Time 23:38

This Marketing Edge podcast focuses on health care and includes an interview with Leigh Ginther director of marketing and public relations of Swedish Covenant hospital in Chicago. Ginther describes the logic, strategy and resources they used to create Swedish Covenant social media programs.

Ginther also discusses how they identified resources of physicians to blog and deliver unique content that attracts patients. They spent some months learning the communities first and aligned those that were most active online with the appropriate service lines

• Nurse and Midwifery
• Weight, Nutrition and Lifestyle Management
• Pediatrics

They also have a program geared to general hospital offerings and awareness.

We get into the details and practical issues of resource allocations for social media programs and whether it helps achieve the hospital’s goals.

HEALTHCAMP MINNESOTA - Come On Down October 24 .

Social Media No Slam Dunk for Health Care

Along with all the hype and hypesters attempting to apply social media to anything that breathes, health care in many cases, is a cautious participant, taking time to evaluate what it means to be social.

While other industries can dip there toe in the water, a subjective opinion about a big screen TV isn’t going to kill me, health care opinions can have consequences. Checking a box once you create a Facebook Fan Page does not a social media strategy make.

HealthCamp Minnesota is a conference on Saturday, October 24 that will discuss the consequences of social media, technology, and ailment communities in healthcare. In many cases there are clear benefits, however it’s not that simple. Is our culture ready to take the time to learn about preventative care? Is rating a doctor something a patient can do accurately beyond beside manner without any medical knowledge? Will medical devices come to market quicker because companies are interacting with social ailment communities? If yes, somebody better tell FDA.

Health care is a complex topic involving the legitimate differences about the interpretation of scientific evidence and the emotional pull of life and death. One of the keynote speakers at HealthCamp Minnesota is Rachele Chrismer who will share an inspirational story about her son’s diagnosis of Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy which took her to 7 different states, many false hopes, and dozens of hours of research.

Lee Aase manager of syndications and social media for the Mayo Clinic will open the program with an overview of the behind the scenes impact social media has had at the Mayo Clinic. Panel members from Blue Cross Blue Shield, AbbeyMoor Medical, Fairview, IHC Health Solutions, CG3 Consulting, Health Grades, and the National Marrow Donor Program, among others. This is a camp format which means the attendees will be encouraged to contribute to the dialogue of each panel. Register for the program here. There is also a welcoming reception for attendees on Friday evening,

1. 1) Tarnished trust – too much nefarious attempts to game the system. (Don’t worry though the government is looking into the matter.
2. 2) Too much stupidity, yes my good social sympathizers I realize stupidity exists everywhere and my stupidity may be another’s genius, however when you are presenting Twitter to a company or a group and the Twitter Trend gets into less than appropriate topics for the audience, (watching out for my personal brand here, let’s just call it R-Rated an then some) it diminishes the attractiveness of the medium – I’m just saying.
3. 3) False expectations unrealized. Companies looking to cut costs rather than understand the social culture that jumped on social media in the Fall of 08 spawn a ton of negative press
4. 4) Societal issue of $$ and influence. Isn’t it ironic how social media has picked up the term influencers and is now facing an issue of ethics related to influence peddling. We need to get to a place in our culture where supporting a family, which includes making money, can be done in a perceived ethical manner online. So why are we getting hung up on disclosure? Oh, that’s right item number 1.

This blog’s headline is Four Things That Can Kill Social Media, not Social Media will Die. Social media is at a plateau. We’ll spend some time at this level of usage until companies and consumers sort out issues like trust, reliability, and whether spending time with social media is a good use of their time and business investment.

My take is in the near term those that jumped on for quick profits and low cost marketing may well drift away as the medium assimilates regular users. Those that value the communities in which they participate will out the social hucksters. The purists may need to compromise on the way corporations realign resources to adopt their own brand culture with that of their social communities. By this I mean, paid blogging is not necessarily a sell out, the economy is changing, and the blogging community should allow its own members to pursue a living out condemnation.

If Society Wants Candor, It Must Change

I would hope that society recognizes companies that own up to mistakes, without undue punishment. If society wants a different relationship with companies in a capitalistic economy, then it and the media need to alter their part in this relationship. The “gotcha” style of journalism or a quick to criticize and/or generalize public may have a different reaction to a company’s candid behavior. That’s right, this includes investor communities as well. If new candor and transparency is not reflected in the stock price, then all this happy transparency talk may be for nothing.

Companies that make an attempt to play by the social web’s culture with a more transparent face to the consumer should also be received in a different light. This new relationship then will feed on itself. Candor becomes recognized in its culture and others will follow. This is how the social web can bring about change and become as much a movement as it is a marketplace. This is the promise of social media as a movement and not a marketplace. It strips the 20th century illusion of brand “perfection” and reveals the people behind the curtain which ultimately is who we interact with in any brand relationship.

The South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX which combines music, film, and Interactive media has become a major destination for trends and social interaction. Sure, it’s a social technology conference, but it’s a music festival and an arts venue.

It’s the kind of event that represents more of what the future will be, collaboration and cross-pollination. Yes, the larger the show the more unwieldy it becomes, but the benefit of mixing the disciplines is a dynamic learning environment. I suggest it represents more of how our government, corporations, and schools are going to restructure for a society that wants less silos of information and more of web (and I don’t mean web-based) approach in the physical world as well.

There is no replacement for being in Austin, TX right now, but there are ways to feel like you are there. Following the events and chatter is simple.

There are RSS feeds from the SXSW conference

Then there is the Twitter Feed for #SXSW

Don’t think SXSW is on the bleeding edge, it’s mainstream enough that National Public Radio has live SXSW coverage of the music venue

There is plenty to see and hear from SXSW at Ustream TV and Blog Talk Radio just search SXSW to see those who are broadcasting live from the event.

If you are attending SXSW what are your turn ons or offs about the festival. Use this widget from Beyond Polls to select from the menu or add to it in your own words. Here is a link to the poll http://qcwidget.com/widgets/5410a1ee2859

I have thought for a long time that for society to gain the maximum benefits from social media many current cultures in a typical corporate structure would need to change. From legal to finance, HR to PR, the ways of the last 100 years would need to change if transparency is to be rewarded, and improvement was to be an accepted continuing process.

I also believe that social media is more a movement than a marketplace. Not just a tool for someone to exploit, but an opportunity to engage in more of our shared humanity. Today, the actions of one courageous healthcare leader solidified that belief.

Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, has been a prolific blog writer since October 2006. Levy’s blog is called Running a Hospital.

On it he has had an open discussion about his hospital, its work, and his own performance. This openness about successes and failures has received acclaim in the press, praise from many and murmurs of dubious wonder from others. I know from speaking with many in healthcare during presentations and meetings there are some who wonder how Levy can get away with being so transparent.

It’s simple, he is about improving, every day, throughout his hospital, profession and life. He is also, it seems, sincere about caring for people, both those in the care of BIDMC and those employees who are on the frontlines of healthcare delivery. This has infected the other cultures around him so that they too are committed to a cause of caring in an environment that rewards improvement.

Paul Levy, President and CEO Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

credit Globestaff/Pat Greenhouse

This however, is not a rose colored glasses story about how social media is improving medicine, while it maybe true, this story is about how social media is making better people of us. It is a story about the human desire to be a part of something larger, to be acknowledged as of value and connecting to each other.

Levy doesn’t use corporate speak; his writing is about real situations, from surgery procedures to improving the use of protective equipment, from the joys of a moonlit backyard to numerous stories of hospital employees.

It is with this foundation of candor, this unprecedented transparency that Paul Levy stood at the front of an auditorium full of employees who came to hear his decision about laying off workers during difficult economic times.

Instead of an announcement, he asked for their opinion of a potential solution that may avoid layoffs. Levy travels his hospital corridors plenty, enough to know how many people it takes to deliver quality care. To keep the level of personnel that he believes necessary to deliver quality care, he asked the following as reported by Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe.

“I’d like to do what we can to protect the lower-wage earners – the transporters, the housekeepers, the food service people. A lot of these people work really hard, and I don’t want to put an additional burden on them. “Now, if we protect these workers, it means the rest of us will have to make a bigger sacrifice,” he continued. “It means that others will have to give up more of their salary or benefits.”

The reaction according to Cullen was “Thunderous, heartfelt, sustained applause. “

The seeds of this applause were sown in the many places and people that Levy has touched. A fertile field for all to see is his blog with hundreds of posts. I believe this body of work, the hundreds of comments, and the dialogue he has participated in with patients, employees, supporters and critics are a measure of the man.

Which brings me to the cultures that need to change, for transparency to work in an organization, there needs to be a mutual respect and a commitment to improve. In reading the comments submitted to the blog from the Boston Globe story, listening is a major quality of Paul Levy. It’s not a coincidence that listening is also an important quality to have in a successful relationship and I believe social media is merely a channel for relationships.

Much of America has a very long way to go to eliminate the culture of “gotcha,” of confrontation, a culture of “keep the info, keep the power.” All these insecurities and tactics of greed will hinder the benefits of what social media can bring to an organization and our society. With each blog post, each honest answer to a criticism, each good idea raised and implemented, the organization becomes stronger.

This defining moment is an example of how powerful social media can be in the hands of people who are committed to make things better. Thank you Paul Levy and the wonderful people of BIDMC.

It is a story replayed across the country, small business struggles to stay afloat, owners don’t take salary, banks don’t give them credit, now what? Every publication is looking for angles on the same theme and so the Wall Street Journal did a piece on JW Hulme a manufacturer of fine leather goods, briefcases, duffle bags, and other luggage items. Yipes.

As a business owner, I’m reading the article in yesterday’s paper half wondering how they are going to get out of this predicament and half hoping it doesn’t happen to me, Double Yipes.

This post doesn’t have the answers to JW Hulme’s financial situation, at least not all of the answers, but my heart and my head have given this issue some time and I’d like to share what they have come up with.

1) The article is a great read, many other reporters will want to retell it, fine. Now, however, is the time, today, to put a blog on your website you basically have had 1 news release a year for the last couple of years. Not enough communication.

Now that you have exposed your story and acknowledged the initial response with a public letter to your customers that appears on your site, keep talking.

You have revealed the human side of JW Hulme through the eyes of co-owners Chuck Bidwell and Jennifer Guarino, there is plenty more we all can learn from you. Better yet, there are plenty more customers, colleagues, business peers and prospects who may want to share their thoughts with you. Let them do it by you fully participating in the social web.

2) Judging by the article, Bidwell and Guarino are of a mind to give back to the community. In a previous position, Bidwell was a proponent of Hero Cards to build local currency in volunteer programs.

Guarino was General Manager of Minnesota Parent a popular magazine with a natural community of engaging people. That magazine has been active in community service. Now it’s once again time to give back, perhaps there are ways to use some JW Hulme inventory to benefit a cause, or because the inventory is relatively high, according to the Journal article, use the manufacturing capacity to make something for an organization. I realize this is not conventional wisdom, doing work that isn’t about generating revenue at a time when revenue is essential, but we don’t live in conventional times nor has conventional wisdom done much for any institution in America right now. It’s a good time to tell conventional wisdom to “take a hike”

3) With all of the mentions in the WSJ article about how JW Hulme uses catalogs and not one mention of online efforts, I thought that might be a problem. After a quick review of JW Hulme’s web presence it has the basics, but there is plenty more to do that doesn’t involve up front payments to printers. No offense, I’m not against the printed, colorful page, but the market seems to be in transition on that one.

4) Lastly, this is an opportunity. WSJ reporter Julie Jargon, did a wonderful piece capturing the left and right brain elements of Bidwell’s and Guarino’s plight. It’s real life without the “reality-TV” spin. It represents the essence of what being social is in today’s market. Will it sell more leather and canvas luggage at a few hundred bucks a pop? I have no idea, but the opportunity I speak of is not that narrow minded (I understand some banker will call narrow mindedness focus). The opportunity I speak of is to open your story up and let the rest of the world engage. You and I have no idea what will result of that opportunity, but you already made the decision to be public on the story. I can tell you my experience from being a part of the social web as a business owner, you have already done the hard part, now you just need to create a way to create a dialogue. Good luck, if you want to have a cup of coffee I’m just up the road from you.

The conversation on Chris Brogan’s blog about personal branding, strip malls and billboards has developed in a way that I think is a bit off the mark. I don’t disagree with Brogan or the comment on the blog post by Christopher Penn that many social sites can and are used as billboards for personal brands.

I much prefer that social networks be viewed as cafes, restaurants and bars along the road. Not franchises, mind you, although you might get that feel from some of them, but unique places in which you’ll meet some unique and some of the same people. To this environment you will add your own experience, commentary and knowledge. You will pose questions that may well inspire others to enlighten the group. You get a little sustenance, bid good day and come back as often as you like. Oh sure, there are plenty who come in trying to sell flowers from table to table, but that’s a bit of a drag for everyone, isn’t it?

Now it may be that you only frequent a few of these places, but doing it in the manner I described above will give social media more value for you and others. When I hear talk about billboards and strip malls, it begins to sound a lot like Web 1.0. The fact is both of these gents, and plenty of men and women around the world, add tremendous value to the social community in exactly the manner I described. We are grateful for it, and as a result do visit their general stores (websites or blogs).

I just think the billboards and strip malls metaphor conjures up images that don’t truly address the enriching and unique experience to be gained from what we have before us. Some may seek to post up a sign and hawk some goods along the way. Me, I enjoy having a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, even a $.99 Margarita when I can find one, with the Brogans and Penns of the world. Their personal brand in social media is what they share with me all along this winding road, not just what’s at their stores.

The airline America loves to love, Southwest, is in a bit of a safety issue with the FAA and Congress. It is reported that some safety inspections were not conducted or planes not grounded. This post is to highlight Southwest’s PR handling of the situation.

As is the tradition of Southwest, they are upfront. Right on the home page of their website is a link to their statement on the story. Excellent. Some would counsel to put it in the news section, let the issue go through a 24-hour cycle and be done.

Compliments to Southwest and their entire team for their candor on the matter. In what appears to be an issue more about paperwork, bureaucracy and miscommunication instead of dangerous conditions. The language being used by media and Congress is predictably emotional: “unsafe,” “threatening safety,” and from Congressman James Oberstar, “one of the worst safety violations.”

The investigation also involves the Whistle Blower Program, which in itself creates an “us versus them” situation and not at a “Let’s see what happened here” investigation.

In addition to the Southwest statement being in position A on the website, the CEO, Gary Kelly, was on CNN this morning and made the expected rounds of media coverage. While this issue must go through its cycle, the initial round, which included Southwest airlines voluntarily disclosing missed inspections last spring, shows Southwest performing in accordance with its image of being upfront with its passengers.

P.S.: And as you’d expect, it’s on the Southwest Airlines Blog as well. Keep us posted, Southwest, and while it’s good to know your passengers are still using you to get away, your PR team is staying put to work professionally through an interesting situation.

My side comment: Blog leader Paula Berg is a class act in any situation. Great work, Paula.

Time 18:33

There is a new medium to report about in this podcast, I’ll call the integrated channel. As the consumers of information fragment their consumption across a variety of media, so too has sophisticated media properties built new outlets for focused topics.

In this podcast we feature a website that illustrates an Integrated Channel, it is www.UnderstandingCancer.tv It is a production of Supportive Oncology Services and Multiplicity Media . What makes this different is it has a clear single focus (in this case cancer), it incorporates expert advice about a complex topic, it has multimedia formats of text, audio, and video, it includes a television channel for greater mainstream distribution (ION television network), and aspects of social media.

Understanding Cancer, the television show will debut on March 9th at 5:30 pm Eastern on the ION television network The website provides a holistic approach for the patient and their families who are facing cancer treatment. That spectrum of coverage also leads to more opportunities for marketers to embrace, not advertise to, but embrace those turning to this website for information and comfort.

In this podcast you’ll hear Liz Conway of Supportive Oncology Services the research entity which reviews the medical information on Understanding Cancer TV and Terry Merrill Wilcox, the producer whose outstanding video packages deliver the information and emotion about a subject many will agree is difficult to discuss.

You can see more about Understanding Cancer TV on MySpace

And Facebook I Support Understanding Cancer TV

More Healthcare and Social Media

Social media is coming to healthcare. Many hospitals and other healthcare providers have ducked the notion of social media, blogs or otherwise, while the rest of the healthcare system is pushing for consumer choice. This has lead to websites like www.healthcarescoop.com and www.carol.com which look more like people commenting on a hotel stay or buying a big screen TV.

A site like Understanding Cancer TV is a way to participate in social media in a non-invasive way. There is no doubt a number of events are making healthcare a more social purchase and experience. The issue for many providers will be how they handle their social presence on the web.

Social Media Conference Deep Dive

NewComm Forum – Society for New Communications Research conference, www.newcommforum.com/2008/ This is an excellent conference to get to the details of how social media and new communications will impact your profession and company or organization. Set in Sonoma County, CA April 22-25 at the The Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa, there will be lively panel exchanges, provocative presentations, and most importantly plenty of 1-on-1 opportunities to bring home concrete information upon which to make decisions on how to interpret social media.

Podcast Timeline

0:00 – 2:00 – Book giveaway with Paul Gillin The New Influencers and preview of Society for New Communications Research conference.

2:00 – 3:00 New book giveaway contest for March The Age of Engage by Denise Shiffman

3:00 – 6:00 Set up about Integrated Channel concept and a frame of reference for this podcast, while it covers Understanding Cancer, the concepts of the Integrated Channel can apply to many other topics beyond healthcare.

6:00 – 17:00 Interviews with Liz Conway and Terry Merrill Wilcox

If you are interested in attending and would like to save $100 send me an email at marketingedge@providentpartners.net for a listeners’ code.

The social media idea path is like watching cells grow and multiply. Here is the exciting path of this idea related to Dunkin’ Donuts and the Super Bowl. Sunday, January 20, I’m on Twitter the night of the Green Bay/New York Giants NFC Championship game. People tweeted about the final moments of the game and upon its conclusion, I started tweeting with my Boston friends who like Dunkin’ Donuts, how that popular east coast franchise can capitalize on the Super Bowl with two teams competing from their two largest markets, Boston and New York City. Those friends included Doug Haslam, Chip Griffin, Geoff Livingston (DC guy but also responded to tweet string), Scott Monty, Sarah Wurrey, and Mike Volpe.

A quick review of the Dunkin’ Donuts website reveals that Dunkin’ has extensive experience working with NFL promotions and even has run contests with both the New York Giants and New England Patriots. Excellent. Dunkin’ Donuts slogan is America Runs on Dunkin’ – Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?

On Monday, January 21, I thought of an idea and blogged about it on our marketing blog about a Super Bowl contest that ties into the slogan, Dunkin’ Donuts Has a Super Opportunity , the team with the most rushing yards would earn for that market a free something, maybe a Dunkin loyalty card with a free cup of coffee loaded on it or a free coffee during the two hours after the game (you get the picture). I also sent in a link to the idea on the Dunkin’ Donuts website, through customer relations.

on Wednesday, January 23, I received the resonse below. I’ve given the response grades, and invite yours as well. A couple of more data points here. 1) I did not submit to a PR or media inquiry because I did not find an email for one on the site at the time and 2) Dunkin’ Donuts is currently running (pardon the pun) a user generated campaign on You Tube called How Do You Keep America Running.

Here is Dunkin’s reply to our Rushing Yardage contest idea:

Dear Albert,

Ref # 4488839
Here are my grades for their response:

1) Timeliness they at least replied within a couple of days. – A Excellent,

2) Sincerity, it looks like a boilerplate response – C to me some of the copy is a bit condescending , however, I can understand this given that someone might claim rights to an idea, which leads to my next grading topic,

3) Legal cover, nice job lawyers – A

4) Brand loyalty impact, has the response improved your feeling of the brand – B While the response did not uniquely notice the submission, it did attempt to respond in a timely and polite manner and for that Dunkin’ Donuts deserves some credit.

Overall It’s a B, time for another coffee.

Time 31:36

Creative marketing takes time to, well, create, and time to execute. So when I saw a case study about Hubspot’s inbound marketing system on Marketing Sherpa I was intrigued by their approach. Instead of a typical “we are greater than sliced bread” marketing, the Hubspot internet marketingcreated a unique website that invited businesses to use a small part of the Hubspot system. That part of the system is called website grader and businesses by the thousands visited www.websitegrader.com to enter their website. The website is then graded on a series of attributes that search engines look for in ranking sites on a scale of 100. We start this conversation at about the 4:00 mark in this podcast.

Provident Partners, thank God, first pulled an 85, however, still room for improvement. That’s why we have on this podcast Mike Volpe, Vice President of Marketing for Hubspot. We get into the 5 key areas essential to getting a passing grade and increasing the odds you’ll achieve your search ranking goals. And yes, we use the www.providentpartners.net site as the “patient” in this visit to the search engine doctor. Volpe starts this commentary at about the 19:00 mark in the podcast.

5 Key Areas to Improve your website’s rankings are

1) Title on all pages can change
2) Keywords and descriptions meta tags of page content for each page
3) Put blog on a company URL and integrate into your website
4) Domain renewal – sign up for as many years as you can afford
5) Permanent redirect for yourcompanydoman.com and the other for www.yourcompanydomain.com

This Example Can Apply to Other Businesses

Volpe is an excellent marketer who realized Hubspot needed a way to break out in a crowded field of marketing platforms. I believe the tactics used in this campaign can be replicated by other marketers for a variety of product launches, professions and industries. The keys are as follows:

1) Create a web presence that allows prospects to experience part of your product or service.
2) Product needs to have remarkable elements
3) Take the time to understand the interests of the bloggers that write about your space
4) Include was to invite comparison between the status quo and life with your product or service

Some readers might say, well this works for a web-based software product, but how can it apply to other areas. Ok, let me take that one on.

A business consultancy can create an assessment tool in their area of expertise. Technomic Asia a consultant group has an China Readiness assessment tool to measure a company’s ability to compete in the China market.

A winery can have a dinner selection with multiple choice of wines to select, your choice will be compared against what a famous Sommelier recommend with that same meal.

A furniture store, design, or organization consultant can allow users to help themselves using your website. For example Ikea has done a great job with their space planner portion of their website. They depict your space and you manipulate their furniture in it. This is slick and it worked for me two years ago when we redesigned the Provident Partners office space.

If you have other tips on getting good search rankings, we invite you to share them here with other readers.

January 2008 Book Drawing Giveaway

This month we are holding a drawing to win the book The New Influencers by Paul Gillin. Here’s my review of the book posted on Media Bulleye . To be in the drawing, email me at marketingedge@providentpartners.net Good luck. For every entry, comment, and completed survey Provident Partners will donate a food item to a St. Paul, MN food shelter.