hospital marketing - messaging trends- new era of branding and marketing activities from hospitals

Hospital Marketing

of 17

“In India, the hospital services industry is expected to be worth US$ 81.2 billion by 2015. The Indian hospital services sector

generated revenue of over US$ 45 billion in 2012.

This revenue is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)

of 20 per cent during 2012-2017, according to a RNCOS report titled,

„Indian Medical Device Market Outlook to 2017‟.”

www.ibef.org

Hospital Marketing

of 17

Medical marketing is a broad term and encompasses a lot of

themes. It could refer to the marketing of

A closer look at the medical market in India shows that

hospitals are the fastest growing vertical of this industry.

Drugs

Equipment

Diagnostic services

Allied patient care

services

Hospitals

Hospital Marketing

of 17

A number of factors are contributing to the growth of

hospitals per se.

Increase in life expectancy

Increasing affordability - more so

in urban areas

Advent of medical tourism

Rise in health insurance penetration numbers especially among the urban denizens and

increased patient awareness and demand

for better services

Hospital Marketing

of 17

One can expect a lot more players in the hospital space within

the medical market. Emergence of medical marketing

consultants, MBA courses in hospital management, the

beginning of regular advertising campaigns are all heralding a

new era of branding and marketing activities from the

hospitals themselves. In this article we aim to explore some of

the ‘claims, RTBs (reasons to believe) that hospitals are using

in their adverts to market themselves.

Hospital Marketing

of 17

Hospitals are aggressively

marketing either individual

Doctors or a team of Doctors

they have to service their

patients. The ads within this

theme focus on the

achievements of the doctor

and his team and we find

words like pioneer, leading,

best etc. used to cue a sense

of better than the rest.

1. We have the STAR DOCTOR

Hospital Marketing

of 17

We find that in such advertising

not only is the doctor's lab coat

leveraged but also specific cues

that tell us these are surgeons are

shown. So typically you will find

the team wearing blue, green

colour surgical attires along with the appropriate head gear.

Showcasing a team of doctors dedicated to particular illness lends a

feeling of professionalism to the

hospital. The team dressed in a

uniform and with smiles in an ad

gives a feeling of ‘working towards

a goal’. It helps create a sense of

credibility for the hospital. In the

medical field nothing works more than the name of the doctor!

2. We have the STAR TEAM

Hospital Marketing

of 17

Another claim that we find in this sector is one that focuses on

consistent excellence over time. It helps separate the men from the

boys. It cues that everybody can be good but only some great brands

stay at the top and offer the best in class services consistently In the ad

below we see Apollo Hospitals focusing on ‘11 years of excellence’ to

drive home the above point.

3. Consistent Excellence Over Time

Hospital Marketing

of 17

At times we also see a more in your face version of the consistence

excellence over time claim as shown in the advertisement below. Here a

specialist facility from Fortis highlights their track record of successful

deliveries and procedures and also shows the efficiencies of the NICU

via a numeric cue.

Hospital Marketing

of 17

A variant of the consistent excellence over time is the claim consistent

best service everywhere as shown in the above advertisement for Apollo

Emergency Services

3A. Best in class service everywhere

Hospital Marketing

of 17

Any accreditation means delivery of a certain value for the patients.

Moreover these accreditations increase the credibility of the hospital.

It is believed that in this sector accreditation over time leads to four

types of impacts. They are

1. Change of practice

2. Impact on health care outcomes

3. Organisational and managerial change

4. Impact on patient satisfaction

Here are two examples of brands leveraging accreditation in their

communication material.

4. Acrredited by the best/most relevant body

Hospital Marketing

of 17

Till recently the term “packages & gifts” was something we equated

with the hospitality industry and not with hospital services. However off

late things are changing.

A lot of super speciality hospitals now offer a 2 day – 3 night stay at the

hospital at a fixed rate for regular surgeries such as gall bladder

removal, hernia etc.

Hinduja Hospital for example mentions 1 day packages for diagnostic

services.

5. Packages and Gifts

Hospital Marketing

of 17

La Femme talks about special ante natal and birthing packages in their

communication.

Hospital Marketing

of 17

These packages are further classified according to the affordability of

the patient. This strategy has also helped hospitals increase their

business through the rural belts in India and to cash in on international

patients and has led to the explosion of the medical tourism

phenomenon

Hospital Marketing

of 17

The pioneer - ship claim ensures that the hospital brand is seen as

innovative and leading edge in terms of latest of technical knowhow.

Over time it ensure greater credibility, trust and market value for the

brand

6. Pioneers

Hospital Marketing

of 17

Though we find many instances of using some RTB, claim in hospital

advertisements what is still missing is clear cut brand positioning cues.

Thus communications cues are still very product/ service centric and not

yet brand centric. Thus we can say that we are in the stage 2 of the

evolution of brand model where the brand acts as a reference:

According to the

http://www.onlineresearchjournals.com/ajbe/art/59.pdf- “In this stage

the goal of marketers and brand managers is to position the brand as

having unique functional benefits distinctive name so as to differentiate

it from other brands. In doing so the brand can be protected through

trade mark registration, giving it a legal protection against imitators and

denoting the source of ownership. In the early stages of the product life

Hospital Marketing

of 17

cycle, the brand is differentiated on various attributes in order to get the

competitive advantage so as to have the brand preference by the

consumers over the competitors.

Differentiation is achieved by emphasizing on the product attributes

continuously as in the initial stages consumers are still in the process of

learning about the Brand. Identification requires only that the consumer

be aware of the brand name; differentiation requires more of the

consumer, i.e. they require some knowledge about the product. The first

type of knowledge that consumers might want is product-related

information such as superiority of product attributes or quality. These

networks are mostly categorical in nature in that they differentiate

brands primarily on physical attributes.

This process is described by Keller (1993) who conceptualizes brand

knowledge as having two components: brand awareness and brand

image. Awareness consists of brand recall and recognition. The first

component of brand knowledge is types of brand associations which

consist of attributes, benefits and attitudes. In this stage, the consumer

Hospital Marketing

of 17

learns about the attributes, some of the benefits and begins to form

attitudes. The consumer may also form a few favourable and some

unique associations with the brand.

In summary, in stage 2, most marketing effort concentrates on

developing and enhancing functional characteristics of the brand and

communicating these to consumers. This, in turn, enables consumers to

identify and distinguish the brand from the competition and also acts as

a guarantee of consistent quality. Thus, marketers are engaging in a

brand positioning process which builds perception of the brand vis-à-

vis competitive Brands”

Typically it is in the next stage that we see the emotional and imagery

cues coming in and thus dialling up the role of intangibles. So in the

coming days we can expect to see the branding wars in the hospital

sector heating up.!

Copyright @ Connecting Dots 2013.

[email protected]

hospital marketing - messaging trends- new era of branding and marketing activities from hospitals

Business