Brand Development

Why Physician Branding is Unique

Odds are that when today’s physicians completed the long journey through med school, they didn’t expect they would also need the equivalent of an MBA to build a successful practice.

The information age, increased competition and Obamacare has spurred major change and challenge in virtually every aspect of physicians’ lives. The simple and uncomplicated days of Marcus Welby MD have faded well into the past.

Today’s Practice invited G. Kelly O’Dea, noted marketing expert and member of the Meridian Medical Advisory Board, to provide his perspectives and insights into the forces of change and how they affect physicians’ ability to compete successfully. This is the first in a series of interviews across a number of marketing issues. This interview begins with focus on the fundamental building blocks of marketing that must be addressed first.

TP: There has been a tremendous increase in marketing noise. Why do physicians need marketing at all?

Most physicians regard marketing as castor oil – you don’t like it but you know you need it. I understand that but would argue that marketing has become vitally necessary for survival, competitiveness and success in today’s market. It can and should become an elixir in driving successful practice. The problem is that most of marketing activity isn’t doing the job that needs to be done.

TP: How would you diagnose the state of marketing today?

Largely disappointing and wasteful. I would point to three main reasons why:

• Failure to understand what marketing is today. Too often, marketing is regarded as simply an advertising / PR function – “advertise and they will come”. In fact marketing should be about the total approach, founded on strategy and meaningful differentiation, which drives all activities at all points of patient contact.

• A vital first step is often missed: doing your homework on both the market and your practice. Most physician practices don’t do sufficient analysis of the market, competition and patient needs to identify how they can successfully fit into the market in a differentiated manner.

• Not understanding the new power of customer engagement. Patients have become Customers, armed with unprecedented access to information and the power to make choices. They will bypass you if you don’t provide a meaningful reason to be considered.

Most of today’s marketing has little meaningful differentiation. Do an experiment I call “The Wall Test”. Put a representative sample of competitive ads in your market on a blank wall. Now stand back and see how much differentiation you can find. Chances are you won’t find much. Now put your ads up against the competition. Chances are you and your brand won’t stand out. This means that there is considerable waste and lack of performance.

TP: So what’s the way forward?

For marketing to work, it must be founded first on analysis and then development of a differentiated brand. Only then can you begin to implement consistently across every point of customer contact. Otherwise you risk disappointment and waste.

Ask yourself a question: what is my brand and how is it differentiated in a meaningful manner that causes engagement with your prospects? The brand is embodiment of your relationship with the market you serve. It is the cornerstone idea that drives everything you do in marketing yourself or your practice, at every point of contact. If you don’t know your brand and how you’re different, that’s a problem that needs to be corrected. Only then will you see the vital role marketing can play in the success of your practice. To begin the process, see a colleague’s video on the path to building a great brand.

Physician, brand thyself!

TP: How can you tell if your marketing is working?

First of all, change your viewpoint. Make the transition from marketing as castor oil to marketing as an elixir in viewing marketing’s role in your success. Stop looking at marketing as merely an expense. There must be value delivery in the form of improved business and reputation.

Excellent brands are built like birds build nests, The desired outcome is known but it builds in stages. Here are some diagnostic questions to ask to see if your brand is building in the right direction:

• Are customer prospect inquiries increasing?
• Where are your inquiries coming from?
• Are your word of mouth referrals increasing?
• Are new customers increasing?
• Do you ask for their feedback?
• Why did they choose you?
• How are you doing with them once they become customers?
• Do existing customers stay with you?
• Are you beginning to stand out vs. your competitors?

The answers to the above questions help you understand whether or not you’re actually engaging with prospects and customers in a way that produces results.

In the next interview, we’ll focus on communications planning and execution in today’s new media marketplace. Your comments and questions are welcome.

Branding budgets run the gamut depending on whether you’re building a brand that will face only moderate competition in a small geographic region or a brand that aims to elbow out major competitors in the global marketplace. What’s more, budgets vary depending on whether you can reach your market through digital communications and social media or whether you need to invest in traditional media and marketing channels.

A glance at branding budgets

Here’s a lineup of the major tasks involved in brand development along with the range of price tags involved. Brace yourself: The high-end figures are apt to cause heart palpitations.

As you can see, there’s a huge range between the low-end costs involved to build a professional brand that competes on a local or regional level and the high-end costs involved to build a powerful brand that can flex its muscle nationally or internationally.

As you start tallying up the costs to your business, avoid the temptation to strike out certain line items that you think you can handle on your own without incurring outside costs. Businesses that start with do-it-yourself logos and presentation materials achieve false savings. They economize on the front end, for sure, but they also cost themselves the benefit of a strong, competitive, professional first impression.

If your goal is to build a brand that you can grow, leverage, and even sell in the future, invest the money required to get off to a good start. By the time you amortize your start-up expenses, the cost will be minimal in comparison to the value received.

Branding without big bucks

In case you’re clinging to your billfold or balance sheet, shaking your head and wondering how you can build a brand on your kind of budget, remember this truth: In essence, your business is your brand and your brand is your business.

If you don’t have the budget to develop the most powerful brand identity, triple or quadruple your efforts to design and deliver the most consistent brand experience. Follow these suggestions:

• Spend extra time and effort to define your brand and what it stands for so that everyone in your organization knows exactly the promise you’re making and keeping. Defining your brand involves creating your mission and vision statements, defining your brand promise, developing your brand definition and core brand message, and deciding on the brand character or personality that you’ll put forth with every brand communication.

• Develop a brand experience that never fails or fluctuates. If you can’t have the most dazzling brand identity and presentation, aim instead to have the most amazing and amazingly consistent brand encounters.

When people choose your offerings, what they really buy into is your brand. How well you define and deliver your brand determines the ultimate value and success of your business. View branding not as an expense but as an investment that delivers value over the long haul.

By Bill Chiaravalle, Barbara Findlay Schenck

Source: https://www.dummies.com/business/marketing/branding/how-much-does-branding-cost/