Hospital Marketing Journal

Advertising Webinar: 12/13 at 3pm EST

Healthcare advertising does not have to be bland or undifferentiated.  It does not have to translate to pictures of sick people, equipment or doctors. We’ve all been there… “Where’s the photo of the equipment?” “We are not showing the doctor.” “The logo isn’t big enough!”  “The patient doesn’t look sick enough.” …on and on and on. Sound familiar? If so, you may be in need of some serious help! If not, what we have found at Ten Adams is that a lot of healthcare advertising isn’t necessarily bad. It just does not stand out, causing consumers to pass over it. So, how do we stand out in a sea of sameness? Join Ten Adams for an hour long webinar on December 13th at 3 PM Eastern to discover how to: Reinforce the value of dynamic creative ideas while evolving your brand and brand architecture Use the right mix of media to get your message noticed Track results to know if marketing is working FEATURED SPEAKER: Kris Laufer, Vice President Creative, Ten Adams Kris joined the Ten Adams team in 1992, and has more than 25 years of creative experience in the advertising industry. The past 15-plus years have been focused solely on healthcare marketing. As Creative Director, Kris leads the award-winning creative team at Ten Adams’ in developing campaigns aligned with research and strategy. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how to evolve a brand through good, solid creative ideas delivered with the right mix of media to get your message noticed. Space is limited. Register here to hold your spot.

Welcome Andrea & Jen!

Ten Adams is thrilled to reveal our two latest additions to the "Adams Family" – Jen Varner and Andrea Garvey. WELCOME, JEN! Jen joins the Ten Adams team from Tucker Publishing Group where she was an Art Director designing and overseeing all ads for two bimonthly publications--Evansville Living and Evansville Business. She has been hired by Ten Adams as the Traffic Manager, where she now oversees the day-to-day management of workflow and traffic among all departments. Jen resides on the east side of Evansville with her husband, Josh, and two dogs, Bella and Mocha. She enjoys training and running 5K races. (What’s better than getting in a good workout while supporting a great cause?) In September, she ran the Color Me Rad 5K in Indianapolis, IN, and The Run for Your Life 5K Zombie Run in Owensboro, KY. Jen was recruited to be a zombie in the 5K race because her costume was just "THAT AWESOME'!  Through the darkness of the woods, Jen chased fellow runners, grabbing their flags in order to "zombify" them. Now that's scary.   WELCOME, ANDREA! Andrea Garvey is the new Administrative Assistant at Ten Adams. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations + Advertising from the University of Southern Indiana. Before working at Ten Adams, Andrea was the marketing assistant at Texas Roadhouse, where she helped to implement a grass-roots marketing approach.     Andrea is engaged to her fiancé, Nick.  When she's not planning her wedding, she enjoys many of the same outdoor activities Nick enjoys--especially fishing.  After she caught this big guy (see left), she knew she was hooked!   Andrea also enjoys working out, traveling + finding inspiration for various projects through Pinterest (like her Halloween costumes!) We are delighted to welcome both Jen and Andrea. To find out more about these two new members of the "Adams Family", checkout their bios on the Ten Adams website: Jen Varner | Andrea Garvey

The Ten Adams Wellness Plan

Workplace wellness is key to the future of healthcare. That’s why we decided to make wellness a priority at Ten Adams. We believe wellness is more than eating right and exercising regularly. We find it equally healthy to let loose and have some fun: MadMen Mondays: Our preoccupation with this TV series could be bordering on the unhealthy, but we believe taking a lunch hour once a week to remind us how to avoid being a ‘diva’ aka ‘Pete Campbell circa Mad Men Season 1’ keeps us grounded. Monday Morning Breakfast: Every Monday morning we start the week off with a nutritious breakfast provided by one of our own. These breakfasts have involved a donut or two on occasion, but more often than not, fruit is available. Birthday Lunches: Every month, we gather together to celebrate birthdays. Our most recent excursion was to Café Arazu in Newburgh, IN, for henna tattoos and fresh Mediterranean cuisine! Massage and Reflexology: Now that’s what we call a fringe benefit! Massages and reflexology available to all staff every other week with Ten Adams footing half the bill. Creative Workshops: In March, we all attended two Creative Workshops. Together we explored the seven characteristics of monster advertising ideas, made play-doh mouse traps and created imaginary tree houses—all in a hard day’s work! Lunch & Learns: At our most recent Lunch & Learn, a CNHP spoke to us about “You are what your body can do with what you eat.” Let’s just say most of us weren’t hungry for lunch after that! Some Healthy Competition: Our recent Brain Games Office Olympics and our yearly NCAA Basketball Pool keep things interesting around here because “if you’re not first, you’re last!”   Individuals at Ten Adams also like to take wellness into their own hands. Ellen is a Marathon Maniac. Scott, Kathy and Bill are avid bikers. Sarah is currently training for Tough Mudder. And, Kris’ idea of wellness is Skinny Girl Margarita & Spanx. Click here to see how the rest of us stay healthy  Remaining healthy, fit and anxiety-free can be quite a challenge during the work week. At Ten Adams we believe if you take the time to enjoy yourself, your coworkers and what you do, everything else can fall into place. Let us know how your company approaches employee wellness by leaving a comment below.

First Annual Brain Games

Due to our work schedule, we couldn’t make it to London for the Olympic Games, so the Ten Adams office was converted for a few hours last Thursday into an Olympic ground. You might say that office Olympics are much more carefree and considerably less competitive than the real Olympics, but the competition at the Brain Games was stiff this year. (Trash talk was accepted and even encouraged!) However, even with all of the excitement and competitiveness going on, pre-games training was not required—just a good attitude and a good sense of humor. At the opening ceremony for Ten Adams’ first ever office Olympics, representatives of the two sides of the brain proceeded  through the event grounds (a parking lot/our backyard) in colorful uniforms (t-shirts) to boost excitement for the contests that followed. Two teams, the Right Brains (Orange) and the Left Brains (Blue) participated in the following games: Bat Spin Relay Race – The Right Brains and Left Brains spun around in circles with their foreheads (and festive brain caps) touching the end of a bat before taking off on a dizzying and potentially dangerous run down to the other end of the yard. Even though the Orange Team got points for style (Debbie, the team captain, took one for the team and nose-dived into the ground), the Blue Team was the first to cross the finish line, leaving them victorious.  The Brain Race– Lauren from the Orange Team and Kathy from the Blue Team wound up their walking toy brains fast and furiously for a mad dash from one end of the conference table to another, but the brains themselves were not so fast (much slower than our Ten Adams healthcare masterminds!). Again, the Blue Team was triumphant, even though there was some questionable activity from the Blue Team’s participants (Nancy!). The Brain Toss – Our last, and perhaps most grueling event was the Brain Toss. Members of the two teams dueled against one another to throw our Ten Adams splatter brains hoping to hit the bullseye.  Unfortunately, due to the stickiness of the brains most didn’t even hit the wall, much less the target. A few made it down to the second floor, and a couple more stuck to the ceiling (something that has become an increasingly regular occurrence around here). Kris’ catlike reflexes allowed her to actually catch a brain, winning style points for the Orange Team, who came out on top for this event. The MVPs were Nancy from the Blue Team and Chris from the Orange Team. Although the Blue Team was awarded with the most medals, the Orange Team held the MOST valuable player, Naiyana, who did all of the artwork for this event. Thank you, Naiyana! When all was said and done, the first annual Brain Games was a success! Ten Adams was energized by the unity and laughter it brought to the team and plans on continuing the Brain Games in the coming years.  How does your company reenergize and build stronger staff relationships? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Physician Marketing – A Question of Balance

Part 2 of 3

by Scott Mosley, Vice President of Strategy

In a blog post last month, I outlined five strategic focuses as the foundation for effective physician marketing.  I’ll address the first two of these in this follow-up post and the last three in a subsequent post. Ten Adams’ experience leads us to focus on five vital areas as we work with clients on physician engagement and marketing. Administrative Leadership Engagement (Leveraging Openness and Operational Authority) Outreach Program/Coordinators (Extending Balanced, Personalized Sales/Service) Education/Medical Orientation (Providing Valuable Insights) Print/Electronic Communications (Providing Access to Credible Information) Data on Utilization/Referral Patterns (Identifying and Targeting Opportunity) As healthcare industry leaders, we need to find ways to create balanced relationships that work, engaging physicians as vital partners in successfully negotiating a dramatic shift in how healthcare is delivered. Strategic Focus #1 Administrative Leadership Engagement Leveraging Openness and Operational Authority Effective physician marketing starts with the attitude and positioning of the organization’s administrative leadership and management groups.  The posture of the management group typically reflects perspectives at the executive level of the organization, serving to amplify executive leadership's point-of-view on building quality working relationships with physicians. It is important to understand that physician engagement is a key responsibility shared by each of the organization’s top administrative leaders.  The impact of a solid, well-focused outreach program is enhanced immensely when the efforts of outreach coordinators (physician liaisons) are coupled with those at the executive level of the organization. The most important engagement is on the part of senior executives with direct administrative responsibility for key service lines.  Physicians and other medical practitioners understand and respect the influence that these senior leaders have over operations and the ability to directly respond to a physician’s operational issues and concerns. Strategic Focus #2 Outreach Program/Coordinators Extending Balanced, Personalized Sales/Service The outreach coordinator (physician liaison) sits at the intersection of hospital goals and physician/practice needs.  They are charged with "balancing" attention to the hospital's interests and needs/priorities of physicians, working to optimize utilization and referral patterns.  This role is absolutely vital today but will be even more so as healthcare reform elevates the importance of hospital/physician integration under accountable payment systems. The most effective outreach programs are designed to meet the needs of the organizations they serve.  These needs range from a strong focus on organizational growth (sales orientation) to a strong focus on resolving service issues (service orientation).  Most organizations’ outreach efforts reflect a balanced emphasis of sales and service with the majority leaning toward service.  This reflects the general evolution of healthcare as organizations across the country move toward fuller hospital-physician integration.  This sharpens the focus on collaborative efforts to improve clinical efficiency and service delivery. Experienced healthcare leaders point to three factors determining the effectiveness of outreach efforts, each worthy of attention. Driving Outreach with Individual Physician Data – selecting physician outreach targets using individual physician data analysis to maximize the impact and return on investment in the outreach program. Aligning the Focus of the Outreach Program with Hospital Strategy – alignment of the outreach programs principal focus and goals with organizational strategy to ensure the proper objectives drive the work of outreach consultants. Personalizing Outreach to Physicians – gaining the support and involvement of engaged physicians in performing outreach activities, taking advantage of existing relationships to enhance the overall effectiveness of the outreach program.