| I see marketing wisdom (and mistakes) in all sorts | | | | handling the public relations. None of them really |
| of places, but I never thought I'd spot a valuable | | | | know what the direct marketing folks are up to, |
| lesson when a relative faced a medical | | | | and the trade show team might as well be in |
| emergency. | | | | another country. The website? Oh, does that fall |
| Hospitals are amazing places, and doctors and | | | | under marketing? |
| surgeons are astonishingly intelligent people. But | | | | Even within well-run departments, it often |
| the care my family member received was | | | | happens on a smaller scale with individual projects. |
| something less than spectacular for a very simple | | | | On more occasions than I'd like to remember, I've |
| reason: all those doctors, surgeons, and the rest | | | | received an assignment to create copy for |
| of the staff acted completely independently. | | | | something - let's say a brochure - and learned |
| Despite working together under one roof, and | | | | only after turning in a first draft that a graphic |
| despite the fact that they all knew each other | | | | designer had been simultaneously working on the |
| well (evidenced by remarks like "oh, he's a great | | | | layout. Unless the designer and I managed some |
| cardiologist"), the overall quality of care was lousy | | | | sort of cosmic connection, odds are good that |
| and very confused. The case was complicated | | | | the structure and length of my copy won't quite |
| enough that four separate specialists were | | | | dovetail with her design. We'll work out the |
| involved at once, but none of them seemed to | | | | differences, but imagine how much time (and |
| pay attention to what the others were doing. | | | | money) could have been saved with a simple |
| One would issue specific instructions, and the next | | | | upfront conversation or two. |
| would show up an hour later with instructions that | | | | Granted, this all-too-common malady probably isn't |
| countermanded the first's. Another would | | | | fatal, but it sure doesn't do much for the health |
| prescribe a treatment that caused a side effect | | | | of the company or its marketing efforts. Like |
| for which the fourth would prescribe something | | | | many problems, it's usually the result of rushing to |
| else. And if they were unable to communicate | | | | save time, and usually ends up costing far more |
| with each other, you can imagine how little was | | | | of that precious commodity. |
| shared with a mere mortal like me. | | | | The prescription isn't a tough one, either. All it |
| So what does all this have to with marketing? I | | | | takes is a little more communication and |
| found the entire experience to be the ideal | | | | coordination between departments, vendors, and |
| metaphor for the way far too many companies | | | | team members. |
| handle marketing communications. No matter how | | | | Had the doctors done that, my family member |
| their operations are structured, they tend to view | | | | would probably have spent a lot less time in the |
| all of the activities as distinct. The people in charge | | | | hospital. And if you do the same, you just might |
| of advertising don't really work with the people | | | | keep your own operation out of the ER. |