"5 Trends Digital Marketers Should Not Ignore"

5 Trends Marketers Should Not Ignore from Ekaterina Walter

7:30 AM

ClickZ Webinar: Privacy As A Brand Asset

Photo credit: philosophyblog.com.au (Creative Commons)

Though you'll never hear them say so publicly, many health care organizations view privacy as just another costly bureaucratic mandate, not a strategic differentiator.  Have you ever seen a hospital or medical practice compete as "the organization best equipped to protect your privacy?"  I thought not.

And I can't explain why this is so.  Certainly the "protect my privacy" segment is, numerically, substantial enough to gain an astute marketer's attention.

Perhaps some marketers underestimate their customers' privacy concerns.  Or it could be that, when push comes to shove, health care consumers value other things in their health care experience more than they value privacy, in which case those marketers are making a smart decision about priorities.

It could be that health care organizations are (rightly) terrified of making a brand promise they can't keep.  Perhaps 'privacy' lacks the sex appeal of  brands built around 'high-tech' or 'high-touch' (though you'd think the appeal of such mental gyrations would have worn off long ago.)   

Or, maybe, to health care organizations, privacy is just not a branding issue.  Compliance maybe, but not branding.  I think that's a mistake.  Great brands are built around what people care about...a lot.  The evidence is that people care about privacy...a lot.  So...

This webinar from ClickZ Academy is not specifically devoted to issues of health care privacy but might offer some useful insights to health care strategists looking to embed "privacy-by-design" in marketing campaigns.

Making Privacy a Brand Asset; August 28, 2012 @ 2:00 PM EDT.  Session length: 60 minutes

"With the emergence of "Big Data", marketers are now equipped with an unparalleled ability to target and convert key audiences online. While companies are concerned over how to effectively leverage massive databases of personal information, consumers are concerned more than ever about the privacy of their data in corporate hands. Did you know that 60% of consumers are more concerned today about their online privacy than they were a year ago?"

More information, here.

3:31 PM

"Aggravate a traveler, then hand them a smartphone..."

Especially a traveler who is also a composer and musician.  From Alexandra Samuel, blogging at HBR Blog Network about Qantas Airways' misadventures through the social media minefield: 

"We've been saying this for a while now but it's worth repeating: Social media turns branding into a true (if often accidental) collaboration between company and customer, in the way it enables constant and often bottom-up collaboration within organizations, and in the way it accelerates the pace of conversation and organizational change. Social media tends to flatten hierarchies, disempower gatekeepers, and give a voice to anyone who cares to speak about an issue, or a brand."

Still a doubter?  Maybe you should Google "United Breaks Guitars"  - another airline but still the poster child for customer revenge, and the point that started this post...

3:36 PM

Fixing An Outdated Brand: "You Have To Overwhelm Them."

Chicago Tribune: As a new Radisson Blu hotel opens in Chicago's architecturally significant Aqua building, the question is whether the lowly-regarded hotelier can go upscale.

Steven Silvers, a reputation management consultant at Denver firm GBSM, said the odds are good.

"When rebuilding a brand, you have to go all out," (Silvers) said. "If you do it incrementally, you're asking for a lot of patience. You have to overwhelm them. You have to create a level of cognitive dissonance that hits the reset button. That goes a long way toward creating a new life for an old brand."

[Read more...]

6:05 PM