Immediate Release

Webcast: Tactics to Measure Financial ROI for Marketing Efforts

Proving marketing ROI is both critical to do, yet often hard to do. In this economic and competitive environment, the stakes are high—you need to show the efficacy of your marketing dollars through a commitment to measuring your efforts beyond brand awareness. Join HealthLeaders Media on December 13 for a 90-minute Webcast and Q&A to get specific how-to's on demonstrable marketing efficacy with case studies from Chester County Hospital and Fairview Health Services.

Commentary: 5 Questions About Community Engagement

As community engagement grows in importance, some organizations are adding community relations specialists to their executive rosters. Florida's Nemours Children's Hospital did just that earlier this month when it appointed Karen Breakell as community engagement director. She'll build community awareness of the organization's new hospital, set to open in 2012.

Learn more here.

Beyond paid media: Marketing’s new vocabulary

Expanding media forms reflect dramatic changes in the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages. As a result, some strategic-marketing frameworks—such as the popular “paid, owned, earned” one—are in serious need of updating. Two media types must be added to the framework: “sold” and “hijacked.”

Read the full article from the McKinsey Quarterly (free registration required).

Defeat criticism before it goes viral

Increasingly, companies have to monitor and prepare for brand perception and image attacks, which can create negative advocacy (alienation and sabotage) within the customer base and among potential customers and the general public. Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, suggests a set of processes for proactively dealing with such sabotage, both before and when it occurs.

Listen to the podcast from the Harvard Business Review blogs.