Immediate Release

Survey: Better data, measurement abilities, and ROI metrics boost marketing performance

Want to take your performance to that ideal level of highly effective and efficient marketing? It takes better access to detailed data and ROI discipline, but it also comes along with greater growth and better levels of budgets, according to a recently released study. The study found that most marketers (75%) are making progress in diverse areas of marketing ROI and measurement capabilities, but many continue to struggle with some basic measurements required for managing and improve marketing's contribution to business objectives. Overall, more marketers rated their measurement abilities as negative than positive.

Read the full article from MarketingProfs.

Read the news release on the Lenskold Group/Kneebone 2008 Marketing ROI and Measurement Report.

Download the full report (free registration required).

[ via e-Connect ]

Back to School time

It's time to get ready for Back-to-School! Cover the Uninsured Week events and activities will be held across the country to help enroll eligible uninsured children in low-cost and free health care coverage programs.

FREE Back-to-School materials are available for pre-order, including fans, bookmarks, lapel stickers and information cards. Place your order today!

You may also download free planning materials, including: Health and Enrollment Fair Planning Guide; Guide to School Based Outreach; Guide to Working with the Media; and more. There are also templates, toolkits and guides to assist with your planning. 

Essentials for integrated marketing

Integrated marketing communications is gaining momentum as power shifts from the marketer to the consumer and as marketers recognize the power and efficiency of taking a holistic approach to engaging consumers. But there is considerable uncertainty about how to staff, design, manage and measure the success of IMC campaigns.

Survey results underscore the need to identify best practices and address the barriers that can impede IMC efforts, including a lack of strategic consistency across communications disciplines; the absence of a common IMC measurement process; the existence of entrenched functional silos inside marketing organizations, as well as within their agency partners; and the dearth of cross-discipline skill sets among marketing staff.

Read the full article from Ad Age CMO Strategy (free login required).

Durr named Employee of the Month at MSH

Tim Durr, an MHA Society for Health Care Marketing & Public Relations member, has been named Mississippi State Hospital’s (MSH) April 2008 Employee of the Month for Support Services.

Durr, a Jackson native, serves as media/public information manager and has been employed at MSH for more than two years.

The MSH Employee of the Month award recognizes employees who have made outstanding contributions to the hospital through their work. The program is sponsored by Friends of Mississippi State Hospital Inc.

2008 Maggie Award Winners Honored at Awards Dinner

Best of Show Print - Pioneer Health Services

Best of Show Electronic Media - River Oaks Health System

On Thursday, April 3, the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) presented the 21st Annual Maggie Awards during a special gala dinner at the Marriott Hotel in Jackson. The Maggie Awards program recognizes outstanding marketing and communication work submitted by professionals from the health care sector in Mississippi. The awards are sponsored by the Mississippi Hospital Association’s Society for Health Care Marketing & Public Relations.

This year, there were over 230 entries submitted from hospitals, health systems, and other health care organizations from across the state. Only the top two entries in each category won awards, and in order to receive a “Maggie” award, an entry had to rank “excellent” in the judges’ scoring system. Out of the submitted entries, 26 Maggie Awards and 36 Awards of Excellence were selected. The judges also selected a Best of Show Print, Best of Show Electronic Media and Best of Show Overall.

River Region Health System won Best of Show Overall for their Women’s Health Expo 2008. River Oaks Health System won Best of Show Electronic Media for their Moving Forward, Rooted Solid-Surgical Specialties TV advertisement. And Pioneer Health Services won Best of Show Print for their Pioneer Health Services Toast Exhibit.

Other health care companies who were honored at the awards ceremony include Baptist Health Systems in Jackson, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Booneville, Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County in New Albany, Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Medicomp Rehabilitation Network in Magee, Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson, Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield, North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Oktibbeha County Hospital in Starkville, Pine Belt Mental Health Care Resources in Hattiesburg, Preferred Healthcare of the Gulf Region/Health Management Associates in Biloxi, Region 8 Mental Health-Mental Retardation Commission in Brandon, Rush Health Systems in Meridian, St. Dominic Health Services in Jackson, Singing River Hospital System in Pascagoula, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

To see all of the pictures from the awards dinner and the after party, click here.

Report examines use of online health communities

A new report from the California HealthCare Foundation examines the use of online communities and blogs by consumers to exchange health and medical information. Among the sites discussed in the report are DiabetesMine, a blog for people with diabetes and their caregivers; PatientsLikeMe, a social health network and online forum; and WEGO Health, a health information portal.

"People with chronic conditions are sharing their stories with each other, not just for emotional support, but for the clinical knowledge they gain in an online community,” the author said. “Doctors are meeting online to share quandaries about challenging cases and solutions that work. And researchers are coming together with patients to learn about side effects in real-time to improve therapeutic regimens."

[ via AHA News Now ]

PR communicators can help preserve, improve health of Americans, says New York Times columnist Jane Brody

PR communicators are vital to the future of health care in this country, author and New York Times personal health columnist Jane Brody said in her April 3 keynote speech at the 2008 PRSA Health Academy Conference in Chicago. “The health care industry is sick . . . and unless we turn things around soon, we risk bankrupting the system and crippling the productivity of our society,” she said during the kickoff session for the conference on health care communications strategy, titled “Boomers, Xers and Nexters: Communicating in a Cross-generational/Cross-cultural Landscape.”

For the full story, click here.

Five steps to prepare marketing to demonstrate value in a tough economic climate

The time is fast approaching when every marketing organization will need to quantify how it is supporting key business objectives, particularly in terms of revenue generation, pipeline contribution, opportunity development, and market growth. Marketing organizations generally have too many tactical measures and not enough metrics that look at market or customer indicators or directly link marketing efforts to specific business outcomes. As a result, the marketing leadership doesn't have a way to measure and communicate its value within, across, and up—a set of relevant metrics that would enable marketers to sift through and prioritize the many requests it receives for marketing assistance. If this is your case, then here are five suggestions for how to tackle the situation.

Read the full article from MarketingProfs here.

Marketing’s new 5 Ps: turning what you know inside out

With apologies to Philip Kotler, whose four Ps—product, price, place, and promotion—have been integral to any successful product or service marketing effort of the past 50 years, today's successful marketing hinges on five new Ps: people, passion, processes, platform, and partners. Whereas the Ps we studied in college are all from the provider's point of view, these new Ps focus with laser-like clarity on the customer.

Read the full article from MarketingProfs.

Strategic innovation

Memorial Health System in South Bend, IN, has made innovation at all staff levels a systemwide priority. In this interview, SHSMD member Diane Stover, vice president of marketing and innovation strategy at Memorial Health System in South Bend, IN, discusses why innovation is increasingly important in healthcare and how organizations can be more innovative.

Listen to the audio file from HealthLeaders Media (Windows Media Player required).