Hospital Marketing Journal

Wellness at Witham

Here’s to health (and wealth) in 2013! One of our special long-term clients — Witham Health Services — made us proud by making a commitment to improving the overall health of their community. To start tackling this goal, Witham is providing monthly health screenings, seminars and events; each month focusing on a different health related topic. And, then, they handed the reins to us — looking to Ten Adams to spread the word + share the wellness love. We came back with a fun branded look to use for any + all wellness-related messages throughout the year. That’s where our “Well Hello” came in. “Well Hello” is a symbol — a signal to consumers to keep their eyes + ears open for a wellness opportunity from Witham. We used Witham’s signature bright colors — healthy, lively + full of energy. Print ads were designed to include a simple monthly header, demonstrating the consistency + frequency of the messaging (and the depth of Witham’s commitment). We also used Witham’s hallmark blue block from their logo to promote “Stay Well” — another visual cue to a Witham wellness message. The wellness messaging kicked off with a simple brand ad that shared Witham’s commitment to keeping the community well, introducing just what it means to get a “Well Hello” from Witham. It was quickly followed up by the first screening event ad for January followed by February. We’re moving into March + April’s messaging, ready to start bringing this feel-good initiative to life!

Ring in the New Year — Ten Adams Style

While most New Year’s resolutions revolve around diets and exercise, Ten Adams has kept its goals for the upcoming year on the less conventional side. And to shake things up even more, the creative team here at Ten Adams has been hustling and bustling to put together a fun video showcasing these goals.     Ten Adams has also made a resolution to help those in need. So, this holiday season, Ten Adams is taking a moment to recognize our blessings and support an initiative that has been near and dear to the hearts of the Ten Adams family — Lifesong for Orphans' — Both Hands initiative. This initiative helps families adopting orphans internationally with the incredible expense of the adoption process — while, simultaneously, serving widows through home improvement projects. With over 163 million orphans in the world today, we encourage everyone to donate to this cause, helping to put children back into families and on the road to success and recovery. To contribute to Both Hands Foundation, please visit www.bothhandsfoundation.org. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and all the best in 2013!

A New Model for Success

Anyone working in the healthcare industry knows a new era is upon us. The challenges we're facing today revolve around critical decisions related to new mandates + how they’re (truly) going to affect how we promote health + deliver services. Effectively. Responsibly. As the industry evolves, Ten Adams has evolved right with it. To serve the changing needs of our clients, we have expanded our business model, incorporating operational refinement as an element of our integrated service offering. Here’s what that looks like — the primary elements that build the Ten Adams service portfolio: Marketing, advertising + communications continue to serve at the core of our business--the foundation of our work over the past 25 years. But, without a solid strategy, even the most dynamic marketing will fail to deliver maximum results. Marketing programs MUST drive business outcomes. We understand + appreciate the importance of service line + operational strategy as elements of an integrated solution that delivers maximum results for our hospital clients. We also understand that, at the end of the day, healthcare is a people business.  The importance of ensuring a relationship between a hospital’s brand + its culture can’t be overlooked. The people who deliver the care hold the power to make or break the brand — a fact which became very clear to us seven years ago when we expanded our business model to help hospitals bring their brand positioning to life within their culture, each and every day. Our newest point of emphasis — helping to ensure operating effectiveness — is a natural next step in our own evolution and one that is vital to our clients. Never has there been a more important time for hospitals to deliver at the highest level of operational effectiveness. This requires a delicate balancing act. Our experience helps reveal significant, practical opportunities to improve the efficiency of the organization specifically through frontline managers and employees — without compromising quality of care. We have expanded our team to include professionals with LEAN-certification and administrative, clinical + financial expertise to assist hospitals in optimizing operating results, while maintaining that crucial balance. Simply put, the integration of strategy, marketing, culture + operations has a direct impact on business performance + results. It strengthens competitive positioning + improves market leverage. And at Ten Adams, we’ve built our business model to create the strongest + most distinctive healthcare brand experience possible. A powerful brand experience is critical as we prepare healthcare organizations to lead the industry's transition from volume-driven to a value-focused model of improving health. Ten Adams invites you to be one of those leaders, as we take on the new era of healthcare together.

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.

As Good As It Gets.

There are close to 147 million orphans in the world. That number is hard to grasp... it's the distance in kilometers from the earth to the sun. It's a BIG number. My wife and I knew that God was inviting our family to respond to what were no longer overwhelming statistics, but precious little eyes that just want to see they are loved, and open little hands that need someone's to hold. In January of 2010 we knew it was time, and we began the process of expanding our happy little family of four (at the time our biological sons were 2 1/2 years and 5 months old). The international adoption process is sadly — but in many ways necessarily — laden with gross amounts of paperwork, background checks, reports, studies, education, exams and waiting. We felt called to open our home to "waiting children" — those who are older than the 3-5 year range, are part of a sibling set, or have special needs. They are harder to be placed with adoptive families because they are known to typically come with their own set of "larger" issues, as opposed to healthy infants (who need families just as much as waiting children do, but are almost always immediately placed into one). We chose an agency that has a focus on "waiting children", had our home study completed by a local agency (FTIA), and were ready to see who would join our family next. When we began our process, we were considering one or two toddlers with possible special health needs. But God always has a bigger plan — our home study approved us for three children up to the age of ten — and the crushing consideration of how to choose was upon us. We waded through lists of names and ages that tore our hearts out; but our first official child referral was for three children no longer even on the lists — three incredible little ones we cannot imagine our family without. We met our children on paper in March of 2010: Habiba, age 10, Fetya, age 6, and Abebaw, age 2. They didn't know we existed yet, but they were ours. In June 2010 we were able to send our kids a "welcome bag" — telling them they have been chosen by a family. We introduced ourselves with letters, photos, a "family t-shirt" and some small gifts. You and I can only imagine the impact that day has on the life of a child living in such circumstances. The photos we received of them in their new family tees are priceless. Welcome Bag Photos After incredible delays with paperwork and a great deal of upheaval in Ethiopia and in our agency, we boarded a plane to Addis Ababa in January 2012 to go to court and legally adopt our daughters and son. It is impossible to describe what it is like to have little arms flung around your neck, though they don't even know really if you are worthy of their trust and their love. How can you explain what it means to be called "daddy" within a week by a child who has lost everything, but holds enough hope and strength to risk having a "daddy" again? Our visit was only two weeks long, and it held excruciating complications in our court processes, but it cemented our family and left us in awe. Then the hardest part of all — we had to say goodbye. Our children were forced to wait eight more months before we could be reunited. The wait was suffocating, and the most difficult eight months our family has endured. Still, during that time we saw the redemptive hand of God, who used it to bring forward families to adopt TWO of our children's dear friends, also "waiting" children who had little hope of being chosen. One of these friends is already home, and the other will be in our community hopefully by Christmas. And so in September 2012, 21 months after we began the process, we once again landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and snatched our children up into our arms. We would never have to leave them behind again. We struggled through a week in a local guest house where we tried to get to know each other and initiate a parent-child relationship. We picked lice, ate traditional food, shopped for spices and traditional clothes and other Ethiopian memoirs, said goodbyes, took care of official business and came home. The flight from Addis to DC is a grueling 17.5 hours, but when we landed in Indianapolis to be greeted by family and friends who had longed for this day with us, JOY and relief marked the day. We have been home as a family of seven for five weeks now. The journey to this place has been long and difficult, yet it is still only the beginning. We are working through adjustments, grief, joys, new experiences, language learning, food changes, unfamiliarity. We work through the days with a sense of humor, a tremendous degree of exhaustion — and only by the grace of God. The obstacles our children have and continue to overcome are inconceivable to most of us — and these now 12-, 8- and 4-year-olds are champions of courage, hope, faith and joy. Our days see their share of tears, but they are marked by laughter as well. Most importantly, despite the challenges and grief one must embrace by walking this road, we absolutely know that it is right. There is tremendous peace and security in knowing that we are doing what we are made to do, and that this is not the end. In adoption there is unbearable heartache, but there is redemption, there is healing, there is the realization of faith and there is LIFE. We recommend it.