Effective or spectacular medical marketing, or how to acquire patients

The private medical services market in Poland is one of the most dynamically developing segments of the economy. According to a report by the research company PMR, in 2011 the value of the private healthcare market reached PLN 30.8 billion (an increase of approx. 7% compared to the previous year).

Private medical services are provided by a large number of smaller entities. With such great competition, in order to stand out and gain a Patient, it is necessary to use methods proven in other commercial industries. This article briefly presents the role of branding, or “standing out” from competitors, in medical marketing.

Branding means giving a business entity, product or service a mark and specific symbolism that reflects the values ​​selected for the brand. This allows it to be distinguished from competing brands and allows the recipient to identify (distinguish) individual offers. The arrangement of these values ​​is the brand identity, which determines its uniqueness. The visualization of brand signals should evoke the desired associations in the recipient – the projection of the brand identity then leads to the creation of a brand image in the recipient’s mind that is consistent with the assumptions of its creators.

The basic brand signals include: name, characteristic brand colors, logotype, typography (fonts used in communication) and claim, i.e. the main slogan of the brand.

In the medical industry, you can see different approaches to choosing a name. They can be divided into three main trends:

• A name that leads to the subject of the action – two subgroups can be distinguished:
  • Polish-language (e.g. Klinika Promienista, Klinika Grunwaldzka, Centrum Medyczne Damiana),
  • foreign-language (e.g. Medical Prestige, MediCenter, Medicover).
• Abstract name – here too there are two subtypes:

with a descriptive form explaining the subject of the activity (e.g. Enel-med Medical Center, Cordis Medical Center, Candeo Stomatologia),

• • without a descriptive form (e.g. Vertebralia, Certus, Voxel).
• And a name using the name of a well-known person, an authority in the industry (e.g. Kolasiński Clinic, Estederm Ambroziak Clinic, Gromadziński Medical Team).

Note: when choosing a name, it is particularly important to examine the availability of domains – a occupied .pl and com.pl domain disqualifies the name. The name should be unique – if there is already an entity with the same or very similar name, the activities carried out may introduce communication chaos and not bring the expected results.

When choosing colors, it is worth paying attention to the effect that individual colors have on the recipient. Each color carries a different emotional charge:

• Yellow is the color of hope, it is associated with the sun, light and warmth, it gives positive energy,
• Red is the color of blood and life, it has a stimulating effect on the body, it means strength, leadership, in excess it can increase aggression,
• Pink is more delicate than red, it is associated with gentleness, naivety, selfless love,
• Purple is a strong color, it is associated with prestige and power,
• Blue is a calming and stress-relieving color, it inspires trust, helps in establishing new contacts, in the shade of navy blue it is more elegant, it means discipline,
• Green is a relaxing, calming color, associated with nature and growth, restores energy balance,
• Brown is a color that gives a sense of security, symbolizes friendship, family warmth and perseverance,
• White is the color of perfection, spirituality, purity and innocence, it is also the color of peace and striving for a goal,
• Black is a symbol of mystery, inaccessibility, knowledge and death, it is a serious and sophisticated color.

It is very important for a brand to have a distinctive style of designing visual materials expressed in a unique way of using photographs, illustrations, text layout and other elements of graphic design. This is the Key Visual of the brand, which can evolve while maintaining the basic principles of communication. It should always contain a clear message that is understandable to the average recipient of the message, and at the same time distinguishes the brand from the competition.

From the point of view of entities from the medical industry, the key areas that branding should cover are:

• Signage and appearance of the facility – it is important for the patient to feel good inside, access and movement around the facility should be easy. 
• Website – is currently the most important source of information – it is important for it to be visually attractive, easy (intuitive) to use and to contain as many time-saving functionalities as possible for the user. 
• Direct contact with a current or potential client – ​​all employees of a medical facility are its calling card, the level of service and approach to the patient strongly influences the image that remains in their mind and determines the opinion they will pass on. A poorly treated patient may not use the services they were dissatisfied with again and may also discourage others from doing so..

The advantages of a good brand identification system in the medical services industry are appreciated all over the world. Activities aimed at consolidating or refreshing the image of medical facilities can be observed, among others, in the USA, where in the last few years many hospitals decided to carry out rebranding works. It is worth paying attention to the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where comprehensive activities were carried out to introduce a new quality among children’s hospitals. Not only the hospital logo was changed – all the works were aimed at “showing the hospital as every parent would like to see it for their child”. New standards of work with the Patient were introduced, the signage and appearance of the facility were changed in such a way that it is friendly to children and their parents. The process turned out to be a success – the facility was included in the prestigious Ranking of the Best Children’s Hospitals in the USA prepared by U.S. News & Word.

In Poland, according to Article 18b of the Act on Health Care Facilities, “a health care facility may provide public information on the scope and types of health care services provided. The content and form of this information may not have the characteristics of an advertisement”. However, these provisions leave room for the promotion of services, e.g. in the field of a healthy lifestyle. There is a noticeable trend towards increasing liberalization of the private and public Health Service sector – introducing the principles of true competition in this sector and, consequently, the possibility of promoting one’s services.

The medical services market is becoming increasingly saturated. This forces entities operating on it to conduct more decisive promotional activities, in an increasingly aggressive fight for the Patient. There is something to fight for – the value of the medical services market (especially private) is constantly growing. It is worth knowing how to optimize activities and how to maximize their effectiveness – how to achieve the effect of synergy of all activities, which allows for a significant increase in profits with a relatively small outlay of funds.