Friday, February 27, 2009

Google's blog on Google Health

Google's official blog has a current post about Google Health, which I discovered the existence of myself at Moveo's blog and posted an entry about yesterday. Google Health is a new personal health record (PHR) letting people post and manage health records and histories online.

I'm just spitting back some information from the Google blog, which gives four differentiating factors of the new site over others: 1) Assurance of privacy and security; 2) A platform letting you import records and test results, and later, set appointments and fill scrips; 3) Portability of health records; and 4) User focus.

I'm particularly interested and excited about the last point. Google says, "We aren't doctors or healthcare experts, but one thing Google can create is a clean, easy-to-use user experience that makes managing your health information straightforward and easy."

If Google can execute on the usability promise, which certainly is a brand asset, it's a piece that's been missing piece all along. Past PHRs have been convoluted and kind of ugly. I'd be surprised if they built any consumer confidence in the security question, as a lot of the ones I saw have kind of a homegrown look. Here's some other PHRs:

http://www.myphr.com/
http://www.recordsforliving.com/HealthFrame/Ideas/PersonalHealthRecord.aspx
http://www.pdhi.com/webnew/products/ConXushealth.asp

The other point of interest is the platform description, which claims it will allow integration with services, tasks and providers. In the past, similar services have lacked background muscle on promotion and networking to fill them adequately with participating providers. Again, I'm hoping Google's brand clout will get the participation to make this aspect worth consumer's time.

I'm considering reviewing the service and writing about it; has anybody used Google Health?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

with Google and Microsoft involved, big step for health care "consumerism"

This is some news: http://blog.moveo.com/moveo_weblog/healthcare/

Both health care organizations and technology companies (from portal providers to more back-end-oriented shops) have been trying to get into the online health records business for years. The idea is giving consumers a single place to post information about their health visits and history --- most humans don't do a great job of this. At least I don't.

Anyway, I don't believe anybody's quite done it right. The attempts I've seen that have failed mostly did so because of the same combination of elements: great technology, terrible web design. (Also possibly a lack of promotion).

The news posted on Moveo's blog that Google and Microsoft are getting into online health records is of interest.

Hopefully this will bring a level of consumer-sensitivity to the navigation, content, and most importantly, marketing of these sites to drive participation.

Here is a link to Micrsoft's HealthVault: http://www.healthvault.com/
Here is Google Health: http://www.google.com/health

Monday, February 23, 2009

Have a Healthy Downturn

Actionable Strategy for Health Care Brands

In the last post I launched a new effort I'm spearheading to help my favorite companies through the alleged downturn: a marketing audit.

A marketing audit is intended to save money, by eliminating redundant efforts. It also sets the stage for future, highly-profitable activities. When better budgets arrive, a plan is in place for execution.

Health care organizations have unique issues to consider, particularly health insurance companies and hospitals.

All types of organizations can benefit from collateral reviews, analyzing customer touch points, consumer segmentation, and a review of core messaging.

Health care organizations, however, can especially consider a "communications audit." They often send out a lot of collateral to patients and members.

Auditing your collateral

Content-wise, there's tremendous value in having someone go through the various pieces, from an editorial and communications-planning perspective, to look at messaging:

Can certain print pieces, bearing redundant messages, be eliminated?

Even three or four fewer pieces sent out a year per member (for insurers, for example), at multiple thousands of members, not only cuts costs but increases the likelihood the right message lands.

More administratively, are you sending the same pieces out twice? Religiously I received two, big benefits booklets from my old health plan, every year.

These audit projects pay for themselves.

And at the very least, the organization has now also invested in a valuable review of its core messages. At the very most, they've gotten closer to the bigger, fundamental review of health care branding that I am recommending all health care organizations take (see this post):

We need to reconsider the fundamental story we're telling patients and members in light of what they really care about. Talk to your writers about this meditative activity for the downturn.

In addition to a deeper analysis of a health care brand, a cheap, high-value activity is this:

Review photography that can be easily replaced on the web or in print.

One of the most valuable services your design and advertising partners can offer in health care branding is photo direction. As we evolve the underlying story, or "messaging platform," an interim step is simply choosing more original imagery. With a little help you can replace photos and artwork without changing layouts just yet. (Which I also recommend considering).

So a downturn is a time for strategy. I keep "strategy projects" at arms length of course, wanting to ensure they are always linked to executable suggestions and not simply generating documents. The ideas here perfectly represent actionable strategy for health care brands.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

A Movement Toward Better Health Care Marketing


The stakes


Of all the marketing messages consumers receive, those dealing with health care are arguably the most important.

I mean, it's hard to argue against the value of knowing there's a "spicy" Baconator out there, and who would deny the role of Mighty Putty as a vital glue to our consumer civilization?

But connecting people with the professionals, tools and technology that can enrich, if not save, their lives still seems a more valid exercise for mass communication.

"Importance" is subjective, and not the best metric for evaluating the potential cause and execution of good advertising. But if we do care about the mission of better health, we have a responsibility to share that mission more effectively with patients.

Pharmaceuticals have it sewn up pretty tight. Big marketing budgets are one thing, and they sure have them. But underlying the most effective campaigns is something that transcends money. It's an understanding big pharma shares with Wendy's, OxyClean and Nike.

The understanding is that advertising is a translation process. Advertising maps a mere product agenda to heartfelt human desires. Where Wendy's has escape, pleasure and convenience going for it, health care has these true biggies in the realm of human want: love, lovemaking, longevity and freedom. For starters.

If we can subvert clichés (which I believe are the first of three health care marketing mistakes) we can more quickly connect with the needs and beliefs consumers care about, rather than losing them in a stream of hackneyed words and images the mind is all too good at tuning out.

The clichés

Of these, my favorite is the "silver-haired family doctor."

The silver-haired family doctor is always smiling, smiling as he peers knowingly into a little girl’s ear with his otoscope. She is smiling too, clutching her favorite doll. Mom is also there, just smiling away.

Why is everyone so happy?

This silver-haired doctor gets around.

You've seen him comforting an elderly woman in a hospital bed. Sometimes he looks directly into the camera. Other times he stands with a group of doctors, arms crossed in welcoming but confident postures. What are they doing?

Who can tell? The image, like most of the stock-photo scenarios used in ads and marketing materials for health care services, is steeped in unreality, emptied of relevance and meaning. Why?

Telling better stories

We've gotten lazy. We keep dipping into the same pool of superficial generic images, forgetting to create new, better underlying stories. That's what advertising is: translating the brute reality of mere marketing into great stories that reach our hearts. If we put story first and details second, the better story will inform more relevant choices for the words, images and sounds that activate feeling and drive action. A better story is one connecting health care with personal desires for beauty and freedom, versus connecting it with morality.

It's easy and convenient to recycle a preachy, "apple a day" storyline about what we should and shouldn't do as a cause for better health care.

It's harder but better to appeal to human self interest, looking at the self-generated motivations consumer/patients identify as their own reasons to pursue better health care.

If our own laziness as marketers is truly the culprit, guess what? Patients will get lazy too.

Left without a reason to choose your services over another, they also will pick whatever is closest at hand. Will it be you?

Friday, February 20, 2009

The Revolution Has Not Been Televised

Why the health care revolution has not taken root.

The past five/ten years saw the uprising of a number of "revolutionary" health care organizations.

They take a number of forms. Most are entrepreneurial ventures of health care veterans providing more customized ways to purchase services. Equally driven by idealism and opportunism, these pioneers all seem to agree --- consumers can be elevated to a position of volition and power.

A lot of these organizations have struggled. Many have failed, or changed forms. Why?

Revolution comes from the ground up, from people. It's hard to sustain a movement conceived top-down in a conference room instead of a break room. People like you and me have tried to create a revolution out of a marketing agenda.

"The people" simply haven't followed, whether it's consumers themselves, or the providers who have to participate in a new form of business to get on board. What's missing?

Two things: 1) Grass-roots organizing and 2) Effective advertising.

The advertising part is simple...

First, we can strike all health care clichés from the images and messaging used to talk about health.

Second, we can stop talking about health.

We can start talking about life, love, lovemaking, freedom and all the other emotional causes that drive people to reconsider their health. Versus talking about cholesterol and colonoscopies.

As for grassroots organizing, it's vital, but more complicated.

First, we have to reconfigure our attitude, from a top-down approach (I concoct a marketing agenda and push messages at consumers) to a democratic one (I listen to what consumers are saying and help them talk about me).

How are we letting what consumers want change our agenda? How are we communicating those positive changes back to consumers?

An alleged downturn is a great time to start formulating an attitudinal shift. It takes little money. It takes lots of inventiveness, which thrives in tough times.

Revolutions also thrive in tough times.

People are now assembling on their own to figure out their personal health care messes. Will you be tapped to join the conversation?