4 percent of doctors have made at least one blog posting in the last year: Vanguard survey

On the heels of a report by Pew Research Center revealing that 35 percent of Americans use the Internet to figure out a medical condition, an independent survey finds that only one-third of physicians in three American cities offer direct website help to health care consumers trying to understand their symptoms.

In an analysis of 300 doctors with the highest patient-satisfaction ratings in Boston, Denver and Portland, OR, the medical marketing firm Vanguard Communications found 69 percent of the physicians have websites.

However, only 33 percent of those doctors’ sites provided much more than online biographies and general practice information – just 99 doctors have websites offering patient-centered information on medical conditions and possible treatments.

The portion of physicians using their websites to update patients on research and trends that could affect their health was even smaller: only 4 percent (12 doctors) had made at least one blog posting in the last year.

“Doctors in these cities are still using their websites primarily as electronic brochures about their practices rather than as online health resources,” said Ron Harman King, Vanguard CEO.

Doctors certainly have no legal or ethical obligation to do any more, King noted, especially when online health encyclopedias abound on the Internet. Nonetheless, offering more health information online could create a win-win for providers.

Vanguard’s analysis spanned three medical specialties: urologists, orthopedic surgeons, and obstetricians-gynecologists. To select the physician sample, the firm chose doctors with the highest patient-satisfaction ratings on HealthGrades.com, an Internet company that provides quality and safety ratings of health providers. All 300 physicians had “100-percent patient satisfaction” ratings.

More details of the survey are at VanguardCommunications.net.

Olympic-size tactical thinking

Photo Credit: Reuters/ Lewis Whyld/Pool

I recently facilitated a tactical ideation workshop in which we applied “Olympic” thinking to the client’s media planning.

Digital media spending by London 2012 Olympics sponsors amounted to as much as 20% of budgets.

Digital outlets attracted funds that might have gone to television in prior years.

And while ad agency and brand representatives don’t provide budgets or spending estimates for their Olympic campaigns, it’s believed that a comprehensive multimedia Olympic campaign cost between $30 million to $50 million.

The pricetag was worth it, most brand executives said, because they believe they were able to weave tighter connections between their brands and target customers during the Olympics compared to other events.

Here are some of the media ideas inspired by our Olympic-size thinking:

 

61 percent of KOLs use diagnostic and reference mobile apps: implications in my interview with Med Ad News

Last month, I was interviewed by Med Ad News about a new study showing that key opinion leaders are far more digitally savvy.

Here are some highlights of the article:

The Kantar Media Sources & Interactions Study, March 2013 – Medical/Surgical Edition included key facts that pharma marketers and healthcare agencies need to know about key opinion leaders in order to refine digital marketing and advertising plans.

Key opinion leaders are more likely to use smartphones and tablets for professional purposes than all doctors surveyed. About 84 percent use their mobiles for work reasons. In addition, 57 percent reported that they use a tablet for personal and professional purposes.  When using their smartphones, key opinion leaders are more likely to use medical apps compared with all physicians. About 61 percent use diagnostic tool/clinical reference mobile apps and 49 percent use drug and coding reference apps.

Kantar Media collected the data in two waves for the study, which allows them to provide more up-to-date monitoring of rapidly changing media areas, including mobile, according to a company spokesperson. Although the core report continues to show data based on both the fall and spring data collection waves, the supplemental data are based on the spring wave only.

“The survey results help document what we’ve been experiencing over time, that leading physicians have higher utilization of smartphone apps, digital media, social networking, and email communications with patients,” says Mark Stinson, SVP, brand strategy, GSW.

According to the study, more than half of key opinion leaders use the Internet for professional purposes more than four times per day. On average, they use the Internet almost 14 times per week for work. About 55 percent of key opinion leaders say that their time spent on the Internet per use is between 1-15 minutes, while 20 percent say a session typically lasts between 16 and 30 minutes.

Regarding the insights derived from an agency perspective, Stinson tells Med Ad News, “I think the insight is further confirmation that the traditional term of KOLs describing key ‘opinion’ leaders is becoming obsolete. In the past, agencies might have viewed them as ivory tower, academic sources of medical thoughts. What the Kantar study underscores – and what we’ve found with brand experiences – is that a more active and desirable group of clinical leaders has emerged with more than just opinions. These new key practice influencers are using technology and digital media more in direct patient care, protocol development, clinical trial design, treatment guideline creation, and institutional practice procedures. With the application of digital media as described by the Kantar results, we can identify the shift from key opinion leaders to key practice influencers (KPIs), with far-reaching scope of expertise and decision-making effect.”

When it comes to the frequency of smartphone and medical app usage, Stinson says that GSW has seen other data to confirm that prescribing information is the most searched. “However, so many more innovative applications are quickly being integrated into practices,” he told Med Ad News. “What the Kantar survey suggests is that these influential physicians are poised for expanded smartphone use.  It’s another indicator that they aren’t just thought-leading, but actually practice-ready.”

It would be interesting to learn more from the survey, or from future research, if other characteristics common in influencers are at play in how much time key opinion leaders spend on the Internet, says Stinson. “These might include: colleagues in digital forums regularly seek them out for advice; they use blogs or other digital platforms to share insight from specialty conferences; and, they participate in more formulary or protocol review committees by virtual means.”

Key opinion leaders tend to use social networks for professional purposes more often than other physicians, as 39 percent use consumer social networks, 42 percent use professional social networks and 50 percent use medical association/society social networks. “At the heart of a brand strategist’s role is the ability to listen to what customers know, how they find information, and how they use it,” Stinson told Med Ad News. “The Kantar survey provides more evidence that physicians’ views in social media could provide a powerful qualitative research modality. Today, we can observe and learn from online communities by following the real-world conversations that take place on networks (LinkedIn, Facebook), forums (WebMD, PatientsLikeMe), bookmarking (StumbleUpon, del.icio.us), visual content communities (Flickr, Pinterest, YouTube), and micro-blogs (Twitter).  Most of all, we can construct a more complete picture of how these fit into a health care professional’s life and practice. We have to remember that these key practice influencers are often members of Clinical Advisory Committees (CACs). Most payers will consult with CAC members before rendering a decision on whether or not to cover a proposed treatment.  That extends the influence of a leading-edge physician who shares his or her experiences in social media.”

Key opinion leaders are multimedia journal readers with 57 percent reading both print and digital versions of current issues of medical journals, 86 percent read print editions, and 55 percent read full digital reproductions, meaning PDF or “flip view” versions.

“The Kantar results further encourage us to evaluate forums where an influential physician is posting or reading – or even where their patients with similar conditions may be interacting with the physician,” Stinson told Med Ad News.  “In this way, we can identify channels for community management, content planning, and media engagement.”

3x Strategy for getting more from ‘social’

Last month, I was invited to speak at the annual meeting of the Endurance Sports Media Group in Orlando.

The topic of my ESMG talk was  “Getting more from ‘social’ for your endurance media brand.”   

My goal was to offer practical ways to connect, engage, and interact more with their readers.

 To connect more, we reviewed the social channels, profiles, and how the publications were using them already.

• Facebook
• Twitter                       
• Google +
• Pinterest
• YouTube            
• Tumblr
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

We also determined their baseline Klout scores as one metric of current connections.

As we moved to engagement, I posed the question: “why you want to use social media?”

The current data on engagement shows that social media is:

• Not an end, but a means
• Not something “monetize”, but a way to increase value
• Not something you charge for, but a way to get more people to pay for what you sell

We reviewed examples they referenced as other publications doing social well.  Plus, we discussed examples of personalized brand experiences.

Then, I highlighted what I believed to be their biggest asset = Content

And we got very specific with a social strategy: Leverage Content by 3’s

To move forward, you should choose 3 channels

• one to focus on                       
• one to pilot
• one to observe and learn

Next, feature your content 3 times per day, and leverage partner content 3 times per week.

When you execute this, you can evaluate against a goal of 3 times  the followers.  Finally, you should set a goal to refine after 3 months.

"600 creative minds strong, spread across continents, acting as one." - GYRO

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I love the copy is this ad. 

What A Time To Be Alive

The bright, new technologies of now are bringing humans together as never before.  In just one click, we can share our innermost thoughts with a million other minds.

We can swap pictures of kittens.  We can bring down governments.  We should feel like gods.  But somehow we don’t.

Because most what we feel is numb.

It seems we’ve switched on something that we can’t switch off.  The current of information is endless now; it knows where we work and it follows us home.  It bombards us with multichannel assaults on our time and attention, and the more it continues, the more desensitized we become.

So the big question is this:  In a world made numb by digital noise, what can any business or brand do to make itself relevant again?  Why should anyone care?

It is the question we reinvented our company to answer.

After three decades helping world-class businesses succeed, we have had the courage to change our culture.

Entirely.

The kind of ideas our clients need now can come from anywhere and take any form, so we’ve swept away the “creative apartheid.”

These times demand an agency with unconventional DNA, a collective team of influencers, curators, editors, thinkers, inventors and producers.

With all the energy, excitement and passion of a start-up – we have created a global ideas shop.

We are 600 creative minds strong, spread across continents, acting as one.  United by a single propose:  to produce ideas that ignite.

These unstoppable ideas, fired by emotion, are behind everything we want to achieve for our clients.  Emotion is the key to intimacy between businesses, brands and people.  It’s there in every choice humans make, whether they’re buying laptops or signing million-dollar contracts.

Ideas that ignite emotions are ideas that ignite business decisions.

And our right to exist as a company depends on our ability to find those expansive ideas – on every project we’re given and every single day we come to work.

We will never be afraid to do whatever it takes to make businesses and brands matter to people again.

WE ARE GYRO.

More than 200 entries exhibited at "Downtown Digital Arts Festival"

Last evening, I had the pleasure of attending the Downtown Digital Arts Festival, presented by Columbus State Community College.

The exhibit brought together student photographers, designers, and artists, for an event designed to educate, inspire, and entertain.

Here’s a description from the Interactive Media section:   the work “embraces the advances in technology that provide new and exciting frontiers for artistic exploration, expression and communication. Images, both moving and static, text and audio can be brought together within a computer to provide an experience that is essentially different from any other media type. The quality that distinguishes 'digital' publishing from traditional linear forms is 'interactivity'. Program content need no longer be constrained by a fixed, preordained outcome. An audience can now be an active participant in a program in ways that determine and alter the course of events. “

The Interactive Media worked in the exhibit demonstrated practical applications that access and present dynamic written, audio, and visual information. The interactivity was applied across a varied range of mediums including:

• educational and self-paced learning projects on a CD
• displays and information kiosks
• web sites
• computer games and simulations
• interactive art
• DVD development

You can download a catalog of all the work at www.cscc.edu/ddaf

5-part formula Microsoft is using to rewrite the rules of event marketing

Quite possibly the world's largest spender on event marketing, Microsoft is becoming a marketing juggernaut by transforming its event and trade show portfolio into a turbocharged, experiential machine.

Local, regional, national and global events are being mixed and matched into super-relevant engagement platforms. The fusion of event delivery and digital technology has never been more urgent. And live marketing is being measured more than ever before, showing Microsoft what's working and why.

Jeff Singsaas is general manager of event marketing at Microsoft. We from Stinson Brand Innovation recently attended a meeting with Jeff, and he offered a taste of where the event industry is headed, from the redeployment of dollars to portfolio analysis to measurement and professional development.

Jeff imparted this 5-part formula for winning events:
1. A stable team of really good business people
□ To increase consistency of execution
2. Making sure everyone is clear and accountable
□ To navigate account and budget
3. Process focus
□ To remove variation and duplication
4. Clear roles & responsibilities
□ To improve communication and accountability
5. Great business acumen
o To track budgets & metrics

From his vantage point at Microsoft, Jeff sees a trend toward digital events being added to the marcom mix. This means pairing tactics from the e-world to leverage traditional media – all in the context of successful meeting promotions and management.

Some examples include:

Traditional Media
Radio
Referall cards
Television
Print ads
Events and trade shows
Press releases
Direct mail
Newspapers

Digital Media
Podcasts
Social Networking
Streaming Videos
Banner ads
Virtual events
Blogs
Email
RSS

Given this trend, he presented four cornerstones of great marketing in this digital space:

□ a clear value proposition of what the customer wants and needs.
□ a more connected sales and marketing effort.
□ a definable business strategy with goals and objectives for the events.
□ storytelling that can make the message more compelling for customers.

Creating “the show that never ends” also means designing digital event tactics that can build anticipation, deepen the interaction, extend the experience, and magnify the impact beyond the venue.

Building anticipation means appealing to participants’ excitement and curiosity. Pre-meeting communication can provide practical information that address concerns. In this phase, one must avoid over-promising and under-delivering.

Deepening the impact means creating more relevant and meaningful interactions with customers. Planners should use technology as a means to this exchange, not simply having some gadgets in the meeting.

Extending the experience after the meeting can be accomplished in many ways using CDs, custom websites, and downloadable photos.

Magnifying the impact of an event helps leverage the investment in any convention, sales meeting, or customer event. Examples are posting meeting content online, hosting a keynote presentation in a virtual space, or even broadcasting live from an exhibit booth with updates from the show. Blogging from breakout groups is another common technique.

We’ve just published a new white paper entitled "Creating a Quality Brand Experience Through Event Marketing: Case studies from the 2008 Experiential Marketing Summit and applications of key learnings for health, science, and technology brands." You can download it free at http://stinsonbrandinnovation.com/news/WP41BrandExp2_1008.pdf