By Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President/Healthcare Account Director

The transition from childhood to adolescence is a big turning point — socially, mentally, physically and emotionally.

Just ask any parent with children between the ages of 8 and 14. This generation is media-wise, sophisticated, technically-savvy, and they’re influential trendsetters who are growing up much quicker than previous generations. I see this every day in my two daughters, ages 12 and 14.

If you’re a parent of a tween, teen or have any in your family, you probably won’t be too surprised by these statistics from eMarketer’s report, Kids and Teens: Communications Revolutionaries:

• While 36% of teens send a text message every day, just 16% send e-mail every day (Pew Internet & American Life Project).
• Between 2006 and 2007, usage of social networks among 10-to-12-year-old Internet users more than doubled, to 22% (Harris Poll).
• 16 million teens—nearly two-thirds of the population—own a mobile phone (MultiMedia Intelligence).
• 46% of tweens have a mobile phone, up from 35% in 2007 (Nielsen Co.).

Over one-quarter of teen mobile phone owners (28%) access the Internet via their phone (Harris Interactive/CTIA-The Wireless Association), compared with 17% of all mobile subscribers (Nielsen Mobile).

Under the Kidfluence

Their world is a different world from mine at this age. For those of us in the 30 to 40-something range, technology used to mean cassette tapes, Atari, push-button phones and electric typewriters (gosh, I feel old). In the ’70s and ‘80s, marketers didn’t see nearly the influence from kids as they do today – the phenomenon known as “kidfluence.” 

Read the rest of this entry »

By Alaina Sheer,

Last week we asked you what art director Bill Fioretto brought into work that had crowds gathering around his desk throughout the day.

The answer: Jelly Belly’s Bean Boozled

There are 20 beans in each box. 10 colors and 20 different flavors. 10 of the flavors are awful tasting like skunk spray or ear wax while the other 10 look exactly alike but taste delicious. The visitors to Bill’s desk were reaching down and taking a risk, a huge risk, in choosing from the pairs of identical beans.

The only thing we regret is not taking more pictures.

When we went to buy more of the Jelly Belly Bean Boozled game the store had sold out. Our hats off to Jelly Belly for giving a traditional product an element of interactivity by creating a game. When you engage your consumers at the ground level they’ll be bound to share the fun with others using their own personal communication tools. Take these YouTube videos as an example, there are over 40 of people trying Jelly Belly’s Bean Boozled game. This one is my favorite and it’s had over 6,000 views alone.

In the future we will likely see more and more brands wondering how their product will translate online and socially before it is even created.

By Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President/Healthcare Account Director

Tweeting live surgeries is catching on as more health care systems embrace social media.

A couple months ago at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, surgeons used robotic surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from a man’s kidney and a benign tumor from another patient’s brain. Earlier this month, a woman had a robotic hysterectomy at Sherman Hospital in Illinois, and last week, surgeons at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Wisconsin perfomed a double knee replacement.

These surgeries are very different, but all of them were simultaneously broadcast via Twitter. While operating surgeons use Twitter to give short, real-time updates about the procedure.

A Peek into the Operating Room

I am not a nurse, doctor or other trained medical professional, but I have some medical knowledge and have watched surgeries performed firsthand. I’ve also become an avid Twitter user, so I decided to follow along when I heard about Aurora Health’s decision to broadcast the procedure.

I opened up TweetDeck and followed along, reading their tweets of the procedures.

I was fascinated at the speed, precision and honesty of the surgeons doing the double knee replacement. Pictures of the actual procedure were also tweeted. No, I wasn’t grossed out (I seriously love watching this kind of stuff), but those faint of heart followers can choose to not open and view the photos that are tweeted, another advantage of Twitter.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Alaina Sheer,

There’s nothing to spark creativity like a bit of mystery.

Last week Bill Fioritto, one of our senior designers, brought something into the office that left him with crowds of visitors all day.

Can you guess what’s on Bill’s desk?

We’ll tell you next week. Until then check out some of our work (what we do between breaks like these).

[Pictured from left to right: Jared Langston, Senior Designer; Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President, Mike Sanford, Associate Creative Director; Ann Oliver, Account Director; Nathan Shipp,  Graphic Designer]

By Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President/Healthcare Account Director

Community benefit reports offer an incredible opportunity to healthcare brands.

AIG =Arrogance, Incompetence, Greed.

That’s just one of many negative shots being lobbed at companies in the heart of America’s economic crisis. Big businesses wrought with financial problems are being blasted by the public and media alike. The public’s frustration with these companies can very likely result in spillover to the healthcare arena.

With the rollout of the newly revised IRS Form 990H, non-profit hospitals and health systems will soon be required to outline everything they do that benefits public health and the underserved.  It’s only a matter of time until the public and the media want see your community benefit report and want to know what you’re doing to maintain your tax-exempt status.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer posted a package online outlining charity care and other community benefit spending among area non-profit hospitals. The Illinois Supreme Court is questioning how much charity care a hospital should provide to maintain its tax-exempt status. It’s not surprising that reporters are starting to smell a story in the new community benefit reporting rules under IRS form 990, Schedule H. They’ll also want to know what you’re paying your key executives.

Show Investments You’re Making In The Community

Hospital parking garages are full of Mercedes and BMWs, and hospital expansion and new construction has been prevalent across the country. So, people see that money is being made, but do they really know how it is being spent? That’s where telling the brand story comes into play.

As healthcare communicators, we’re in a unique position to help our clients tell their stories - narratives that uncover the many things that the hospital is doing to improve the lives of people within the community. Outreach programs, health fairs, uncompensated care - these are all valuable and meaningful activities. But, the best stories are told with authenticity and emotion - they help people connect with your brand and really understand and appreciate the contribution you make to the overall health of the community.

By Alaina Sheer,

The Art of Conversation 

If you are a brand entering the social media landscape, on any front - whether it be Twitter, Facebook or the Blogosphere - you always run the risk of being tagged as a spammer.  

This is why it’s absolutely necessary to come to the  table with valuable content. See Part II of this series for more on the content, or “party favors”.  But as equally important as quality content is your image and how you choose to communicate your message with your target audience.  

Consider these questions. Do you look cool (in the eyes of your target demo)? Are you speaking their language? When they ask you questions will you be prepared with answers? And do you have a presence where they’re already hanging out?

Here’s how to perfect your conversation skills in the social media space:

1. Invest in your image.

When you walk into a party filled with strangers first impressions mean everything. What you’re wearing will tell them one thousand things and more about your personality and who you are. In the social media space your clothes or outfit consists of your Facebook fan page or group’s feature photo, your Twitter back drop and avatar, and finally your blog’s design. All of these should have an authentic, transparent design. This typically means your logo should take the back seat.

I am far less likely to respond to a Tweet on Twitter from a from a brand with a logo as an avatar than I am to a logo-free avatar. And on Facebook, I am less likely to friend or become a fan to a logo. You may need to design a unique logo used only in the online space. Your logo, created twenty years ago for print, may not translate well online in the social media space. But investing in every detail to ensure that your brand blends with the scenery is a crucial step and should not be overlooked or underinvested in.

2. Drop the fancy talk. 

If your want to make genuine connections with new and potential friends at a party you have to speak their language. Imagine that your brand ambassador, the person you’ve chosen to communicate on your brand’s behalf,  is standing in a room filled with party guests.

As someone approaches him to make conversation he has the same response for every question or a similar response. Maybe he sounds too bubbly, too fake or just “not real”. Immediately word spreads around the party that, “that dude is boring and he’s just trying to sell you something.” He’ll be lucky if anyone comes up to talk to him again or may even get de-friended, or kicked out. 

If he’s cool, calm, responsive and has something significant to contribute to the conversation than fellow party guests will not only continue talking with him but also recommend their friends and family talk with him as well. 

3. Listen and respond.

If you aren’t listening and responding to what your target audience members are saying online than you’re missing the point entirely. This may seem like a given but surprisingly this is where many brands drop the ball.

Read the rest of this entry »