"Not only does 'Joe Public' provide guidance to healthcare marketers to lead our organizations with smarter marketing, it was also like sitting in a therapy session! Every 'bad habit' I read about reminded me I'm not alone in the battle to shake off the outdated and ineffective methods of healthcare marketing from the past. I'm inspired! I definitely plan to share this book with my marketing communications team (so they can have the same therapy!) and our executive leaders. Chris' marketing wisdom will provide credible support for our marketing ideas that may seem 'out there' to our leaders. Just as our leaders are challenged with the new realities in healthcare, I want them to be educated on the new realities in marketing, and this book will help me do just that." --Heidi W. Grunkemeyer, Operations Director, Marketing & Communications, Alegent Health
"From the title all the way to the last page, Chris tells it like it is, calling out the state of the health care marketing today and suggesting bold, but common sense, approaches that offer clear direction in today's rapidly changing environment. There is an urgency to his message during these times of transition in the health care industry, when yesterday's more comfortable marketing tactics won't work in the new world of ACOs, health care reform and empowered consumers. This is a book for marketing professionals, folks in the C-suite, physician leaders, and anybody else who is ready to be courageous and look at alternatives to how hospitals and health care services are marketed today. Chris helps us see clearly what isn't working (because Joe Public really doesn't care about your hospital) and then suggests ways to challenge current thinking and even take some risks to create messages and develop marketing plans that will lead to real, measurable results. He proposes ways to build support and create an offensive line that can defend innovative marketing plans and tactics against inertia, internal political pressure and institutional roadblocks. Whack-a-mole marketing, right-side-of-the-menu marketing, zombie brands ... we've all been there because we didn't recognize the alternatives. This is the first time I've ever laughed out loud reading a book about hospital marketing. Selections from his WeeklyProbe blog start each chapter with 'Onion-like' stories that would be even funnier if they weren't so true." --Tom Hayes, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc.
"Chris Bevolo has done it again. His newest book is timely, entertaining, instructive and on-target. After 30+ years as a healthcare professional with expertise in the marketing and communications areas, I wish this book didn't have to be written. Unfortunately, it is needed by healthcare organizations across the country that need to sharpen, retune and refocus their marketing efforts for a new era. The chapters on branding and measurement are particularly insightful. Healthcare marketers ready to take the challenge will be energized by the focus on planning, being proactive, taking calculated risks, and measuring ROI. If you're ready to be a marketing leader in the Value-Based Purchasing era, to be an active and strategic partner at the senior table, and to succeed while those around you are floundering, Chris' latest book will serve as a roadmap to accelerate your journey along the pathway to success." --Lynne Cunningham, Coach, Studer Group
"From the title all the way to the last page, Chris tells it like it is, calling out the state of the health care marketing today and suggesting bold, but common sense, approaches that offer clear direction in today's rapidly changing environment. There is an urgency to his message during these times of transition in the health care industry, when yesterday's marketing tactics won't work. --Lynne Cunningham, Coach, Studer Group
"From the title all the way to the last page, Chris tells it like it is, calling out the state of the health care marketing today and suggesting bold, but common sense, approaches that offer clear direction in today's rapidly changing environment. There is an urgency to his message during these times of transition in the health care industry, when yesterday's more comfortable marketing tactics won't work in the new world of ACOs, health care reform and empowered consumers. This is a book for marketing professionals, folks in the C-suite, physician leaders, and anybody else who is ready to be courageous and look at alternatives to how hospitals and health care services are marketed today. Chris helps us see clearly what isn't working (because Joe Public really doesn't care about your hospital) and then suggests ways to challenge current thinking and even take some risks to create messages and develop marketing plans that will lead to real, measurable results. He proposes ways to build support and create an offensive line that can defend innovative marketing plans and tactics against inertia, internal political pressure and institutional roadblocks. Whack-a-mole marketing, right-side-of-the-menu marketing, zombie brands ... we've all been there because we didn't recognize the alternatives. This is the first time I've ever laughed out loud reading a book about hospital marketing. Selections from his WeeklyProbe blog start each chapter with 'Onion-like' stories that would be even funnier if they weren't so true." --Tom Hayes, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc.
"Chris Bevolo has done it again. His newest book is timely, entertaining, instructive and on-target. After 30+ years as a healthcare professional with expertise in the marketing and communications areas, I wish this book didn't have to be written. Unfortunately, it is needed by healthcare organizations across the country that need to sharpen, retune and refocus their marketing efforts for a new era. The chapters on branding and measurement are particularly insightful. Healthcare marketers ready to take the challenge will be energized by the focus on planning, being proactive, taking calculated risks, and measuring ROI. If you're ready to be a marketing leader in the Value-Based Purchasing era, to be an active and strategic partner at the senior table, and to succeed while those around you are floundering, Chris' latest book will serve as a roadmap to accelerate your journey along the pathway to success." --Lynne Cunningham, Coach, Studer Group
Chris Bevolo is a healthcare marketing change agent. His mission: Inspire, persuade and support hospital and health system leaders to evolve their approach to healthcare marketing. A nationally recognized futurist, author and speaker on healthcare marketing, strategy and branding, Chris helps organizations to better understand key trends in healthcare competition, branding and consumerism. He then helps marketing leaders create strategies that will effectively leverage those trends. He is best known, however, for helping healthcare organizations re-envision what their marketing could be, re-energizing management and inspiring staff to think bigger and act differently. As an educator and bridge builder, Chris not only helps healthcare marketing executives build and strengthen communications with top leadership and key influencers, he also assists with practical advice and support on special healthcare marketing challenges. Chris is a frequent keynote speaker and featured presenter at national healthcare conferences on the topics of marketing, branding, innovation, the patient experience, and consumer trends. He is the author of two other books, "A Marketer's Guide to Measuring Results" (2010) and "A Marketer's Guide to Brand Strategy" (HealthLeaders Media, 2008), as well as numerous articles and papers on healthcare marketing and branding. Chris earned an M.B.A. at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis and holds a B.S. in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University. As president and founder of the Minneapolis-based healthcare marketing agency Interval (est. 1995 as GeigerBevolo), Chris and his team have put the concepts outlined in this book into practice many times. They've developed successful marketing campaigns, brand strategies, patient experience innovation and more for healthcare organizations such as Inova Health System, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Allegiance Health, St. Joseph's Hospital, Woodwinds Health Campus, North Memorial Health Care, Hudson Hospital, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Brookings Health System, LifeSource, and the Minnesota Hospital Association.