Marketing Upheaval

Mat Mathews, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), is guiding this 160-plus year old organization through a  digital transformation.  BGCA is wonderful organization that impacts children all over the world and technology is playing an ever expanding role in helping kids grown, learn and keeping them safe. As Mat says, "Everyone likes change until it has to happens to them." He talks about is approach and how he gets people onboard and motivates them to embrace the change.  Mat has worked with Creative Outhouse to launch huge initiatives and a big part of the conversation is about behavior change. It's a great episode you don't want to miss if you're facing any organizational change in the future. 

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Midtown Atlanta, like all urban areas, took a huge hit during the pandemic. The move for people to work from home has also hurt the businesses and communities who = depend on the influx of daily visitors. Brian Carr, Director of Marketing and Communications for Midtown Alliance, and his team are creating new reasons to get people to come back to work in town and stay longer once they arrive.  He discusses what's working and what isn't and how Midtown is helping people gain the one big thing they're missing— personal connections.

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Midtown Atlanta, like all urban areas, took a huge hit during the pandemic. The move for people to work from home has also hurt the businesses and communities who  depend on the influx of daily visitors. Brian Carr, Director of Marketing and Communications for Midtown Alliance, and his team are creating new reasons to get people to come back to work in town and stay longer once they arrive.  He discusses what's working and what isn't and how Midtown is helping people gain the one big thing they're missing— personal connections.

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On this episode, Dr. Marni Bender, a clinical psychologist, talks about how fear and anxiety are driving the general public's behavior and what marketers can do to affect positive behavior change. Creative Outhouse specializes in behavior change and this episode shows how similar psychology and marketing can be. 

Well, anxiety has gone through the roof as you can imagine. For people who already had anxiety, it has been exacerbated tremendously— especially anxiety around health issues. With COVID, many people are very afraid of getting infected or losing family members, things like that. But also, I’m seeing people who haven't typically struggled with anxiety in the past. IN addition to health anxiety, we’re seeing issues about financial security. But there's also been a sort of a vague uneasiness overall about what is happening in the world; like it feels as if the world is falling apart for a lot of people and they don't have a lot of security or safety about what's coming in the future.

 Behavior Change Marketing Starts With Why

Rudy Fernandez

So how does that manifest itself?

Dr. Marni Bender

In terms of basic symptoms, it's a lot of physical symptoms like upset stomach, headaches, general muscle tightness, that makes it hard to just relax. And that comes out a lot of times in anger, fighting, just an irritability with others. It also tends to make people want to control things or avoid things. When people get anxious, they get very avoidant of things that make them anxious because it makes your anxiety go away. Or they get very controlling.  Again, that's a way to give them to reduce their anxiety. If they have a sense of control, it's often an illusion of control.

Rudy Fernandez

So it's a binary either nothing or try to control what are some of the things they try to control that are sort of irrational?

Dr. Marni Bender

I would say it's actually not binary. It's a matter of degree. But I see what you're saying like people seem to have the opposite response either controller or avoid, but how much they do it is certainly a matter of degree. We all probably do that a little bit. But the more extreme we get, the more problems we tend to have functioning in life. A simple example would be people that are extremely ordered. if something gets out of place,

Rudy Fernandez

Like organizing a spice rack or whatever…

Dr. Marni Bender

Yes, exactly

Rudy Fernandez

And what kind of things are they avoiding?

Dr. Marni Bender

It can be seeing people. It can be taking care of their health, dealing with their personal finances, people tend to start getting into financial trouble... They don't want to pay attention to it. So they either ignore it and just start incurring lots of debt. Or they will almost go to the other extreme of like, I don't have a problem and spend willy nilly shopping and things like that.

We're Missing Clear Messaging

Rudy Fernandez

You brought up something that I've noticed. We are all still trying to feel around for what is the best way or what is a comfortable way to engage with friends, for example. We had some other friends over and we sat outside. When we went inside to get food, they came inside with us.  It was awkward because we’re thinking, “there’s a reason we're in the heat.” So it's really trying to figure that out your social interactions, and you're right sometimes It's like, let's just avoid social interactions. And it's a weird balance right now.

Full transcript here: https://creativeouthouse.com/anxiety-and-consumer-behavior/  

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This episode contains mind-blowing insights into the Pharmaceutical industry, targeting HR managers, personalized healthcare marketing vs. privacy and a new term for you, “Monkey Math.” Whether you’re in marketing or not, this episode will be eye opening about the medicines you take and the unnecessary costs. 

Hey everyone. This is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. This conversation with Kyra Hagan is eye opening. For starters, she talks about how 25 – 30 cents of every dollar a company or organization spends on healthcare goes to pharmaceuticals. And many times, there’s what Kyra calls “monkey math”. So there’s a lot of waste. So how you do you get the message to people that there’s a problem and you can solve it? How has he new world of healthcare changed messaging and tactics? Well, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Welcome to Marketing Upheaval.

My guest is Kyra Hagan, Vice President of Marketing at RxBenefits. RxBenefits is a technology-based company that helps midsize employers get better pricing on prescriptions for their employees. Kyra has more than 20 years of healthcare IT experience and has a unique perspective on what's going on in the world of prescription drugs, and how mid-sized employers are managing that part of their coverage they offer their employees. We’re talking about that and how she engages her audiences, what's changed with the COVID crisis, and what she sees on the horizon.

Rudy: So let's start with RxBenefits. Who exactly is your customer?

Kyra: Well, RxBenefits actually has three customers. We partner with Employee Benefits Consultants, often called brokers, to bring an optimized pharmacy benefit to self-insured employers of all sizes. At the end of the day, we end up servicing the broker, the HR manager or the benefit leaders inside of that organization and all of the organizations’ employees and their family members, who we call members.

Rudy: So what is the problem that RxBenefits solves for them?

Kyra: Pharmacy is a critical benefit. It's highly utilized by employees, but it's also very costly. And I think today, about 25 - 30 cents of every healthcare dollar that an organization is spending on healthcare benefit is going to prescription drugs, with no sign of a slowdown. Unfortunately, not all of that spending is beneficial. A lot of dollars inside the system are wasted due to poorly negotiated pharmacy buying contracts, lack of clinical oversight and really poor customer value or poor customer service and explanation of the benefits. We exist to help employers bridge those gaps so they can balance the economic and the clinical value of the benefit. That tends to lower the overall cost of the pharmacy benefit by an average of about 26%.

Rudy: That sounds like an easy sell. What kind of barriers could you possibly have that if you say, we're trying to lower your cost for pharmaceuticals, your cost per employee or however you measure that, right?

Kyra: Unfortunately, there's a false perception in the marketplace from HR leaders that lowering cost in the Pharmacy Benefits means lowering coverage. 

View the rest of the transcript and show notes at: https://creativeouthouse.com/pharmaceutical-savings/

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Hey everyone. This is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. At Creative Outhouse we create brilliant content and integrated marketing campaigns. Just go to Creative Outhouse.com and click on Creative Work if you don’t believe me. This episode with Kathryn Smith of MedShape is really enlightening. MedShape supplies foot and ankle surgeons with advanced devices for surgeries. Most ortho procedures were stopped for a few months. So who would have a better overall picture of how that’s starting to pick up than the people who supply the materials for surgery? And their customers are primarily Doctors. So I wanted to hear what’s changed in terms of how to market to an audience that’s always part of the marketing mix in healthcare. I learned a lot talking to Katherine and you will too. So enjoy. Welcome to Marketing Upheaval.

My guest today is Kathryn Smith, Director of Marketing for MedShape. Kathryn holds a doctorate in Bioengineering from Georgia Tech. So I have a lot of questions about that career path. She’s been with MedShape for more than nine years. MedShape makes advanced medical devices using foot and ankle surgeries. The COVID-19 crisis brought about 80% of medical procedures to a halt, and foot and ankle surgeries are among those procedures. We’re going to talk about marketing in this environment and what it looks like moving forward.

Transcript:
From Bio-engineering to Marketing

Rudy: So, first question is personal. What stands out to me is you have a PhD in Bioengineering. And now you’re a Director of Marketing. So tell me about that journey.

Kathryn: I think that’s the number one question I get all the time. I got my PhD in Bioengineering. I started with MedShape after I graduated, working on the R&D side, actually as a Postdoc, which is a typical position. After you get your PhD you go on to do further research and publish. MedShape is a unique company in that we’re very research focused, for our size. We probably have more PhDs on staff than a typical medical device company. And so I started out doing benchtop research around our products, collecting data to publish. So I started working more with our surgeons or surgeon customers on these studies, spending more time out in the field in surgeries. As we started to launch more products and helping train the surgeons on the products and then get feedback for our pipeline. That eventually transitioned into a marketing role. I started out as a marketing associate, and then have been the marketing director for about 6 years now.

I didn’t know anything about marketing when I started. I’ve definitely learned a lot along the way. What I have learned is, marketing medical devices is very similar to being a researcher. If you’re a scientist, you’re collecting data and then you’re trying to figure out how best to tell the story around your data. Be it in a presentation or conference presentation or in a paper and marketing medical devices or marketing in general is the same thing. You’re crafting the story around your products. And given my technical background, I think that’s definitely proven to be beneficial for me and the technical nature of our products to be able to understand the data around it and then be able to figure out how to effectively communicate it to our customers.

View the full transcript and images at: https://creativeouthouse.com/orthopedic-surgeons

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Hey, this is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. This mini episode will launch our new healthcare series. We all know that the COVID crisis has been devastating to providers. We’re going to talk about that in these episodes, but the crisis has also accelerated some much needed change. We’re going to talk about that, too. 

Most importantly I’m going to talk about where marketing for providers has been and where it needs to go. Most providers have marketing departments full of expert strategists and brilliant communicators. But for too long they are treated like order takers. Well, marketing folks, this is your time to shine and show what you can do. Because we are entering a new era in healthcare communications and the providers who are going to succeed moving forward will be the ones who embrace the new world in which marketing plays a vital role. It’s time for the marketing departments to demonstrate what they can do. And what that is, in many instances is as important as what the medical folks do. Yup I said that. Welcome to Marketing Upheaval.

Before I begin, here’s a quick plug if healthcare and healthcare marketing is your bag,  like mine check out some previous healthcare episodes, like our conversation about Public Health Marketing with Jana Thomas, our talk about the consumerization of healthcare with Miranda Madar and the two great episodes on role of providers in communities with the CMO of Bon Secours Mercy Health, Sandra Mackey (Part 1 and Part 2).  You can find those at creativeouthouse.com/podcast. So let’s get started.

I’ve been involved healthcare marketing for all of my career. And It is by far the most fascinating category. I love it. No industry goes through more changes, touches more lives, or has the that crazy mix of science and emotion two things you need for great creative, than healthcare.

Upheaval has been the norm in healthcare for the last several years. I would say it was in crisis before the crisis, and frankly providers were resistant to change. And then, COVID hit, and the healthcare industry found itself in uncharted waters, in a fog… with sea monsters everywhere…. And a hole in the boat.  I think I’ve extended that metaphor a little too far.

With providers struggling with how to get their procedures going and trying to figure out how they will proceed operationally, a lot of them think this is not the time to be marketing.  But I’d like to challenge that notion. In fact this is exactly the time. First let’s talk about what’s going on.

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I’m ready to see marketing within provider organizations take a bigger role and not only improve the patient volume, but the patient health and well-being as well.  If you are, too, reach out to us and let’s talk. 

Full transcript & images at: https://creativeouthouse.com/future-of-healthcare-marketing/

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Health messaging is part of every brand's communication now. So how do we develop campaigns with behavior change messaging to promote public health? How do we speak to people's minds and hearts? To get them to do what's best for them, even when they'd rather not? Learn more here.

Hey folks, this is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. With COVID-19, health messaging is part of every brand's communication now. So how do we develop messaging that encourages healthy behaviors?

How do we speak to people's minds and hearts?

To get them to do what's best for them, even when they'd rather not?

How do we keep COVID-19 from becoming an all-out political war on messaging?

In this episode Jana Leigh Thomas from Porter Novelli and I talk about this. At Creative Outhouse we've worked with Porter Novelli on public health campaigns for a long, long time for the CDC, health associations and hospitals. Health is an emotionally charged topic and it's one of our specialties. Because we specialize in creative that's not only powerful, but is based on the science of human behavior and behavior change.

This is an important episode, so check it out. And let us know what you think here: Creativeouthouse.com/contact-us.

Jana Thomas on Public Health

Welcome to Marketing Upheaval. My guest is Jana Leigh Thomas , Executive Vice President at Porter Novelli , Jana is an expert in public policy, particularly when it comes to public health and behavior change. For most of her 20+ year career, Jana has worked on public health initiatives from a local, national, global scale. We've worked together on many public health projects that influence behavior, and we're going to talk about one of those today. Public Health communications seems like a good topic in the middle of a pandemic. 

In this episode we cover:

Public Health Messaging for Consumer Campaigns
Information is Not Motivation
Behavior Change and Values
The Story We Tell Ourselves
Creative Outhouse Case Study: Autism Awareness Campaign - https://creativeouthouse.com/project/cdc-learn-the-signs-act-early/
Messaging for Healthcare Providers
Changing the Narrative for Behavior Change
Leadership During COVID-19
Public Health Messaging
Behavior Change Marketing
OmniChannel Marketing
The Branding of Schitt's Creek

Check our website to see images, transcripts and detailed show notes from each episode: www.creativeouthouse.com/podcast
Read the full transcript for this episode at: https://creativeouthouse.com/public-health-behavior-change

Need help with your marketing creative or integrated marketing campaign? Email us at [email protected].

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Hey folks, this is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. So how you been?

Yeah, me too. But hey, here’s a positive observation about the last two months. Look how fast the world took action. And not just leaders. But all of us. We united and took action together on a dime. Everyone’s behavior changed because it was the right thing to do. That’s just one of the observations from my guest, John J. Wall. He has some great insights into what we’re all experiencing. He also shared some secrets about how to look at all that data you’re collecting.

Before we start, I wrote a piece about improving your SEO and here’s the cool thing about it. I’m not an SEO expert. Okay, that’s not a good sell. Okay, here’s what I did. I wrote a piece using the basic rules of SEO that our advisors gave us. And in the process, the blog instructs you on how to write a piece that will improve your SEO, Get it? It’s meta, Whatever. It’s fun and informational. So check it out at CreativeOuthouse.com/blog. Anyway, you’re gonna love this conversation with the super insightful John J. Wall. Welcome to Marketing Upheaval.

John J. Wall on Digital Marketing

My guest is John J. Wall. John is a partner at Trust Insights, a marketing analytics and data company that helps marketers collect data and measure their digital marketing. John’s also the co host and producer of Marketing Over Coffee, one of the top marketing podcasts on the planet. John speaks frequently about machine learning and AI. And his podcast has been featured in Forbes API. One day when our podcast goes up, we want it to be just like his. So thanks for joining us, John.

Why Words Matter

So I do want to talk about AI. But first I want to talk about a piece you wrote recently, called The Great Shutdown. It’s about the current COVID-19 health crisis. And you brought up this notion that words matter, and pointed out how we need to describe this economic downturn and how we describe it matters. Can you tell me more about that?

John:
Yeah, sure. And I’m so excited that you brought that up. There were two big things that hit me on that. One is that this downturn that we’re facing right now is really unique. It’s frightening and terrifying because it is an economic hit. And it’s kind of classic recession, and some people talking about depression. But there’s a change in that this is the first one of these that we’re going through that’s not caused by Wall Street shenanigans and greed. The last three or four of these have been the real estate market getting too greedy, the savings and loans not being smart enough to save themselves. It’s all the way back to the depression, which was just, you know, pyramid scheme stocks. This time, we’ve decided that we’re going to try and save lives, and we’re going to shut things down to help people survive and get through this. So that struck me is really unique.
Read the rest at: https://creativeouthouse.com/find-the-story-in-data/

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Hey folks, this is Rudy Fernandez from Creative Outhouse. In this episode we're going to talk about consumerism in healthcare marketing. Here's how fast things have changed. Richard Schwartz, who's a brilliant healthcare strategist, told me that he often types in the beginning of statements into Google to see what people are searching for. Whenever he would type in the phrase "doctors are", he would get words like overpaid, overrated, quacks, lots of negative. Do that now, and the first option that appears is "heroes". That's one thing about healthcare. You don't appreciate it until you really, really need it. So a salute to those folks out there risking their lives for us. Sorry it took this for us to really appreciate you.

We recorded this episode with Miranda Madar a few weeks ago. In the top part, we talked about consumerism in healthcare and how healthcare and marketing need to improve the patient experience and go beyond just telling people how great they are. We also talked about women in leadership roles and Miranda has some really good things to say. It's a great conversation. Check it out. Welcome to Marketing Upheaval.

Chief Marketing Officer at Resurgens Orthopedics

Thanks for listening to Marketing Upheaval. My guest is Miranda Madar, the Chief Marketing Officer at Resurgens Orthopedics, the largest orthopedic practice in the southeast. Miranda has an impressive consumer marketing background. She has held both agency and client side roles, and has worked on several award winning campaigns across multiple categories. She was previously the global communications manager at the Coca Cola company, and was recently honored as a Hall of Fame woman to watch in medical marketing and media. We're going to talk about consumerism in healthcare, and the changing landscape of women in leadership.

Consumerism in Healthcare: Is it a Consumer Product?

Rudy: I want to start with healthcare marketing and consumerization. The trend in healthcare has been towards consumerism to treat it more like a consumer product. And it's been going on for a few years with ratings online consumers being more active in the decision. Have you respond to this?

Miranda: Some of the main challenges that I see is, you know, we often say we're not selling widgets. So we can't have flash sales or bogos, or even create impulse buying moments. We have to hope that people injured themselves or that their pain becomes unbearable enough for them to seek out treatment. That's really pretty morbid.

So there's also that unspoken, but very relatable barrier of confusion around insurance, with so many health plans and referral requirements, rising premiums, all of that, that they have to deal with, and sort through. People are afraid to go to the doctor, particularly if it's something that could be elective. Something that they don't really need but they probably should have, or if it can take them out of work for a long period of time. You know, it's just maybe not worth the effort or they just don't want to go through the trouble of exploring their options. And buying a product or buying a Coke for example, just doesn't seem that hard. Plus, you get that instant satisfaction wheras healthcare is a really long term investment.

Full transcript at: https://creativeouthouse.com/2020/04/22/consumerism-in-healthcare/

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