Immediate Release

Creating, building, and maintaining an effective communications strategy

As the economy continues to decline, marketing and public relations programs are often the first to take a hit, but the right communications strategies can help brands weather a storm and save money in the long run. Now more than ever, it is important to make sure that every dollar spent on these activities counts, and the right planning can help achieve that. Here are five guiding principles for an effective communications strategy.

Read the full article in Newsmaker Insights from Harris Interactive.

Rebuilding corporate reputations

Now more than ever, it will be action—not spin—that builds strong reputations. Organizations need to enhance their listening skills so that they are sufficiently aware of emerging issues; to reinvigorate their understanding of, and relationships with, critical stakeholders; and to go beyond traditional PR by activating a network of supporters who can influence key constituencies. Doing so effectively means stepping up both the sophistication and the internal coordination of reputation efforts.

Read the full article from the McKinsey Quarterly.

Heartwarming stories fill hospital blog

Communicator Lee Aase explains to Ragan.com the strategy and success of the new Sharing Mayo Clinic blog.

MHA's 9th Annual Societies Conference

 

The MHA 9th Annual Societies Conference on the Mississippi Gulf Coast was a tremendous success with all of our societies represented and 13 sponsors participating. Our speakers included Liz Jazwiec, a nationally recognized speaker on customer service and employee satisfaction, Paul Mellor who improved all our members’ memories and Barbara Prichard who shared what to expect from Joint Commission in 2009. Our first ever “speed dating” with sponsors was a hit with members and sponsors and included prizes galore!

Mark your calendars for next year’s societies conference: April 28 & 29, 2010 at the Embassy Suites in Ridgeland, MS! (See all of the pictures from this year's conference here. See all of the pictures from the Maggie Awards Dinner here.)

Webcast Your Brain Surgery? Hospitals See Marketing Tool

First hospitals started Twittering during surgeries—now one hospital in Memphis is promoting a live Web cast from a woman’s brain surgery. “Faced with economic pressures and patients with abundant choices, hospitals are using unconventional, even audacious, ways of connecting directly with the public,” Pam Belluck wrote for the New York Times. “Seeking to attract or educate patients, entice donors, gain recognition and recruit or retain top doctors, hospitals are using Twitter from operating rooms, showing surgery on YouTube and having patients blog about their procedures.”

Read more here. 

Marketing/PR Society Members leading social media efforts at Baptist

From left to right: Baptist Senior Graphic Designer Denny Burkes, Baptist Media Relations Manager Robby Channell and Baptist Public Relations Coordinator Rhonda McRae.

Baptist has created a new section on its website called “Baptist Medical News Network” at www.mbhs.org/mednews. It’s a place where all press releases, surgical videos, community seminars, employee news and other news regarding Baptist Health Systems can be stored. Eventually, the site will have the capability to allow discussion boards for the various posts.

“We find more and more people searching for health information via the Internet and are working to increase Baptist’s visibility on web search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others,” said Baptist Media Relations Manager Robby Channell. “Our Medical News Network page is a place to store all external communication information. We can upload everything from event photos to videos of medical procedures.”

Launching this section of the website was timely. Baptist recently signed up with Twitter, launched a YouTube channel, and created a Facebook page. Videos are uploaded to iTunes as well. Channell said he is not sure what to expect from embracing social media. “Besides, what is ‘social media’ anyway?” Generally, it’s a set of Internet tools enabling a group of people with common interests to connect with one another to learn, play, work, organize and socialize.

“From our research, social media is where we need to head. It’s an outreach tool. Even though we still want to direct people to our website, we are now putting our information right in front of a customer,” said Channell. “And, it’s people who want to be our customer because they sign up to be our friend, fan, member, or follower. It is our intent to not only connect with our existing customers, but connect to new and younger people who are interested in their health.”

Baptist started by launching Women’s Health Inside Out weekly podcast series in November 2006 with 157 listeners. In April 2009, there were 903 listeners.

“This was something unique we wanted to try since we were opening a new women’s facility and rebranding our women’s services,” explained Channell. “It was just the tip of the iceberg where we focused on audio interviews with clinicians and then dabbled into video podcasts known as vodcasts. Now, we are uploading surgical procedures to YouTube as well.”

Now, Baptist is hosting live webinars. Baptist Public Relations Coordinator Rhonda McRae interviewed Baptist Nutrition Manager Amy Dent, RD, LD, on how to get ready for swimsuit season for its first live webinar on April 23, 2009. Approximately 20 people tuned in to view and listen over their computer.

“This is something new for Baptist we wanted to test. A key feature of a webinar is its interactive elements,” added Channell. “It’s the ability to give, receive and discuss information in real time. People can email questions during the live broadcast.”

The next live webinar will be May 19, 2009, featuring Pediatric Gastroenterologist April Ulmer, MD, discussing common digestive issues for infants, children and teenagers. To view, visit www.mbhs.org/mednewslive at 12:15 pm central standard time.

Baptist is still delivering health information the traditional way by distributing press releases and ads to television, newspapers, radio and magazines. It’s just new tools Baptist is using to connect with healthcare consumers searching for health information online.

“I come in to the office with my cup of coffee focusing on the topic I need to ‘tweet’ about for the day. What does Baptist need to communicate to its Facebook fans? Then, which surgical procedure can we upload to YouTube?” Channell concluded. “I wake up wondering how to use the World Wide Web to let people know Baptist is a resource for wellness and staying healthy.”

For more information, visit www.mbhs.org/mednews.  Search for Baptist Health Systems on Facebook. Other social media site direct links are http://twitter.com/baptistmednews and http://www.youtube.com/baptistmednews.  

The power of public relations

The ability to manage perception and influence employer and consumer purchasing decisions has allowed many a hospital to rise above the crowd and break out of the commodity box. Yet because the profession does a poor job of properly positioning itself, public relations is often among the first cuts made in a financial downturn. This is one of the biggest mistakes a hospital can make. Nothing builds and supports a brand like public relations.

Read the full article by Ross Goldberg in H&HN Weekly.

MHA's 2009 Societies Conference

 

Join us for MHA's annual Societies Conference April 9-10, 2009, at the Courtyard Marriott in Gulfport. Please remember that this is your Spring Society Meeting and we want you there! For more details, see the brochure attached below or go to www.mhafoundation.org and click the Education Calendar.

Call the Courtyard Marriott in Gulfport and make your hotel reservation today at (228) 864 4310. If you have any questions regarding the conference, contact Judith Forshee, VP of Education and Support Services, at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3216 or jforshee@mhanet.org.

Download 2009 Societies Brochure and Registration

Measuring your way to market insight

As marketers move to a more varied, shifting mix of advertising and promotion, they are coming face to face with the lack of insight they have historically had about which media choices work well, why customers buy, and what returns will be generated by their spending. This lack of insight did not matter very much when marketers had no choice but to depend on television, radio, and print. Now, however, there has been an explosion of media vehicles, and it is possible to accurately quantify the return on marketing spend (also known as marketing ROI). All that’s lacking is the sophistication needed to gain insight from analytics, and the will to use that insight—not just in the marketing function, but in the company as a whole.

Read the full article from Strategy+Business.

Think ahead while cutting back: marketing priorities in a recession

So where do marketers turn once all the “fat” has long since been trimmed and all that’s left is muscle and bone? And how do we break the downward spiral of cut, cut, and cut some more? Here are some ideas on what to cut—and what not to cut.

Read the full article from MarketingProfs.