How to avoid typical traps in healthcare branding
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Building brands in healthcare has its own set of nuances and challenges to overcome. It can be very easy to fall prey to seemingly positionable territories–in other industries it may be so, but in healthcare, brands have to dig deeper.
Full transcript:
In today's video, I'll share with you six common traps that healthcare brands fall into. As they're trying to build a relevant, sustainable and differentiating brand. Hey everyone, this is Howard Chan and I help build he brands.
The first trap is we are patient focused. If you actually tell me that you're not patient focused, Hey, maybe there's a territory that actually makes sense. We're gonna Zig while you Zag, but every healthcare company is patient focused. The problem is not whether you are patient focused. It's about how are you patient focused. Are we able to talk about what is actually differentiating in the way that you're focused on patients? Well, if you think about all the things that you do, is it how you help patients access care? That’s table stakes. Is it about how you provide support programs for your patients? Table stakes. What about the way in which you educate patients on disease or educate patients on your therapy? Again, table stakes. What are things that you are actually doing with the patient that makes you differentiated? Actually puts you in a whole different category of healthcare companies that's actually focused on patients.
The second trap is we follow the science. Now, if you are a company in healthcare that's providing some sort of therapy, some sort of treatment, you’d better be following the science. Now what about following the science? Are you differentiated? Are you different? And if you have a particular mode of action, a particular technology, that's so different by all means dive deep into the specifics of what that is and use that as a way to position yourself from the rest of the competitors. But if that's not really something that the company can stand behind, don't use this as a territory. Don't use science as your key positioning element because everyone in your category is following the science.
A third trap here is we are innovative. It's a funny thing. This is kind of like a comedian telling you. I'm really funny, trust me. If you are funny, you don't need to tell people about that. Just like if you're innovative, you don't tell, you show. Companies that are truly innovative don't have to tell you they're innovative. They merely put out products. They put out solutions that help you understand how innovative they are. So that's a trap that particularly ensnares healthcare brands. When they say hey, we are all about innovation, we are very innovative. Let your actions tell people, and don't put it as a part of the way that you message. It's all about what are you gonna actually show in terms of value? What are you gonna actually show in terms of solutions so people understand that you are innovative. Like Dyson, for example, they don't tell you “we are super innovative”. No, they put out products that are just a tier above the rest. Just like in a healthcare space, how do you manifest that idea into the products, into everything that you deliver so that people can see and feel your “innovativeness” as opposed to that being a thing that you tell people.
The fourth trap here is we don't have competitors. Sorry to burst your bubble, but everything and everyone has competitors. If it's not a direct competitor, it's an indirect competitor. If it is not an indirect competitor, it's an alternative competitor. People are doing something as opposed to using your product. It might be not taking any decision at all. So if you are a completely new drug in a rare disease, what could be your competitor? Sure. There's no direct competitors because there's no treatment for that patient population, but a competitor or alternative competitor could be opting out totally from the health system or traditional sort of healthcare realm, because there have been no treatment. So what do you need to actually pull them back into the system? You need to reach them in a totally different way. Again, when you think about competition in a broader sense, it allows you to think about the solutions. But once you say we have no competitors, it makes you be in this space of complacency and customers will just flock to you. Well, if you build it, sadly, they might not come.
The fifth trap is we want to be a household name. Well who doesn't want to be a household name? It's cool. Who doesn't wanna be a brand that's known by everybody, but going broad, direct to consumer costs a lot of money. And if you can actually get the awareness and transform that awareness into tangible value, by all means become a household name. But think about, do you need to have a prescription for your product? Do you need to have insurance pay for it? Do you need to have adequate supply? Does the product or treatment apply to every household? So it's actually more tangible to focus on the specific stakeholders and parties that you want to be known for and go from there. Instead of doing something large scale, we wanna be known by everybody program. It's gonna cost a ton of money and you're not gonna be able to recoup or translate that into tangible value for your company and brand.
We have a disruptive technology. This is a trap where healthcare brands want to be known for bringing disruption, but it's not really about, we have a disruptive technology. This is a trap where healthcare brands wanna show up as being innovative and they talk about disruptive technology. It’s really more played out in a tech world where these technologies are disruptive and a leap forward. I think in healthcare, we have to be very mindful of that because the last thing anybody wants is disruption, especially in today's world where healthcare providers are stretched so thin. Their workflows, everything that they're doing, they're already putting so much work and effort into caring for patients. Anything disruptive will be deemed as a negative. I think what is more important is to take a look at how that technology actually delivers on the experience, the improved outcomes, but also the improved experience of how these products are being used or how patients are being treated or how even the provider's lives are made easier.
Now you know the key traps in healthcare branding, you can hopefully better avoid them!
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