Posts Tagged ‘Hospice’
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
You don’t have to work with Anoroc very long to find out this is one fun bunch, wound tight. You release that spring and you’ll never know what you’ll get. Crazy wacked out design ideas, or words flowing from the copywriters that send most of us to our dictionaries. Mostly what jumps forth is energy.
That’s what we bring to our hospice clients. Energy, tons of it, plenty to share with everybody! We share the energy with our clients and look for opportunities to extend this energy through the organization to each employee as they roll out the re-vitalized brand. Rebranding and logo redesign can be very personal to employees so it’s our job to create enthusiasm and success with your internal market.
My top 10 ways to a successful rebranding:
10. Organization wide involvement. Get them involved early in the process.
9. Find out their insights on the current brand, where it’s going, what it really means to your employees.
8. Get the CEO and Key Stakeholder’s backing to ward off the potential “de-railers”.
7. Don’t jump straight to the pretty external stuff. It’s not a shallow cosmetic exercise. It’s the company’s public perception. It’s a change in thought and work processes.
6. Make your employees feel they are #1. Keep them involved, achieve commitment. After all they are #1. Right?
5. No surprises unless they are good for all involved. You don’t like surprises. The CEO doesn’t like surprises. And the Board of Directors sure don’t like surprises.
4. Be honest.
3. Create a process to track success.
2. Create positive buzz.
And the #1 way to a successful rebranding is………………………………………….
A Celebratory Launch Party (with an explanation of the meaning of the new brand, messaging, logo, colors, mission statement and values of the company).
Tags: anoroc health, Hospice, hospice and social media, hospice marketing, hospice marketing companies, hospice social media, marketing hospice
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Healthcare, Hospice, anoroc health | View Comments
Friday, September 17th, 2010
Many of you know of Anoroc’s recent building of endless air miles as we’ve been hopping around this beautiful country of ours from the sunny West Coast, to Bean Town, the lovely Cape and from the South to the North on our own East Coast. I had to stop quickly today, I am almost late for another ‘road trip’, but I must share our excitement. We talk a lot at Anoroc about ‘redefining hospice.’ And by that we mean working to improve end of life care in America. We so believe in hospice’s unique role to profoundly improve the quality of life for those facing advancing illness. We’re not happy here unless we’re game changing – that’s why we’re so intent on research, strategy, incredible graphic design and social media. So what is this excitement that makes me pause to write this post as they honk at me, car waiting, time clicking? It’s the incredible hospice agencies that we’ve met with that want to change the landscape of end of life care. When I met with them it was hard not to slam my fist on the table and shout, “That’s what we’re talking about!” So we’ve entered these incredible partnerships with hospice providers who, like us, think that it’s time for hospice to tell a new more engaging story, to improve understanding and access to care, to shake it up, so to speak.
We are so excited to find partners who are smart, progressive, brave and as enthusiastic as we are to communicate in a new way.
Tags: Anoroc, anoroc agency, anoroc health, healthcare social media, Hospice, hospice and social media, hospice marketing, hospice social media
Posted in Social Media Influence, anoroc health | View Comments
Sunday, August 15th, 2010
I am sitting here with a great cup of coffee (Alex’s home brew, among his many talents he is a great coffee roaster), the dogs are milling around and it’s a beautiful sunny day. I can see the top of my Art Deco record player, yes the kind you have to crank, a couple of 78s are scattered about, “All Shook Up”, “Blueberry Hill” and “My Blue Heaven.” We played them Saturday night after arriving home from celebrating a dear friend’s 40th. He began as a client of Anoroc, but they often become life long friends. Life feels good.
This sounds like a personal diary entry, but it actually spurred from working this morning. It’s Saturday but that’s OK. I was reviewing two different concepts, each from a different Anoroc designer we’re preparing for an up coming client meeting. I love branding enough to give up my Saturday morning for it. But somehow these concepts struck such a deep cord with me I had to stop and write about it. I am actually delaying shoe shopping so if you know me, you know something must have struck deeply.
Casey’s concept moves from iconic images to photos. There is the very record player I had as a child, the kind that sits in a case you can close. It has a handle on top making it easy to take to a friend’s house for a sleep over. I played “Bang Goes Old Betsy” on it ‘til I wore it out. My dad bought both the record and the record player for me. He loved the song too. Rachel’s leads with an aged black and white photo of a young couple in a paddleboat, they are looking over their shoulders smiling at whom ever was holding the camera. There are old faded photos in an album I keep a bookcase in my family room just like it. It is of my aunt and uncle when they were young.
The concepts are for a Hospice agency. It’s hard to market hospice, there are a lot of complexities in the decision cycle. Anoroc has been researching and marketing hospice for close to two decades, tons of hospice decision cycle focus groups, secondary research, analyzing obstacles to choosing hospice care, so on. But when you can distil it down to a memory of falling in love on the lake and a little girl’s favorite record, obstacles can tumble into dust. As always, it’s about insight.
“Human nature hasn’t changed for a billion years. It won’t even vary in the next billion years. Only the superficial things have changed. It is fashionable to talk about changing man. A communicator must be concerned with unchanging man – what compulsions drive him, what instincts dominate his every action, even though his language too often camouflages what really motivates him. For if you know these things about a man, you can touch him at the core of his being. One thing is unchangingly sure. The creative man with an insight into human nature, with the artistry to touch and move people, will succeed. Without them he will fail,” Bill Bernbach.
I am proud of our 20-something designers and their artistry that touched me this morning. Even though it will inevitably result in a longing for the Louboutins left behind.
Tags: anoroc health, healthcare social media, Hospice, hospice marketing, hospice social media, marketing hospice, redefining hospice
Posted in Anoroc, Decision Cycle, Healthcare, Hospice, Marketing, anoroc health | View Comments
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Last week Marilynn Marchione of the Associate Press wrote a story aptly titled: Americans Are Treated, And Overtreated, To Death.
The first line read: The doctors finally let Rosaria Vandenberg go home.
This is a pretty personal issue here at Anoroc, because it is a story we hear too often and it is why we crusade so passionately for our hospice clients. No family should have to experience what the Vandenberg’s experienced:
‘The doctors finally let Rosaria Vandenberg go home.
For the first time in months, she was able to touch her 2-year-old daughter who had been afraid of the tubes and machines in the hospital. The little girl climbed up onto her mother’s bed, surrounded by family photos, toys and the comfort of home. They shared one last tender moment together before Vandenberg slipped back into unconsciousness.
Vandenberg, 32, died the next day.’
Marchione’s story echoes so well what our clients preach every day- have the conversation about end of life care. Make choices now, while you still can.
“That precious time at home could have come sooner if the family had known how to talk about alternatives to aggressive treatment,” said Vandenberg’s sister-in-law, Alexandra Drane.
Instead, Vandenberg, a pharmacist in Franklin, Mass., had endured two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation for an incurable brain tumor before she died in July 2004.
Too often we find ourselves sitting around the boardroom tables with our hospice clients talking about the patients ‘we lost’, patients that came to hospice too late. Sure our health division, Anoroc Health, is a strategic marketing company who works to make our hospice clients category leaders. But in all reality it is beyond that for us and it is beyond that for our clients. It is also about educating families that there is a choice in end of life. There is an alternative to aggressive treatment for incurable, terminal illness. I am happy Rosaria got to touch daughter once more, but we want the Rosarias of this world to have more, much more.
Tags: advance directives, choices in end of life, dying in America, end of life care, end of life care planning, Hospice, talking about end of life care
Posted in Anoroc, Healthcare, Hospice | View Comments
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Performics (www.performics.com), the performance marketing expert inside Publicis Groupe, recently released results from “S-Net (The Impact of Social Media),” a report from ROI Research Inc. (www.roiresearch.com) sponsored by Performics. This is quite an interesting study as it looks beyond usage and explores how social media permeates consumers’ lives. By that I mean how social media affects communication, shopping and other activities. The findings illustrate how social networks continue to drive changes in consumer behavior. Looking at how various segments of consumers use social networks in their daily lives, specifically with regard to the purchase process for different types of products and in relation to other media channels.
Most interesting to me was that the study of 3,000 U.S. social network users tackled not only general behaviors and platform preferences for social sites; but delved deeper into how social sites affect family and friend relationships and consumer attitudes towards brands and products.
Stats include:
- Fifty percent of Facebook users click on Facebook ads to “like” a brand
- Thirty-seven percent learned about a new product or service from a social networking site
- Thirty-two percent of respondents have recommended a product/service/brand to friends via a social networking site
- Thirty-two percent of Twitter users re-tweet content provided by a company or product
- Eighty percent of respondents have an active Facebook account, and 23 percent of those without an active Facebook account plan to join in the next six months
- Sixty-seven percent of respondents have reconnected with people through social networking sites that they never would have otherwise
- Thirty-nine percent of Twitter users respond to other people’s tweets once a week or more
- More than thirty percent of respondents access Facebook and/or Twitter from their mobile phone (through a browser or application) once a day or more.
- Specific to Facebook, for example, nearly 90 percent of respondents said that at least some of the companies and/or products they are a fan of are doing a good job providing relevant content. More than a third said most or all of them were doing a good job.
- More than 50% of participants identified social networks as the best way to communicate with family and friends.
Hello, word of mouth! Let me say that again. Hello, word of mouth!
“Users are not only satisfied, they want more, which is a good sign for marketers,” noted Scott Haiges, president of ROI Research. “Respondents expressed a strong desire to get more printable coupons [49 percent], notifications of sales and special deals [46 percent], and information about new products [35 percent] from companies or products on Facebook, and this rings truer in some industries more than others.”
“Social networks have made real and substantial changes in the lives of their users, in part by empowering them to more actively participate with brands and each other,” said Daina Middleton, CEO of Performics. “More than a third of all respondents reported using a search engine to further learn after seeing an ad on a social networking site, for example, and more than a third think social networking sites are good sources of information about companies and products.”
“Social networking has greatly contributed to the shift from strict consumerism to more lively, two-way participation between brands and everyday customers” added Middleton. “It’s a groundswell of technology-enabled word of mouth, and many of the brands involved in these active discussions are effectively satisfying their fans.” Amen to that, Sister!
Tags: Hospice, hospice marketing, hospice social media, north carolina social media agencies, raleigh advertising, raleigh social media, raleigh social media agencies, social marketing, social media
Posted in Anoroc, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Again I am up on my soapbox. I know no one is surprised. Forgive me in advance. But I just read a blog post by a company who claims to be ‘experts’ in social media. The post was reviewing a Web site with what they claim is “an impressive amount of social media integration and with social media connectivity built into every page.” The site they were touting had the ‘now usual’ links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the compulsory blog. Sorry – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and simply having a blog does not qualify as an impressive amount of social media interaction. Especially when these tools are one-way conversations mainly about the company, mainly a sales pitch, and void of strategy to meet end user’s needs, wants, desires, or concerns. In fact, it is difficult to tell whom the site is speaking to. This is not interaction. Let’s look deeper: the company’s Facebook page is full of typos, Discussions (tab) has no discussions but spends the real estate telling you how great the company is. There is no link to resources, no interaction and the posts are mostly again about the company. In addition, page set up is one Facebook offers for stores, not for brands or service providers. Their Twitter page attempts to give advice but there are no links for more in depth information and the posts are condescending. Nor does it ask: What are you concerned about? How can we help you? The Tweets are directed as one way communication. Blog topics are not centered around providing useful information and the blog is faceless offering no level of affinity between author and reader, who is writing this? Not to mention poor site design, unbalanced page layout, poor typography for the target, confusing copy, grammar and spelling mistakes… What put me up on the soapbox is not so much these common missteps in social media (companies sometimes are simply doing the best they can with limited resources, time and budgets). What made this SBM (soapbox moment) is a ‘social media’ company blogging the world that this is how it should be done while trying to sell you a one size fits all social media package for $2999.99
So world, let me tell you about a company who is doing it right. And it did not come in a shiny branded online community $2999.99 package but most assuredly was developed from strategy, end user research and knowledge. Check out Caregiver’s Corner, San Diego Hospice blog (http://sandiegocaregiversblog.com/). This is a lovely example of a resource strategy. The design is clean, the end user is directed immediately where to go by their self interest/need. The posts are personal and informative. The end of each post carries a short description of its author. Note the Twitter feed on the bottom right. Though some Tweets are about their organization (and a limited number should be) many lead the reader to more in depth info. They share useful information from other hospices, communicate with followers, and seek input on topics (what do you think about this). This is interaction.
Their Facebook page is equally well done. Here’s how they describe the page: We made this page to connect with all the families who have been a part of San Diego Hospice, to honor the people who support us & to talk with anyone who wants to know more about what we have to offer. And they’re right. Boxes house a long list of Useful Resources from caregiver resources, legal advice to networking opportunities. The posts are interactive and contain droves of useful information.
It took many words to get to my point but I am finally there. Impressive social media is not about the tools you have but how you use them. If you are in a service industry that provides healthcare, eldercare or personal care services your social media strategy should be focused on being a true resource, connecting with the gatekeeper, building affinity and establishing trust. Forget about ‘selling’ your services and instead start with these simple words: “If I was my target what would I want.” And if some vendor wants to sell you a package complete with a ‘strategy session’ – RUN FORREST RUN!
Tags: Anoroc, anoroc agency, eldercare providers and social media, healthcare and social media, healthcare social media, Hospice, hospice and social media, hospice marketing, hospice social media, raleigh advertising agencies, Raleigh design firms, raleigh social media, raleigh social media agencies, San Diego Hospice
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Healthcare, Hospice, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Beyond creating the strategy that determines what users will gain from engaging in social media platforms, is creating tone and voice. For social media platforms to be engaging to women in the caregiving cycle they must embody key characteristics.
Anoroc’s hospice research has determined much about this target. She will most likely see herself as a caretaker and nurturer and it is important to establish a tone that speaks to her with an understanding of this emotional perspective.
Women, in general, are more emotionally connected and therefore are likely to tune into emotional benefits over functional ones. They include emotions in their decision making as opposed to basing them only on rational elements. So don’t be afraid to give them a ‘feeling’ to show the emotion, the ‘what matters’ behind your brand. She will see hospice services as typical among all hospice providers – unless your hospice provides a unique service that makes her world function better – you better ensure your social media platform provides her with the emotional connection she is seeking.
Women also want a dialogue, not just a transaction. That means encouraging a two way conversation on your social media platforms vs solely spouting company news, successes, facts, or services. She really doesn’t care and if this is all you are doing you can wish her a fond farewell.
Research is proving that women are engaging in social media in droves – wonder why? Because women strive to establish links and connect through affinity. Since women seek commonality and look for similarity between themselves and the ‘speaker.’ Make sure your social media platforms are not a nameless, faceless entity. Many organizations newly embarking into social media are making this mistake – remember this online world is about connection, nobody wants to connect to a nameless ‘site monitor’.
Hospice agencies that we have taken down this emotionally supportive and resource driven path have seen an increase in census of 60% plus. Equate that with not only the potential to your bottom line but the potential of increasing the number of families given a better end of life experience. And to those of us who know how profoundly hospice can improve the quality of life for both patients and their families – that sounds pretty dang good.
Tags: Anoroc, healthcare social media, Hospice, hospice and social media, hospice marketing, hospice social media, raleigh social marketing, raleigh social media, raleigh social media agencies, raleigh social media companies, social influence marketing, women in social media
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Healthcare, Hospice, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking, Women | View Comments
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
As we said in Part One, to understand the potential positive impact that social media can have on those who are providing care to a loved one, we first need to truly understand the caregiver. To move the hospice gatekeeper through the decision cycle your social media platform must resonate with her on an emotional level and provide the resources she seeks.
So who is she? What does she want? She will likely be working at least part time and taking care of children. She sees herself as the ‘caregiver’ to the family. She is a nurturer both to herself and others but mainly to others. She is emotionally driven in her purchasing behavior and looks for benefits/outcomes rather than specifics. If she does not have direct experience with hospice she will have heard of hospice through the media. She will not have a complete picture of hospice most particularly in regards to pain control, symptom management and bereavement support.
Her psychological purchase prices (what she must overcome to choose hospice and ask for that referral early on in the caregiving cycle) include:
Am I giving up on a cure?
Am I abandoning hope?
Will my loved-one feel that I am not fighting for them?
Will the care be as nurturing and as compassionate as I would provide?
Will I have the support to really handle this?
Worry about opinions/feelings of other family members.
In the process of creating social media strategies for specific demographics we also need to determine the wants and needs of the on line community end-user. Our hospice research determined our caregiving female’s tangible wants and needs to be:
Information and resources
Knowledge – answers, understanding of benefits
Support
Helping hand in a relevant way
Quality of life for a loved-one
Options
Solutions
Quality of care – physical and emotional
Balance
Her intangible wants and needs include:
Connection
Rational replacement for guilt
Understanding and empathy
The most successful social media strategies that a hospice can engage in are ones that support this key demographic by enabling her to move beyond her psychological purchase price, and that meet both her tangible and intangible wants and needs. More to come on doing just that in part three.
Tags: Anoroc, anoroc agency, healthcare, healthcare social media, Hospice, hospice and social media, hospice marketing, hospice social media, north carolina social media agencies, raleigh social marketing companies, raleigh social media, raleigh social media companies, social marketing, women in social media
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Healthcare, Hospice, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking, Women | View Comments
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
There is little doubt that hospice can profoundly improve the quality of life for those facing a life limiting illness. Yet there remains a large degree of misunderstanding, lack of knowledge concerning breadth of services and the struggle with late referrals. Can social media work to improve these barriers to care? I believe it can. Social media may be one of the best things that ever happened when talking hospice. I am not exaggerating, there is tremendous potential for hospice providers. The key is understanding how to use social media to engage hospice gatekeepers. There is a very real and specific strategy.
To understand the potential positive impact that social media can have on those who are providing care to a loved one, we first need to truly understand the caregiver. Note that positive impact equals referral request.
Here’s a little caregiving data: Out of the more than 50 million people who provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member during any given year, approximately 60% are women (this is your gatekeeper – get her and you can worry less about early referrals). On average she is 46 years old and caring for her widowed mother who does not live with her. She is married and employed.
For close to two decades Anoroc has been conducting research on hospice caregiving, specifically determining VALS (values, attitudes, lifestyles) and focusing on their wants/beliefs/healthcare buying habits and values. In Part Two we’ll share what we’ve learned about this 46 year old female.
Tags: Hospice, hospice and social media, hospice marketing, hospice social media, raleigh media agencies, raleigh social media, raleigh social media agencies, raleigh social media companies, social marketing, social media, social media and hospice organizations, women in social media
Posted in Anoroc, Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Healthcare, Hospice, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking, Women | View Comments
Friday, December 4th, 2009
In Part One of How Hospices Can Leverage Social Media we determined that the psychological purchase price of hospice is steep. And that research conducted by Anoroc outlined the barriers to seeking, accepting and referring hospice care could be lowered through: communication, peer to peer testimonial/experience sharing and education.
During research conducted by Anoroc over the past decade with healthcare providers (discharge planners, nurses, physicians, and social workers) we found that barriers in choosing hospice for terminal patients and their loved ones included: guilt (giving up, not fighting for their loved one), lack of knowledge of breadth of services; equating hospice with death vs understanding the benefits of hospice care, fear, and family dispute.
Social Media when used as part of an engineered, integrated marketing strategy can help successfully reduce these barriers to hospice care.
Social media can allow your hospice agency to have on-going dialogue with consumers educating them about the benefits of care, alleviating fears and gaining their trust by establishing your agency as an informational resource.
Social media can also be used as an online rallying point for families and friends supporting a loved one, allowing positive benefit oriented experiences to be shared and, with search engine optimization, to inspire positive, educational word-of-mouth.
Many hospice agencies are currently using Facebook and Twitter to broadcast company and industry news. But today’s engaged consumer is seeking an on-going dialogue on healthcare options, not a one way advertorial. So think about these new media outlets beyond simply being a flagship for your agency. Consider what they can do to help healthcare providers in the referral process, help family members navigate the hospice decisions cycle, help patients discuss their wishes in end of life care, and ultimately position your organization as a leading trust agent in hospice care.
Consumers use the Internet to help make informed decisions in their daily lives. According to recent research by iCrossing, some 60 to 80 percent of consumers use the Internet to find health information, and as of January 2008, the Internet exceeded physicians as the leading source of health information.
Consumers value the health information they get through social media. According to the 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer, people tend to trust ‘a person like me’ more than authority figures. Couple that with the patient-based research Anoroc has conducted (over the past decade) showing that 98 percent of hospice patients surveyed indicated they wished they had chosen hospice sooner. Now think about the effect social media tools can have when used to share information, bust hospice myths, inspire honest dialogue and share real life hospice experiences.
Tags: healthcare social media, Hospice, raleigh social media, raleigh social media agencies, social marketing, Social Networking
Posted in Anoroc, Brand Value, Customer Loyalty, Decision Cycle, Healthcare, Hospice, Marketing, Purchase Intent, Social Media Influence, Social Networking | View Comments
