A Heаlthy Imаge As the new Chief Mаrketing Officer fоr St. Margaret’s General Hоspital, lоcated in a large metropolitan area of Minnesota, you are excited excited as you begin your first staff meeting with the marketing department to discuss marketing and communications concerns of the hospital’s CEO. Your primary task is to increase the visibility of St. Margaret’s Hospital in order to raise the image of the institution in the eyes of the many publics served. The long-term goal is to attract the best possible physicians while increasing use of the hospital’s facilities and attracting more patients. The world of health care changed dramatically in the past decade. Government regulations and support, concerns about lawsuits, evolving and expensive technologies, and changes in health insurance provisions affected hospitals of all sizes. In addition, St. Margaret’s faces strong competition. The hospital’s primary location in this major metropolitan area in Minnesota also has two other large hospitals that offer comparable services in the same city. Each seeks to sign physicians to exclusive contracts in which they will only provide care with one organization. The other significant challenge to St. Margaret’s is its proximity to the Mayo Clinic, located in Rochester, MN. Clearly, Mayo holds the highest level of prestige in the state and even in the region. Most physicians are inclined to think of Mayo first when making referrals for patients with difficult medical problems. Mayo would be viewed by most publics as the “best” care possible. The key issues in the image of any health organization include developing trust and a feeling of confidence in the quality of care that will be received. Beyond technological advantages, other, more subtle elements of an image could have an influence. You note that the nurse plays a primary role in determining how patients view hospitals. An uncaring and inattentive nurse is likely to drive away both the patient who encountered the nurse and all of that patient’s family and friends. Negative word-of-mouth must be held to an absolute minimum. In this staff meeting, the discussion with your staff identifies a few immediate problems to overcome. First, the name “Margaret” is not commonly used anymore. Some publics may view it as an “old-fashioned” name. Second, there is nothing distinctive about the hospital’s image other than it is a Catholic hospital. Moreover, the overlap in services provided (heart care, cancer treatment) make it difficult to differentiate St. Margaret’s from other providers in the area. Finally, your youngest marketing staff member points out that, in addition to the name “Margaret”, the logo for St. Margaret’s also looks dated and old-fashioned. She has already researched the history of the hospital’s logo and found that it was last updated in 1991. If there is any advantage, you see that it is that St. Margaret’s is affiliated with the Catholic Church. It also is the only nonprofit hospital of the three major competitors. In the past, this has attracted both Catholic patients and some Catholic physicians. Also, the hospital was able to utilize the services of a wide variety of volunteers. The meeting’s agenda is to discuss all of the ways St. Margaret’s could build its client base. The task would not be easy, but everyone in the room believes the hospital offers high-quality services in a caring atmosphere. Instructions: You have a set of discussion questions to address regarding the aforementioned mini-case scenario. I anticipate that your discussion will take approximately 600 – 900 words. After reading the mini-case, review the questions below. In this test, you are provided with one essay question for each with points value indicated for each question. Best wishes for good work on the mini-case! What are the image issues in this case? Discuss in depth. What are the brand name an logo issues? What types of communications research should be conducted? Identify some research objectives for each type of research. How should St. Margaret’s segment their markets? Identify and describe the market segments the St. Margarets would target. Who is their primary target market (considering this is an in-patient facility). Consider all types of stakeholders in identifying these segments. Identify the dimensions they might use to segment these markets. With Mayo Clinic and another competitor hospital in the area, how do you anticipate that St. Margaret’s should approach their re-positioning strategy?? What should they do first? What steps should they take? What is crucial in their positioning strategy relative to the competition? What brand associations should St. Margaret’s strive to achieve for their brand? Explain why. As the CMO, how will you approach developing an IMC plan? What are the steps you direct the staff to take? What questions do you need to first address with the hospital’s CEO before developing a comprehensive IMC plan? Using your expertise with over 8 years working as a marketing director prior to landing this position, what do you anticipate that the messages in advertisements should include to differentiate the hospital based on its advantages? In addition to advertising, what other types of promotional activities could St. Margaret’s pursue to build a strong and positive organizational image?
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