Blog
Healthcare Marketing: Making An Emotional Connection
When it comes to choosing hospitals and healthcare providers, consumers think with their hearts. Regardless of the research and statistics, the industry citations and even the insurance coverage, people consistently make life-and-death decisions based on the emotional connections they form with caregivers. Patients don’t want to hear only about equipment and research, they also want to know how it affects them in a profoundly personal way. The challenge for clients is to keep the message patient-centered and communicate the benefit in...
read moreSHIFT Happens
It’s 2011. We’re three years into this economic slowdown and now the Fed is telling us to bunker down until mid-2013. With deficit ceilings being raised, US credit being downgraded, and the Dow Jones Average convulsing on a daily basis, we have to admit our business environment is challenging to say the least. Heck, its downright hard to get a new customer these days. What marketing has any measurable effectiveness anymore? It seems like we keep doing more of it with less resources and fewer returns. At the Knoxville American...
read moreA Helping Hand: How Authenticity Facilitates Public Relations
Public relations is human dynamics. It’s the bridge between a brand and its consumers. Sometimes it’s a difficult bridge to build when the brand is intent on self-promotion and hard-line marketing. But when there’s a story to tell that resonates with the public, when the brand is sincere, and the message rings true, public relations happens organically, and the bridge becomes a smooth connection. Home Federal Bank is building bridges in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1924, Home Federal is Knoxville’s largest locally owned...
read moreDirect Mail: No Saturdays?
What?! No mail on Saturdays? Yes, this is a real possibility as the U.S. Postal Service wrangles with its own budgeting issues just like the rest of us. You probably already know about this subject but I wanted to pose a question: What effect will 5-day-deliveries have on our direct mail initiatives? The first thing that comes to mind might seem a little selfish. With one less delivery day (4 less per month and 48 less per year) it seems to me I’m going to have to schedule my mail flights earlier, especially if they are event based....
read moreQR Code vs Microsoft Tag
Ah! Another format war. I love it!!! That is, when I pick the right format early on. In the late 70′s when I was a kid, I remember my Dad coming home with an amazing contraption known as the Video Tape Recorder. It was a Sony Betamax and I felt so superior to all my friends whose parents purchased a lower quality VHS. Well, that was short lived. Then came the Mac in 1984. Short of Apple’s recent amazing comeback, it would seem I was stuck with the wrong format again. Thank goodness I picked Blu-ray over… er, I can’t even remember what...
read moreGet Your Game On: Social Media’s Playful Side
Social media’s playful side In sharp contrast to the stereotypical social misfit in the basement playing video games, is the new breed of online gamer, socializing with a network of friends while simultaneously interacting with a myriad of playable gaming platforms. While the two areas converge, it’s interesting to think where they’ll meet. Social networks become more game-oriented likeFoursquare and Farmville, while traditional console and PC games become more social with features like the Xbox dashboard and Playstation...
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