Insight

Healthcare branding is the same as any other type of branding and if anyone tries to tell you otherwise it’s time to walk away. Of course healthcare is special and so are the people involved in delivering it, however why would you abandon core branding principles that work for everyone else for no good reason? Here is what matters in healthcare branding.

As business owners and managers we know that pulling the right levers at the right time is important and we all have them to pull whatever our role. However the intention comes before the action and that is what we are interested in here.

Everyone understands the concept of a ladder. You start at the bottom and work you way up, rung by rung to reach your goal. That might be a light bulb that needs replacing, a bookshelf that needs reaching or (horror of horrors) a gutter that needs cleaning. There is another kind of ladder though. If you haven’t heard of the concept of the customer benefit ladder then you are about to learn something useful.

Positioning is at the heart of marketing and is a key driver for the decisions you make about how how to design, deliver and promote your products. Pretty important then. Whether you are a pharmacist thinking about developing your next clinical service or you provide products and services for pharmacists, get your positioning right and you have a solid foundation.

Unless you have limitless resources targeting is critical. Selecting which market segments you will choose to focus on initially is an important step and one that enables you to maximise return on your investment. Targeting is a little like the application of topical treatments. No, it is, really. Stick with me on this one.