by Edryna Zaharani
In my quest for a career option that would allow me to exercise business skills within the confines of the healthcare industry, I stumbled upon the idea of healthcare marketing in my Public Health class (Pub Health 150). The power of communications and the extensive platforms corporations provide to connect the public to excellent health care system providers and patient advocacy sound a lot like something I would explore. Coming to Los Angeles, I found it interesting how within my first week of California livin’, not once did I get a whiff of secondhand cigarette smoke compared to generous doses I would inhale in Kuala Lumpur, where I come from. Through my public health class, I learned that LA’s strict smoking laws and cigarette perception were products of the efforts from the government’s Office on Smoking and Health and private health care providers to foster an anti-smoking environment. These efforts were only made possible with the most effective marketing and communication campaigns, leading me to believe that great impact can be made with healthcare marketing. Some others would attribute this to LA’s health-frenzy culture.. And this realization further piqued my interest in this career option. I thought, I have an entire 4 years of college in one the most health-conscious cities in the world. Wouldn’t this be one of the best places to be learning about what corporations and the state does in here to support this sometimes obsessive but positive trend?
So what does healthcare advertising encompass? Ideally, healthcare advertising requires specialist agencies for expertise in order to execute effective communication with designated recipients, aka healthcare marketing agencies. Some examples include Bryant Brown, Parker White and Healthcare Success. Healthcare is more technical and sensitive, requiring executive level artists and writers to be more trained to create meaningful advertising plans. Many job listings for management or executive level jobs require at least 5 years of experience in the healthcare marketing industry and highly recommend an MBA, in which you can specialize in Healthcare Management (yes, it exists!). Job roles include the usuals such as brand development, direct marketing, market research, education material, sales promotion, and many more. If I was to pursue health marketing, I think I would probably focus on education material, a unique feature of healthcare advertising. Healthcare advertising clients include pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, hospitals and health systems, managed care, patient and professional advocacy, and information technology. Audiences include physicians, nurses, allied clinicians, pharmacists, caregivers, payers, and patients.
When we think about conventional advertising methods, such as door to door marketing, and try to apply them to healthcare products, the whole idea seems ineffective and borderline unethical. Imagine your local pharmacy having a buy 1 get 1 free promotion on painkillers. That extra tablet would come in handy, but we need to be mindful that these are drugs - chemicals in disguise of a quick fix which should be consumed in control. Instead, conventional healthcare marketing strategies include doctor referrals building, advertising in the press and staff training among others. In doctor referral building, agencies offer physician liaisons whose aim is to build and maintain relationships with other physicians as to be seen for referrals. Notably, in healthcare advertising, there is an ongoing conservation about ethics involving agencies, healthcare providers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and politicians. However, advertisements for health care services are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission and treated no differently from advertisements for consumer goods.Topics include the ethics of pharmaceutical advertisements on TV, the use of animated organs in graphic designs, and advertising of cosmetic products, such as plastic surgery. As expected, agencies argue that governments are blocking access of information to consumers through regulation measures such as banning patient testimonials while others argue that advertising is a distortion of the information without telling the audience the full story. Even the most conscientious physicians must be fully aware of regulations because they aren’t always forgiving. In some states, including New York and Kentucky, doctors are not allowed to use patient testimonials in marketing. In other states, even the most general descriptions of patients can breach privacy laws.
So now you might be asking, what exactly does healthcare marketing look like?
1. Dabur Gastrina print campaign. A graphic design of Digestive pills by Dabur, McCann Erickson Mumbai.
2. Regaine’s beautiful hair loss minimization ad : “Thinner” by Pharmacia & Upjohn, Clemenger BBDO Sydney.
3. United Healthcare’s bold “We Dare You” social media campaign, daring members of the public to document themselves taking initiatives to improve their health using the hashtag #WeDareYou.
The healthcare industry is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries. With this, consumers have more choices in healthcare products, hence increasing the demand for healthcare marketing. So far, I think it’s a great way to merge my interest for healthcare yet stay within the business realm do creative work. In ethical matters, I am still trying to form my stance but I think it is enough for anyone to firstly be fully aware of some ethical implications that come with this path, just like any other path! In my personal quest of exploration, I am trying to gain a better understanding of the healthcare industry by being involved in Timmy Global Health at UCLA and potentially enrolling in a Public Health minor. I hope to explore more with a networking business health club called CUBE at UCLA in the future. To fellow explorers, check out the sources below for some further reading.
References
https://www.healthcaresuccess.com/consulting-services/marketing-agency
https://www.healthcaresuccess.com/consulting-services/dr-referrals
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/is-it-time-to-pull-the-plug-on-hospital-advertising/
Schenker, Yael & M Arnold, Robert & London, Alex. (2014). The Ethics of Advertising for Health Care Services. The American journal of bioethics : AJOB. 14. 34-43. 10.1080/15265161.2013.879943.
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