Vol. 1. No. 1

1. Consumers don't like managed care. They don't trust it. They don't think it will be there for them when they need it.

2. Consumers don't understand managed care. Neither do providers or management--they understand managing cost, but not managed care.

3. Branding a product identity is difficult for a new industry. You need significant exposure, not as a sometime thing; it is cumulative, repetitive, and requires lots of dollars.

Five Stages of Branding

Product Development/Differentiation. Define what it is about your organization, its composition, its quality, and its service that will "sell" to the three sets of customers that must be satisfied: employer/purchaser (business/government), consumer, and participating/non-participating physicians and health care facilities.

The criteria for building a superior product are: network, product design/benefits, price, reputation, and service/quality. It is difficult for consumers to differentiate clinical quality unless the gap is very wide. But they can make judgements about service and attitude, particularly from physicians and hospitals.

Visibility. A brand cannot be accepted unless it is visible and its essence is communicated in a two-way fashion; messages must be understood and accepted. This requires a planned market entry through repetitive promotion and advertising. This promotion also fuels the brand's support internally within the organization. Visibility can take some time to establish, especially for a new organization whose name, goals, and differentiating characteristics must be conveyed in a coordinated and focused strategic introduction to the marketplace.

Awareness. People don't become aware of a product or service the first day or month it enters the market. Recognition comes with exposure and exposure and exposure. Differentiation is key. Be perceived as different; don't just accept the safer "me too, we're new" course of exposure.

Acceptance/Identification. The successful branding campaign results in the consumer's belief that there is value in what you have to offer. This customer will then buy your product, brag about it, and convince others to buy it because it is "theirs."

Sale. Once these requirements have been met, you have a brand that is appealing to prospective customers and that will retain your loyal customers.

This cycle is a guide, not a religion; implementation can take from a few months to several years. Purchasing health care services and insurance is still an emotional decision.

Differentiation Through Advertising and Promotion

Perception is reality. Often what people perceive about a product's value, quality, and shortcomings is more important than its actual performance.

Your first requirement is to get the audience's attention. You cannot sell a product long term simply by attacking competitors, but you can begin to build awareness at the conscious level through negative messages. Then follow up with the positive attributes of what you are promoting and selling; the core value of your product must be based on positive messages defining value.

Creation of a brand identity is not cheap or quick. If you want results, you need to saturate the market to the point where the product's superlatives will speak for themselves and carry the branding along even further. The best vehicles are repeat advertising--using all media forms--and promotional activities.

Market and product strategy are not consensus drive. You need impartial data from your customers -- from focus group studies, surveys, and comparative price/quality data--not anecdotal data from key executives, physicians, or fearful board members. You need to find out what your customers want and will buy.

A marketing and product differentiation strategy works for a given time period, but then must be updated to deal with marketplace changes. Wheaties may still be the "Breakfast of Champions," but the definition of a champion had to change --for many years, women and minorities weren't on Wheaties boxes.

Effective branding strategies are predicated on a belief system about human nature, the role of communications and advertising in our society, and competitive and reactive behaviors of competitors.

Finally, it is more important that the differentiation be articulated and have a logical basis than that it be 100 percent provable by scientific formula.

Invest in Your Product and Your Brand Identity

If you're proud enough to develop it, you should be proud enough to sell it. There are certain brands that are synonymous with quality in this country; you need to be at the top of that list. Then go brag about it!