After 51 pages of doom and gloom on the current economic crisis, the latest issue of BusinessWeek (September 29, 2008) gives us its “Best Global Brands” article. After covering what is perhaps the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, what is the article’s advice for building a top brand? Keep spending:
Chris Bevolo will moderate “The Patient Centered Experience – Improving the Care Model” as part of the LifeScience Alley Annual Conference & Expo on Dec. 10, 2008 at the Minnesota Convention Center. The session will be held 2:15-3:45 p.m. as part of the conference’s “Innovation in Patient Care” track.
As the owner and president of GeigerBevolo, Inc., a Twin Cities firm nationally recognized as a thought-leader in healthcare branding, Bevolo believes healthcare providers need to move to a more consumer-centered approach to thrive in a changing market. He explains, “Market forces such as consumer-driven healthcare, increased competition and a new breed of industry influencers are combining to force healthcare providers to rethink their business models and redefine the marketing and branding strategies that allow them to compete.”
Bevolo moderates a panel of experts who will discuss innovative methods ranging from Web-based tools to provider-side approaches design to improve the patient experience and outcome. The panelists include David Herman, M.D., medical director of employee and community healthcare for the Mayo Clinic, and Marcia Miller, chief marketing officer for Carol, The Care Marketplace.
Conference keynote speakers will include Dr. Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions in Washington, D.C. and Dr. Peter Agre, professor and director at Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Bevolo also has been a keynote speaker and a featured presenter on the topics of branding, innovation and the patient experience at healthcare conferences throughout the country. He is a returning speaker to LifeScience Alley Annual Conference & Expo. Based on last year’s figures, the conference is expected to draw together 1,500 life science leaders from 25 states and a dozen countries. Learn more at www.lifesciencealleyconference.org.
On June 20, Foote Health System of Jackson, Mich., became Allegiance Health. Behind the scenes, GeigerBevolo worked extensively with the organization to develop this new brand identity.
GeigerBevolo began name exploration and logo development more than a year ago, in anticipation of the organization’s 90th anniversary. GeigerBevolo also helped develop a brand hierarchy and nomenclature system that emphasized simplicity and a patient-perspective across the system’s many facility sites, clinics and services.
A locally owned and locally governed health system, Allegiance Health serves the south central Michigan region near Lansing. Its 411-bed system features a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, state-of-the-art surgery facilities, a 20-bed Heart Center, an outpatient surgery center for same-day procedures, a new hospice residence and recently renovated Emergency Department.
To ensure consist application of the organization’s new name and identity, GeigerBevolo helped create an online guide for brand standards. The healthcare branding firm also designed many of Allegiance Health’s communications elements such as stationery, brochures, newsletters, vehicle graphics, building signage and a new Web site.
Special care was given to announcing the new brand identity to the community. A teaser and reveal campaign was used to help build excitement for both internal and external audiences, followed by a public campaign paying tribute to the heritage of the organization. Campaign components included television, print and radio advertising, a video program, a community benefit report, and more. To view the new Web site and video, please visit www.allegiancehealth.org.
Chris Bevolo opened the Minnesota Health Strategy and Communications Network’s (MHSCN’s) 2008 Summer Conference with a keynote presentation on July 16. Building upon the conference’s do-it-yourself theme, Bevolo discussed brand strategy as the blueprint for how an organization wants to brand itself for the future, and how to lay the groundwork for developing such blueprints.
As the owner and president of GeigerBevolo, Inc., a Twin Cities firm nationally recognized as a thought-leader in healthcare branding. Bevolo reported both the good news and the bad news on brand building in healthcare. He asked, “Why brand strategies are only embraced by 5-10% of hospitals and health systems today?” Addressing this question, he offered suggestions and cautions for building brands when the organization isn’t ready for a brand strategy.
Bevolo has been a keynote speaker and featured presenter on the topics of branding, innovation and the patient experience at healthcare conferences throughout the country. He also authored the 166-page book, “A Marketer’s Guide to Brand Strategy: Advanced techniques for healthcare organizations,” published in 2008 by HealthLeaders Media, as well as numerous articles and white papers.
Most recently, Bevolo published “Pointing the Way,” a paper examining these emerging influencers, why are they important, what impact are they having now and could have in the future, and ideas for monitoring and potentially “influencing the influencers.” He will draw from this paper at his upcoming presentation to Iowa Hospital Association’s 79th Annual Meeting.
…and I liked it!
My stomach was rumbling late this morning. It was time for food. I thought to myself, “Where to go… where to go?” Suddenly my hankering for a tasty sub kicked in. I grabbed my keys and my trusty iPhone (I can’t just call it a cell phone) and took off down the street. As I approached my destination a dude with a mohawk screeched his bike to a halt beside me. He leapt off, locked it up and tore into the restaurant to grab his next batch of deliveries. In the blur I could barely make out the good old Jimmy Johns slogan on his back, “Subs so fast you’ll freak.” After all, if I could have easily processed the message it certainly wouldn’t qualify as freakishly fast.
A bold new advertising campaign from HealthPartners, a Twin Cities based healthcare system, is causing a buzz in this market. The campaign features a number of creative aspects, including upside-down billboards, videos posted on YouTube and a six-foot tall urine sample cup called “Petey P. Cup.” (see photo below). (more…)
Of all media outlets, I would expect Fast Company to get it. But alas, their latest issue features a cover story about ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky and its new client, Microsoft, with the headline, “Can this dude make Microsoft cool?” (referring to agency head Alex Bogusky). The article focuses on how one of the hottest ad agencies around will strive to save Microsoft with a new ad campaign launching this summer. To that I say, the best of luck. The problem, of course, is that advertising doesn’t make the brand; it’s the other way around.
GeigerBevolo president Chris Bevolo will be a featured speaker in a live webcast, Healthcare Branding: Advanced Strategies to Overcome Common Problems, on Thursday, May 29. The webcast, which takes place from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. CST, is produced by HealthLeaders Media.
Last week I attended the “Power of Impressions,” a terrific conference sponsored by the Beryl Institute. The majority of the participants were marketing leaders from healthcare provider organizations around the country, and one of the hot topics was the publishing of the HCAHPS results by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
In the past we’ve used scientific studies comparing consumer preferences for Coke and Pepsi to show the impact of branding (see the post “Brains and branding”). Now a new study featuring consumers’ preference for wine makes the same case (and one that would be more fun to recreate at home, I would imagine). (more…)