women-focused campaigns, there's a tremendous need for healthcare efforts that target men, particularly in the vast areas of prevention and screening.
Prostate cancer and infertility tend to be where most healthcare marketers focus their efforts to reach men, but so much more can and should be done to motivate men to pay more attention to their health.
Consider these statistics on the men's healthcare market offered by Oxford Health Plans in Norwalk, Conn.:
- Heart disease is the number one killer of men over age 35 among all ethnic groups;
- One in three men can expect to develop major cardiovascular disease before age 60;
- There are 2.1 million male stroke survivors in the U.S.;
- In 1998, more than 294,000 men died of cancer in the U.S.;
- One man in 10 will develop some form of cancer by age 64.
Preventive Push
Promoting healthy behavior among men is a key component of Oxford's Active Partner program which encourages early detection and treatment based on preventive guidelines established by the U.S. Preventive Task Force and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Its campaign call-to-action motivates men to see their primary care physicians (PCP), develop a relationship with their PCP and take an active role in their own health.
The colorful direct mail campaign, launched in April, targeted at least 100,000 men in Oxford's service area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who had not visited their doctor in at least 15 to 24 months.
The campaign uses age-appropriate humor to broach the subject of healthy habits and regular checkups among three age groups: 22-34, 35-49 and 50-64. The mailers that targeted the 22-34 demo, for instance, read "Even superheroes are afraid of some things. But seeing the doctor isn't one of them." And mailers that targeted the 35-49 audience used nostalgic messages: "Do you remember. Pet Rocks and Lava Lamps.The last time you had a physical?"
The Oxford campaign highlights the importance of developing age-appropriate messages. Its market research identified potential barriers, by age, that influence men's passive approach to healthcare. Overall, Oxford found that "men avoid healthcare services like the plague." Although results are not available for Oxford's campaign, direct mail is generally considered one of the most effective vehicles for reaching men, especially in the prostate cancer and infertility areas.
In The Trenches
When it comes to targeting men, prostate cancer campaigns offer the best case studies. Here, direct mail, newspaper and radio advertising top the list of the vehicles that generate the strongest results. And the most strategic communication tactics involve celebrity speakers, church outreach and Q&A sessions with survivors.
In 1996, the Methodist Healthcare System in Houston used this integrated marketing formula to boost awareness of its prostrate cancer screening initiative that used 30,000 direct mail pieces. Back then, the hospital achieved its goal of screening 2,000 men. In 1997, the campaign was tweaked to focus on the African-American market, where prostate cancer incidence rates are nearly twice as high. That year, the effort attracted 2,200 men, 372 of whom were African-American - a 30 percent increase from 1996. And in 1998, the $20,000 campaign which used primarily newspaper and radio, reached 3,000 men including 1,000 African-Americans.
The focus of the campaign is to help men feel comfortable about discussing difficult issues involving prostate cancer and to educate them about the treatment options, says John Dietrich, Methodist's clinical marketing manager. Dietrich also says these efforts have also generated strong results for Methodist's infertility outreach initiatives.
To reach the African-American market, churches and barbershops are critical. At Ingham Regional Medical Center in Lansing, Mich., this is one of the key grassroots strategies the hospital is using to reach African-American men for its prostate cancer screening effort.
Ingham has found that working with fraternities and negotiating media partnerships with radio and TV stations that have significant minority reach also is important. Last year, its telethon that involved live cut-ins during "Seinfeld" helped to more than triple the number of men Ingham screened to 381 from 113 in 1997, says Patricia Hemingway, Ingham's communication project coordinator. The effort reached 61 African-American men.
In other healthcare areas like rehabilitation and stroke, TV and targeted print are ideal, says Theckla Sterrett of Sterrett, Dymond, Stewart (SDS), a marketing firm in Charlotte N.C. SDS that is using this marketing mix for The Rowan Regional Medical Center's Joynt Camp. The Joynt camp is a rehabilitation program for patients who have undergone knee, hip and shoulder replacements. The advertising campaign, which launched in February, emphasizes the importance of rehabilitative wellness and uses regional editions of male-focused magazines like Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. So far, the camp is booked solid for the next 10 weeks and is attracting interest from men outside Rowan's service area, says Sterrett.
(Oxford, Teri James, 203/851-2737; Methodist Healthcare System, John Dietrich, 713/793-1709; Ingham Regional Medical Center, Patricia Hemingway, 517/336-7012; Sterrett, Dymond, Stewart, Theckla Sterrett, 704/372-2707)
Men's Healthcare Barriers
Oxford Health Plans has identified age-specific barriers that influence how men make healthcare decisions. They include:
Men ages 22-34 think:
- I'm too young to have anything wrong with me.
- It's expensive to go to the doctor.
- I already take care of myself and feel fine.
- I don't want to know if something is wrong.
Men ages 35-49 think all of the above and:
- I don't have time to go to the doctor.
Men ages 50-64 think:
- Skepticism about the managed care industry.
Source: Oxford Health Plans