Innovation

Nov 9, 2010

Complexity is great for creativity

In my latest post in SmartBrief for Health Care Marketers, I talk about the myriad ways to consider creativity when tackling a healthcare marketing challenge. In essence, our more complex world increases exponentially the opportunities for creativity. Read the post here.

Feb 25, 2010

What we tell ourselves is hooey

We’ve spent a lot of time in some recent podcasts harping on the idea that many traditional means of research – especially surveys and focus groups – fail to provide true insight into consumer motivations because what people say often doesn’t correlate with what they do. One of our favorite sources for this philosophy is Martin Lindstrom, author of the best-seller “Buyology” and consultant to Fortune 500 companies. Lindstrom’s recent work Continue reading…

Jan 21, 2010

Two words that often kill great ideas: “prove it”

When it comes to healthcare marketing, one of the most feared comments from executives, physicians and operational leaders is this: “If you can’t prove this will work, then we’re not doing it.”

As we’ve stated many times over the past year in our blog posts, podcasts, and paper, we feel passionately that marketers should strive to measure the success of their efforts whenever possible. Measurement allows you to demonstrate marketing’s value to leadership, and, more importantly, to better understand what works and what doesn’t. That kind of measurement discipline can help marketers answer that dreaded question by allowing them to pull from past experiences and demonstrate that yes, this can work, and this is how it has in the past.

Except in one case: when the idea is brand new and hasn’t been done before, either by you and your organization, or, even worse, by anybody else. Of course, launching a new idea before anyone else can lead to great success (iPod, TiVo, Starbuck’s “third place” experience, etc.) But in a conservative culture, the lack of a proven track record is often what kills an innovative idea. An article in this week’s BusinessWeek titled “Innovation’s Accidental Enemies” does a great job of reminding us why the lack of a proven track record should be considered an opportunity, not a deficit. Continue reading…

Oct 13, 2009

Introduce some Paranormal Activity to your marketing

If you haven’t heard of Paranormal Activity, chances are you tripped over your router cable a few months ago and forgot to plug in back it back in. This independent film has made quite a stir through Twitter and other social networking outlets. In fact, this low budget ($11,000) flick has relied almost exclusively on social networking for promotion. And it pulled in over $7 million last weekend.

CNN covered this story today. In it are a number of valuable nuggets for all marketers – healthcare and otherwise.
Continue reading…

Apr 27, 2009

Story on Mayo Clinic's social media efforts has quotes from Bevolo

Mayo Clinic’s social media efforts were the focus of a recent newspaper article that included quotes from Interval president Chris Bevolo. The comments covered how Mayo Clinic’s leadership in social media should help pave the way for others in healthcare. The quotes were included in the April 26 Minneapolis Star Tribune story, “Mayo turns to social media to reach out to patients.”

Apr 21, 2009

Bevolo weighs in on new Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Interval President Chris Bevolo is quoted in the April 21 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The article, “Mayo opens private medical-data website,” covers the launch of the organization’s new Health Manager offering.

Apr 3, 2009

Step right up to get your free colonoscopy…

Across the U.S., companies are finding ways to try to help customers purchase products and services in these tough economic times. Much has been made of some of the offers by car companies, started by Hyundai’s Assurance plan: anyone who buys or leases a vehicle in 2009 can return their car to the dealer and stop making monthly payments without affecting their credit score. According to Consumer Reports, the program isn’t just for consumers who’ve lost their jobs in tough times; it also extends to those who become physically disabled, lose their driver’s license due to medical impairment, are self employed and file for bankruptcy, or get a job transfer overseas. At Interval, we’ve even introduced a new offering to help our clients – hospital and health system marketers – who are having budgets and staffs slashed as the healthcare industry struggles.

This week, Walgreen announced Continue reading…

Mar 9, 2009

Carol.com mentioned in White House discussion of healthcare innovation

Our friends at Carol.com received some nice exposure at the recent White House Health Care Summit. The innovative online service that brought “shopping for care” to the Twin Cities and Seattle markets was referenced by Ken Powell, the CEO of General Mills, Continue reading…