It’s Time To Kill The “S Word” Once And For All!

Today I got another one of those pieces in the mail from a nearby hospital—you know, the one with the vanilla husband and wife, both frolicking on the beach, he in is tan swim trunks and full head of shocking white hair, she in her one -piece bathing suit, her capped teeth gleaming in the bright sunlight.

Hospitals are looking to “align” with what they believe are the wealthier market segment—those 50 years and older (of course, the hospital’s brochure, in its unintended patronizing way, refers to them as “50 years and better”). The hospital marketing department’s thought process is to solicit folks in this age group to join its“senior membership” program. Get discounts at neighborhood retailers by flashing them your telltale membership card. Partake in free “seniorcize” classes at the hospital’s health and fitness center, where silver-haired warriors can get their blood pressures checked and the hospital can ultimately get a few heart procedures.

Honestly, I have no issue with programs that are set up to attract older individuals approaching or already in retirement. Banks do this all the time. And hospitals are not just trying to improve their payer mix and volume of patients with these membership programs. The material is educationally important and the programs provide excellent socializiation opportunities in addition to healthy living habits thatmany people in their advancing years need. But what really irks me is that people 55 years of age or older are still being called “seniors”. People in their thirties and forties aren’t called “juniors”, are they? I’m not aware of any “juniorcize” exercise programs out there. Every other market group rails when it is stereotyped. Why are we, the growing bald and bunion market segment, letting society get away with this??

Rather than refer to us as seniors, why not just call us “smart shoppers”? We know a good deal when we see one, and we know when marketers are really just after our money (which we don’t have a lot of anyway). So please, no more commercials with Wilford Brimley droning on about spending our golden years on some crappy insurance plan. And no more cheesy brochures with that lady with the pearly whites.

Be well.
--TMW

Customer Service Expectations Are Universal

Last week I received an email from someone named “Pablo”. No last name, just Pablo. At first I figured it was spam and moved it to my junk mail folder. But something told me I should open the message, so I did. Turns out Pablo is the director of marketing at the Hospital of the University of Navarra, Spain. He had bought a copy of my book—The Complete Guide To Hospital Marketing—via the internet, and wanted to tell me how grateful he was to have read it. He also said it was comforting to see that hospital marketing is taken seriously here in the U.S.

Folks, I’m not making this up! Here are Pablo’s own words (there are a few grammatical and language roughspots, but the meaning comes through loud and clear):

“Sincerely, the best thing of the book is the approach of the hospital marketing. In Spain…people who work in hospital in marketing matters are not respected. For you, hospital marketing is really a branch of marketing, and you speak about with authority, so, it’s very good to read people who think that marketing in the hospital is not for the crazy people, but for the people who understand the hospital context and who know the importance of hospital role in the society.”

Pablo goes on to write: “In Spain, the hospital marketing is technology, technology and technology. We have forgotten the role of human experiences, the essence of healthcare brands.”

The funny thing about this email from a hospital marketer in Spain is that it could have been written by someone right here in the good old U S of A. Unfortunately, many of our hospitals focus their marketing on technology just as Pablo says his hospital does. About six years ago I made a trip to Germany, a few months after the horror of 911. While there, I visited the University of Heidelberg and its teaching hospital. I was impressed that they had technology even more advanced than that in some of our university hospitals. But more impressive was the friendliness I detected in the staff, the cleanliness in the halls, the ease I had in communicating with the physicians and nurses.

Somehow it's comforting to know that hospital marketers across the world are concerned that "we have forgotten the role of human experiences." Wouldn’t it be great if there were international standards for customer service in health care?

'Til next time.
--TMW