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Essentials of Health Care Marketing, Fifth EditionEric N. Berkowitz
Buckstown Community Hospital has recently hired a new marketing director. Rollin Dunston was new to the industry but for several years had worked in the consumer products industry with relatively small companies in Chicago and on the west coast. After a decade of living in larger cities, Rollin decided he wanted to try a new service industry and relocate to a smaller less urban location. Buckstown Commu-nity Hospital is in a mid-sized community of approximately 100,000 people in Pennsylvania, approximately 90 minutes from Philadelphia depending on the traffic. Its housing costs are moderate, and in recent years, it has increasingly seen a growing number of people moving into the outer fringes and commute into the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area for their work. The community had historically been skewed somewhat older demographically, except for the recent trend of younger people moving in because of the more affordable housing and willingness to incur the longer commute times for work.
Upon joining the hospital, the CEO, Kay Janson, and Rollin had met and were deciding on the priorities for the hospital’s marketing efforts. Buckstown Community Hospital is a 240-bed facility. While Philadelphia had significant academic institutions that performed highly specialized procedures and in recent years the Penn Health System had increasingly moved outwards with satellites and acquisi-tions, they had not yet penetrated into Buckstown. Doctors on the staff at Buckstown had often referred into Penn and other academic institutions when it was necessary or even to Robert Wood Johnson in New Jersey if a patient requested.
After a couple of meetings, the CEO and Rollin decided a key objective would be to have the community understand that Buckstown was a place that they could stay for a lot of their care, not just medical but also for their surgical care. The hospital had a strong surgical team of cardiac, gynecological, orthopedic, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and had recently hired a neurosurgeon.
After a couple of weeks, Rollin and the CEO met again. Rollin proposed an advertising campaign to focus on the surgical aspect of the hospital. He suggested to the CEO, given the older demographics of the community, using such approaches as a search engine strategy made little sense now but may in a year or so. The CEO, who himself was older, agreed. “I like the plan,” the CEO said. “I cannot wait to see the ads. But we don’t have a large budget for this, Rollin.”
Rollin nodded and said, “I know, but I can do this pretty efficiently. I have met some of the younger doctors and nurses at some happy hours on Friday, and they will help me. If it’s okay with you, we will use an operating room on a weekend, and I have a friend who has a media company that can film the commercial. Fortunately, we can do some local media buys here and not have to purchase television time out of Philadelphia.”
Liking what she heard, the CEO said, “Run with it.” Two weeks later, their first television spot appeared on the local evening news in Buckstown. That evening, the CEO got three calls
from her board members. “What kind of a clown show are you running at the hospital?” Mike Sloan said when the CEO picked up the receiver. Mike was the owner of a very large construction company in the city and a strong hospital supporter. A 10-year board member, Mike was always someone who went right to the point at a meeting.
“What do you mean?” Kay asked. Mike continued, saying, “Did you watch the news and see your own hospital’s ridiculous ad? Do you think people will laugh at doctors
and nurses dancing in an OR with scalpels in their hands? Who wants to go to a place like that? What is that supposed to mean?” The next two board members’ calls were no better. In each instance, Kay’s response was the same. “I will get back to you on this one.
It will not run again.” First, Kay called the television station to stop the hospital’s ads immediately. Then, she called Rollin and asked him to meet her in her office immediately. “Rollin, I need an explanation, and I want you to bring me a copy of the ads, please.”
Rollin grabbed his computer and drove over to the hospital. After he walked into the CEO’s office, he replayed the process of devel-oping the ad and his logic. He showed the CEO the ad.
She sat stoic as she viewed the doctors and nurses in the operating room with some music that she didn’t know playing in the back-ground. “What’s the song in the background?” is all she said.
“Oh,” said Rollin, “that’s Ciara’s ‘Like a Surgeon.’ Great song.” “And,” said Kay, “how did you ever think this was right for the people in Buckstown? Rollin, this is not going to work out for you here.
Since you are over at the hospital already, why don’t you clean out your office. I am sorry it was not a good match.” As Rollin was getting into his car, he tried to deconstruct where it went wrong.
Dancing in the Operating RoomCASE STUDY
