Chicago, IL, October 15, 2008 - Meyer & Wallis won two awards — platinum and gold — at last year’s HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards held at the Art Institute of Chicago. Each year, HealthLeaders Media honors the nation’s best healthcare marketing campaigns. This year, Meyer & Wallis took Platinum for “Best Branding Campaign” and Gold for “Best Integrated Marketing Campaign,” both for their “North Campus Grand Opening” campaign for Community Health Network based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Judges for the 2008 Marketing Awards used a variety of criteria to make their selections, with an emphasis not only on the look and quality of the campaigns, but also on their effectiveness, including ROI.

Community Health Network is one of Indianapolis’ oldest and most established healthcare systems. Already boasting three of the area’s leading hospitals and dozens of primary care physician practices, CHN reopenned a $170 million renovation of their northeast campus earlier this past year. For the launch, which also served as the effective beginning of a massive rebranding effort, Meyer & Wallis created a comprehensive campaign that included Radio, TV, outdoor, print, direct mail, and a blog. As a result, on a sunny sunday afternoon in April, more than 7,000 members of the curious public showed up for free tours of the new facility during its open house. Since, the facility has been a huge success, as has Meyer & Wallis' rebranding effort on behalf of Community Health Network.

Congratulations to Community Health Network, and congratulations to all those at our Indianapolis office who worked hard to pull off this comprehensive campaign!

While we like to fancy ourselves jacks of all advertising trades, I'd be kidding you if I didn't tell you that healthcare marketing is one of the things we do best.
We know the world of healthcare better than most because we've been serving hospitals, clinics and blood centers longer than many agencies our size have been around. We'd love to talk with you more about the success of our campaign for Community Health Network and others. Contact us today!

At Meyer&Wallis, we know a thing or two about hospital marketing: How to differentiate a facility from its competition, how to identify unique services or characteristics and claim them in the marketplace... but, in this economy, it seems like the task of healthcare marketing isn't just about which hospital anymore, it's about going to the hospital at all.

According to a recent survey of adults 45 and older on The Best Life, by Philip Moeller:

• 22% have delayed seeing a doctor or other medical professional;
• 16% have cut back on preventive care activities, such as flu shots or annual screenings;
• 15% have either skipped doses of their prescribed medications or taken less than the prescribed dose;
• 14% have decided not to fill a prescription at all;
• 14% have cut back on their medical care;

Virtually every provider of healthcare is facing a downturn in traffic in this economy. That's not only bad for business, it's bad for our health!

So, if you're an individual, remember that one of the best investments you can make is in your own health. Don't stop taking care of yourself, even in this economic downturn.

And if you work at a hospital or other healthcare provider currently experiencing the phenomenon described above, maybe we should talk. Meyer & Wallis is a full service advertising agency with years of experience working on behalf of hospitals, blood centers, etc. Let us help you not only keep patients coming to your hospital, but choosing you over your competition.

There's one thing John McCain and Barack Obama agreed on during their presidential campaigns: Health Care Reform. Partisan politics aside, they both agreed that the US healthcare industry was losing money and losing ground by being slow to adopt digital technology.

Multiple companies, including Microsoft, have developed products intended to take medical files online so that they may be securely accessed from anywhere immediately. The benefits — and risks — of such technology are obvious.

But that's internal stuff. What about marketing? What about networking patients who have been served by your hospital?

James Heywood is the cofounder and chairman of PatientsLikeMe.com. Think of it as a Facebook for patients who form social networks around common diagnoses and illnesses instead of interests. Here, people share insights about medication side effects, new treatments, and, yes, the quality of the various treatment facilities they've been too. Heywood thinks, even with the tight security around healthcare and medical records in this country, people are nevertheless gravitating towards online communities where they can openly share with people with similar interests or experiences.

Another new product, called HealthVault, enables people to store their medical records online, where they can be securely accessed by doctors and hospitals, and even synched with meidcal devices like heart-rate monitors and weight scales. The movement to get our healthcare system into the digital age is clearly underway, and it's mostly coming from outside the healthcare world.

There's an enormous potential here for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Most healthcare marketing tends to stick to mainstream media, but comsumers clearly want interactive options as well.

Imagine creating for your healthcare facility an intranet where inpatients can talk to each other about their doctors, nurses, experiences, even post status updates for loved ones to follow who are too far away to visit. Or imagine a place on your hospital's website where area residents can upload their medical information to your hospital's system in case they're ever rushed there in an emergency and want their medical history to go before them.

This is the kind of digital world we're entering. Consumers, clients, and now patients want communities that connect them with eachother and with information, and if hospitals, clinics and private practices don't work with their marketing teams to come up with these solutions on their own, someone else will do it for them.

Incidentally, Meyer&Wallis is chalk-full of progressive healthcare marketing ideas. Perhaps we should talk?

This past Wednesday in Chicago, Meyer&Wallis' Indianapolis office received two awards for their work with Indianapolis' own Community Health Network.

For our "North Campus Grand Opening" campaign for CHN, HealthLeaders Media awarded Meyer & Wallis their Platinum Award for "BEST BRANDING CAMPAIGN" and their Gold Award for "BEST INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGN."

We're very grateful to HealthLeaders Media for this recognition, and will happily add these awards to our "wall of intimidation."

Incidentally, we've been working with hospitals, blood centers, and other healthcare industries for a long time. In fact, we like to think healthcare marketing is one of our specialties. It's nice to know someone else thinks so, too.

    The podcast turns 4 this month, and over the last few years, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of people who download Podcasts. Podcasting is a relatively new technology in the world of digital media, allowing anyone from individuals in their mother’s basement to big movie studios to post an audio or video file to the internet in such a way that it is automatically downloaded by those who “subscribe” to that podcast. Now perhaps that lengthly explanation wasn't necessary, but, like I said, this is relatively new technology. Only four years ago this month, the word “podcast” had yet to be uttered. Today, about 19% of internet users have downloaded a podcast to enjoy it later, and they have literally thousands to choose from. While 19% may not seem very impressive, it's likely to keep going up and up as the medium gains momentum. What does this mean for your business?

    Whether you're a hospital looking to rise above the sea of healthcare marketing going on around you, or a retailer wondering how to make use of interactive media in your retail marketing, or the guardian of an aging brand wondering how to reach out to a younger generation with your brand strategy, podcasting might be for you.

    It just so happens I'm listening to a podcast right now. There's a show on NPR I'm never around a radio to hear live, but that I can download as a podcast. Not only has this allowed me to enjoy this programming I'd otherwise miss, but it has led me to audition some other NPR programming as well, exposing me to their sponsoring companies, even to consider making a donation!

    Think of the other great ways to engage potential customers with this medium. You could feature company news or new products in a weekly or monthly podcast. Talk about exciting new hires or technologies at your hospital. Does your product really shine when it's in use? Produce a video podcast showing your ingredient being cooked with, your product being tested for durability, your product being used in innovative ways, or how it compares to the competition. A podcast is also a great way to create a "culture" around your brand. For example, you might be a beverage manufacturer, which has nothing to do with music, but you know your customer base tends to like a certain kind of music. Produce a weekly podcast featuring up-and-coming artists you think your customers should know about. They'd soon come to see your brand as "in touch" with who they are, helping you stay top-of-mind for sure.

    These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. But at Meyer & Wallis, that's NEVER how we actually do advertising. Our creative marketing strategies are grounded in what we believe to be the best research and planning in the industry. And with new media like podcasting, it's still possible to do something no marketer has done before. Imagine what a "first" like that could do for a brand. We do. All the time.