Teens: Hard to Reach, Harder to Engage
The transition from childhood to adolescence is a big turning point — socially, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Just ask any parent with children between the ages of 8 and 14. This generation is media-wise, sophisticated, technically-savvy, and they’re influential trendsetters who are growing up much quicker than previous generations. I see this every day in my two daughters, ages 12 and 14. If you’re a parent of a tween, teen or have any [...]
Bright Future in…Journalism?
If you believe everything you read on the Internet these days, it's a given -- the media is dying.
I went to see State of Play over the weekend, spurred by an interesting Ad Age article suggesting it was “The Last Hurrah of Hollywood’s Hero Journalist.” It’s a good movie — a pulse-pounding political thriller with plenty of plot twists. Russell Crowe plays Cal McAffrey in the lead role of heroic investigative reporter at [...]
The Value of Business Blogging
I've been blogging for about six months now and I have to say it has changed my life.
Well, maybe not changed my life, but at least propelled me deeper into the blogoshere, which I find a fascinating place. I’m not talking about the parts of the blogosphere where political battles are fought or celebrity gossip is rehashed. I’m talking about the places where the smartest people in public relations, marketing and related fields [...]
Twitter in the Operating Room
Tweeting live surgeries is catching on as more health care systems embrace social media. A couple months ago at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, surgeons used robotic surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from a man's kidney and a benign tumor from another patient's brain. Earlier this month, a woman had a robotic hysterectomy at Sherman Hospital in Illinois, and last week, surgeons at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center in Wisconsin perfomed a double knee replacement. These surgeries are very different, but all of them were simultaneously broadcast via Twitter. While operating surgeons use Twitter to give short, real-time updates about the procedure. A Peek into the Operating Room I am not a nurse, doctor or other trained medical professional, but I have some medical knowledge and have watched surgeries performed firsthand. I've also become an avid Twitter user, so I decided to follow along when I heard about Aurora Health's decision to broadcast the procedure. I opened up TweetDeck and followed along, reading their tweets of the procedures. I was fascinated at the speed, precision and honesty of the surgeons doing the double knee replacement. Pictures of the actual procedure were also tweeted. No, I wasn't grossed out (I seriously love watching this kind of stuff), but those faint of heart followers can choose to not open and view the photos that are tweeted, another advantage of Twitter. (more...)
Traditional media takes on the rebel alliance. In case you haven’t noticed, the embattled institution known as traditional media declared war earlier this month on bloggers and aggregators (aka Google) who feature news content on their sites. Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson recently said: “Companies that aggregate mainstream media content without paying a fee are [...]
Gaining ground
Community benefit reports offer an incredible opportunity to healthcare brands.
AIG =Arrogance, Incompetence, Greed. That’s just one of many negative shots being lobbed at companies in the heart of America’s economic crisis. Big businesses wrought with financial problems are being blasted by the public and media alike. The public’s frustration with these companies can very likely result in spillover to the healthcare arena. With the rollout [...]
Each year as the weather breaks, people throughout central Ohio can be found in T-shirts and flip flops when it is barely 50 degrees. We are thrilled to throw our winter coats into the back of our closets and enjoy each sign of spring. We wash our cars and clean our homes, eager for a new beginning. [...]
The simple truth of business with consumer products, and most other industries, is that market share is always up for grabs. No matter what shape the economy is in, there’s always a competitor waiting to take a sizeable chunk of the market share and shelf space your sales and marketing team has worked so hard [...]
We just completed our first annual satisfaction survey of our more than 50 clients. The results are in, and we want to share them because — even though there’s always room for improvement — we’re pretty proud of what we found. Of the 55 survey recipients, 36 answered our 27 questions hosted by Zoomerang. We [...]
Don’t Serve Me Alphabet Soup
How health care marketers can cut out the jargon and truly reach the consumer. "I think you might be having an MI, TIA or GERD. Maybe you should go to the ED for an IV, ET tube, MRI, or CT. Maybe they'll call a STEMI alert. Your PCP told me it could be CHF, PAD or a CVA and you'll be in the ICU or CCU." Sounds like an episode of Grey's Anatomy, doesn't it? Do you ever feel like you can't understand what your doctor is saying? It's no wonder. The medical industry is chock full of jargon that has become commonplace among those who work in the profession. But it can sound like Greek to a patient or their family members. Many patients have difficulty understanding basic medical information. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted in 2003, about a third of Americans have low health literacy, meaning they can't read basic charts or determine what time a prescription medication should be taken based on the drug label. According to the Summer 2008 issue of Dartmouth Medicine, low health literacy can lead to medication mistakes, missed appointments, and poor adherence to doctors' recommendations, to name just a few side effects. The lower people's health literacy, the poorer their health tends to be. And with the shifting demographics in our country, we're seeing more non-English speaking people living within our borders. As communicators and marketers, we can play a significant role in ensuring that patients and their families can read and comprehend important information. One of our clients, CHS Healthcare, provides much-needed healthcare to underserved migrant workers in the ZIP code in Florida with the highest percentage of uninsured residents. In this area, many parents of children under age 5 aren't providing their children with the care they need. The CHS Early Health Pride program was developed to provide access to vital services for the youngest members of the community. Fahlgren developed animated characters, Dr. Leon and Paka [pictured on the right with Michael Wheatley, their creator], to serve as communication ambassadors to parents of these young children. An easy-to-understand guide for parents to learn what to expect and watch for during their child's development featured both characters. We strived to make words and phrases as simple as possible - instead of vaccinations we used shots, and instead of physicians we said doctors, for example. We also worked in close partnership with the program's social workers to understand the unique characteristics of the populations they served - Mexican and Haitian immigrants who work in Florida's agriculture industry. A simple translation isn't enough - it's important to really understand your audience's values, beliefs, traditional roles and preferred methods of communication. This, along with active listening, helps ensure that people understand how to take care of themselves and those they care for. So stay away from alphabet soup and serve up communication that's easy to understand. That's what good healthcare communication is all about.
