After years of resisting the game—perhaps because of nearly as many years of repeated Caddyshack viewings that made the stereotypes about snobby country club culture overshadow the Zen-like beauty of the game—I have very recently become obsessed with golf. Needless to say, it was just a matter of time before a golf-related posting was going to soon grace this blog.

Image is everything? It’s hard to believe that anybody dressed like this could be responsible for selling millions of dollars worth of high-end camera equipment, but that’s precisely what a guy with a mullet haircut and Spandex shorts named Andre Agassi did for Canon.

But before you sigh and close your browser, hold on. I don’t want to wax about far-reaching metaphors that feebly attempt to bridge playing the game and hospital marketing. Instead, I want to look at the more closely and realistically related concepts of golf and hospital marketing and branding.

One of the first things I’ve learned about golf is that it’s an industry as much as it’s a game. Golf product companies want me to believe that one company’s products are better than another’s, and that by using them, I’ll be better. Does healthcare marketing sound all that much different?

The golf industry often attempts to sell (or at least introduce) that idea with any number of marketing techniques, such as endorsements from top players. As former tennis champ Andre Agassi used to say in his ads for Canon cameras, “Image is everything.” Although endorsements aren’t as common in healthcare, hospitals regularly try to promote an image that their brand can (literally) make you better.

Being the Best at Being Better

Although golf is just a game where one strives to be better (at the game)—as where hospitals deal with matters where being better is sometimes a matter of life or death—golf’s various products and brands differ in price, quality and function the same way as hospitals and their service lines and doctors.

But how does one discover which brand is truly the best at making you better?

A couple of months ago, I couldn’t have told you the functional difference between a pitching wedge and a lob wedge, much less the quality difference between Taylor Made clubs and Callaway Golf clubs. I can now, though—and I’ll spare you the explanations of the differences. But how did I discover those differences.

• Word of mouth (from friends)

• Referrals (from trusted professionals)

• Advertising (print, television and online)

• Customer reviews (print and online)

Now let’s assume that I was in a situation of needing to discover which treatment is best for a condition I have, or which hospital is better at performing that treatment. How would I do this? (Hint: It’s the same list as above).

Note that I didn’t mention statistical analysis, e.g., quality of care reports. It’s not that they aren’t useful or that I (or others) wouldn’t use them, but they typically aren’t primary techniques for researching hospitals. Instead, they are more likely to be used once people become aware of the leading brands and services.

Let’s now consider your hospital’s marketing and advertising. What does it truly mean to be the best…and what are you doing to be the best, or at least promote that image?

Are you perceived as a leading brand? Do you make it easy to learn about the treatments you offer and which is better?

And what about your competitors? Are they perhaps second-rate when compared to you…but project an image that implies something more?

AVID Design is a full-service healthcare marketing agency that builds progressive, cutting-edge healthcare Websites, rich media applications and physician videos.

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.