Save the date! The 3rd M2W®-HC™ will take place April 26, 2012 in Chicago.
Visit the conference website for updates on speakers, sponsors and the event schedule.
Speaker and sponsorship opportunities are still available. Call Liz Fongemie at 860-724-2649 x11 for more information.
These are some of the health marketing stories in the news this week:
‘Next They’ll Tell Us Junk Food Is Good For Us’ Syndrome: It’s not going to happen overnight but putting "No Fat" on your label could become more of a liability than a plus once new scientific thinking hits the mainstream (MediaPost).
Checkup: Bounty and Special K Build their Health Credentials: Special K and Bounty both recently launched new marketing messages that focus on health. The iconic cereal asks women to recognize the empowering inner benefits of reaching their weight management goals, and "the quicker-picker-upper" paper towel now takes an emotional approach, tied to an issue that resonates with every parent: cleaner schools (Promo Magazine).
Packing Up Old Digital Habits: One agency takes an amusing look back at how things have changed in digital marketing in the health space in the past ten years (MediaPost’s Marketing: Health).
Price of Drug to Prevent Preterm Labor Skyrockets: Last month the FDA approved Makena, a drug to help prevent preterm labor in pregnant women at high risk for it. The drug has been available from compounding pharmacies for years, at a cost of about $10 or $20 per injection, but now that a single company has won market exclusivity for seven years, the compounding pharmacies have to stop making the drug, and the cost for the FDA-approved product will now be as much as $1,500 per dose (WSJ Health Blog).
Above: Susan Kiernan, VP of Development, Nathan Littauer Hospital looks on as Cheryl McGrattan, Director of Public Relations for Nathan Littauer Hospital receives the M2W®-HC™ Full Circle Award from Nan McCann, President of PME Enterprises and Co-Founder of M2W®-HC™
The 2010 ‘Full Circle Award’ was given to Nathan Littauer Hospital’s Director of Public Relations, Cheryl G. McGrattan, during the annual M2W®-HC™- Marketing Pharma & HealthCare to Women Conference, November 16 & 17 at The Chicago Cultural Center. The award is annually presented to the participant who best incorporates what they learned into a successful marketing campaign. Cheryl McGrattan joins past winners from Harley-Davidson, Motorola and Ghirardelli Chocolate. Nathan Littauer Hospital is a community hospital located in Gloversville, NY. After attending the conference in 2009, Cheryl was asked to join the Conference’s Leadership Committee. She also was a speaker at the conference.
“M2W®-HC™ is designed to help brands improve their sales and marketing to women who make 90% of all healthcare decisions in this country,” according to Nan McCann, M2W®-HC™ producer. “Cheryl McGrattan and Nathan Littauer won for using what was learned at M2W®-HC™ 2009 to grow the hospital’s brand. Integrating new social media capabilities into their traditional media plan was smart, cost-effective, and successful.”
“Simply put, I was inspired.” McGrattan explained, adding, “I left last year’s conference with two missions. First, I wanted to create relevant, empathetic and respectful communications to the women in our region. Second, I wanted to create an integrated social media platform for our hospital. Luckily the conference prepared me to reach both goals.” She explained, “After attending the preconference workshop, I launched a social media platform for the hospital which included, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels. We quickly gained traction and earned the title of ‘the most connected hospital in our region’”. In the spring the hospital launched a microsite – unlike any in the state- called www.radiologyrevolution.com. And the hospital created a new position: a Social Networking Technician, who oversees this important initiative for the hospital.
“Our social media efforts have definitely had a positive effect.” Cheryl McGrattan notes, “For our hospital our social media channels are a valuable touch point. People from all over the country are on our sites. And our staff has really embraced this project.” Says McCann, “It takes organizational will to make these kinds of changes. Cheryl McGrattan got management approval to attend the conference. When she returned and told them about what she learned they listened, and allowed her to enhance the communications strategy with social media. That’s why this is a solid win for the entire Nathan Littauer organization. This is a team that works well together!”
M2W®-HC™ is national event, annually attended by a wide variety of health care organizations such as: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Pfizer, Coyne PR, WebMD Corporation, Kraft Foods, Inc., Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Paychex, Inc., Obstetrical and Gynecological Association, Methodist Healthcare, WomenK!nd LLC, WellSpring Pharmaceutical Corp., NBC Universal, The Clorox Company, NBC News & CBS News, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, Healthy Advice Networks, Hologic, Inc., e-Healthcare Solutions, Inc., March of Dimes, American Cancer Society and others.
“The talent at this conference center is staggering.” stated Cheryl McGrattan
For conference schedule and information: www.m2w-hc.com or 860.724.2649 x13. M2W®-HC™ is produced by PME® Enterprises LLC, 216 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06106.
Nathan Littauer Hospital and Family of Health Services serves Fulton, Montgomery and Hamilton Counties in Upstate New York with a full-service 74-bed hospital, eight primary care centers, a nursing home and a community education center. The hospital was founded 119 years ago, has 950 employees and recently opened a new Emergency Care Center this fall. More information about the hospital can be found by visiting www.nlh.org.
PME® Enterprises, producers of M2W®-HC™, is looking for a Senior Sales Executive to build content and generate sponsorships for our successful national marketing conferences. See www.pme-events.com for more info about our company. Position requires 5 -7 yrs experience, strong track record selling sponsorships, events and non-traditional media to national accounts. For consideration call Jim 860.724.2649 x12 TWTh betw. 10 – 11 a.m. ET
For women, bladder issues appear to becoming part of more mainstream conversations—thanks in part to campaigns from brands such as Poise (recently highlighted in our M2W®-HC™E-ssentials feature of “Campaigns We Love”) and now Medtronic. In support of Bladder Health Awareness month, Medtronic is extending its national women’s health campaign, Facing Our Moments™ which is designed to encourage women with overactive bladder (OAB) to face their bladder control issues and “reclaim the important life moments that often are missed due to concerns about bladder control.” This year’s campaign features a series of both fun and educational Girls’ Time Out events during the month of November where women have the opportunity to talk to a bladder health expert and meet other women who suffer from similar conditions. Girls’ Time Out events are being hosted by partner hospitals and clinics in more than 25 cities throughout the country.
The campaign is a partnership between Medtronic and women’s health advocacy groups Accidental Sisterhood Foundation and Women’s Health Foundation. As part of this partnership, Medtronic has provided grants to both foundations to support their activities in connection with this awareness campaign. “Overactive bladder can have a substantial impact on daily living, which often results in a woman’s sense of control and happiness being compromised,” said Cindy Kent, Vice President for Urology, Gastroenterology and Deep Brain Stimulation Therapies in Medtronic’s Neuromodulation business. “Medtronic has seen positive momentum through our awareness campaign, and we want to help more women understand their condition and what they can do to treat it.”
REGISTER NOW to hear about other successful healthcare campaigns during M2W®-HC™-The Marketing Pharma and Healthcare To Women Conference, November 16 & 17, 2010 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
BabyCenter® is the latest brand to tap into a woman’s instinct to do good by partnering with the Grameen Foundation to support innovative mobile healthcare for expectant mothers in the developing world via a fundraising and education campaign. As part of this partnership, BabyCenter provides expert health information tailored specifically to pregnant women in rural communities of Ghana. Deployed via mobile phones, the objective is to promote healthy pregnancies and encourage women to seek prenatal care as well as offer advice on topics such as breastfeeding, immunizations and how to manage pregnancy-related costs. BabyCenter has also added a new section to its website dedicated to raising awareness and donations for Grameen Foundation’s mobile health education initiatives, with the potential to reach more than 8 million moms in the U.S. and more than 20 million moms worldwide. “BabyCenter is committed to bringing vital health information to mothers around the world and to empowering these women to take control over their own health,” said Tina Sharkey, Chairman and Global President of BabyCenter. Sharkey was a speaker during last year’s M2W®-HC™-The Marketing Pharma and Healthcare to Women Conference. ”There are large populations of women in developing nations who don’t have access to books, the Internet, or even regular visits with their healthcare professionals, but they do have basic mobile phones. Our collaboration with Grameen Foundation allows us to reach these underserved women; doing what we can to help raise funds and awareness for this program brings us one step closer to our shared goal of improving maternal health worldwide.”
See how other brands are using cause marketing techniques to help improve the health and wellness of women throughout the world during next week’s M2W®-HC™.
And speaking of mobile apps, P&G’s Always has just launched its ‘Always Me™ mobile application–a comprehensive period and ovulation tracker. The application was designed with input from a select group of women-focused website editors, bloggers and female health experts. “A key motivator for us was the reality that while all women establish daily routines and different ways to manage their monthly cycles, they are also looking for solutions to help make their lives a little easier,” said Courtney Schuster, Always Global Brand Manager. “In an age where our phones connect us to our family, friends and on-demand content, we created the Always Me mobile app to help women stay connected with their bodies in a current, customizable way.” One of the unique features of Always Me is a personalized question and answer function to address any personal or intimate questions that she may have. Consumers can submit a question related to their menstrual cycle, and a health professional will provide a timely answer within 24 hours.
Looking ahead, P&G has plans to expand the mobile application to include a wide range of useful information and tips for various aspects of a woman’s life, including skin, hair and beauty care—an expansion that appears to be copied by numerous brands in the healthcare industry. “Smart phones, which put the Internet into women’s pockets, are more prevalent than computers globally and will pass 50% of all mobile phones in the US by Q3 2011,” says Kate Caldwell of Draftfcb. Caldwell will be giving insight into this “next revolution” of healthcare marketing during next week’s M2W®-HC™. REGISTER NOW to attend this event and see where pharma and healthcare marketing is headed.
According to a recent survey from KIWI magazine and Xigo Health’s “marketing to mom” panel held during the Natural Products Expo East in Boston, lack of information is the key to why moms may not be buying. “I think retailers need to pay very close attention to moms and their specific needs when it comes to education on products,” says Maxine Wolf, the magazine’s publisher and past M2Moms® presenter. ”Our research shows that moms will buy more if they can get better information.”
During the panel, the moms discussed the importance of sampling products and coupons as an entry point and agreed that if the product seemed to be effective at preventing or decreasing the prevalence of illness that cost was not an issue. Panel members expressed the importance of making the shopping experience easier for families, giving specific suggestions; and discussed the importance of recommendations from friends and family and the commitment of the company to provide accessible education about ingredients. “The panel reconfirmed that education is still the cornerstone for the natural product industry,” says Robert U. Craven, CEO of Xigo Health and founder of LaunchNatural. ”Moms are not afraid to buy from new companies or explore new ingredients, but they want information and therefore a constant dialog between the company, retailers and consumers is vital.”
To learn more about what drives mom’s health and wellness purchasing decisions REGISTER NOW to attend M2W®-HC™ where you will hear more about how to engage “Dr. Mom” and what health marketers need to know about the evolution of today’s American families.
According to a national survey by Be Smart About Your Health, a new online consumer portal developed by Aetna—an Associate Sponsor of this year’s M2W®-HC™–almost 70 percent of Americans say they’re paying more attention to what health benefits options are available because of the new health reform law. But, unlike other consumer purchases, many find the process can be challenging. In fact, 40 percent of Americans admit that when it comes to health care, they don’t know what they should be looking for (20 percent) or they don’t know what questions to ask (20 percent). This is why Aetna created the Be Smart About Your Health site. “If there were ever a year for consumers to get smart on their Open Enrollment information, this is the year. Consumers told us that they’re concerned about health care costs increasing, and that hard facts on health reform can be elusive. That’s why we’ve created a real-time resource that can help people choose, use and get the most value from their benefits,” said Susan Kosman, RN, BSN, MS, Chief Nursing Officer for Aetna. “A lack of understanding can be a barrier to better health. This new online portal can help simplify all aspects of managing your health from maximizing your benefits to treating a chronic health condition.”
At the cornerstone of the site’s success is how it does away with the common medical and insurance-speak, and instead uses plain, everyday language—a topic that Aetna will be covering during their M2W®-HC™ presentation. “Aetna is using a unique combination of tools and resources—ranging from mobile web and smart phone “apps”, to plain language web resources and materials that demystify a complex health care system,” says Jill Griffiths, VP and Head of Market and Clinical Communication for Aetna. Griffiths will be part of an Aetna panel of experts that will include Christine Riedl, Head of Enterprise Medical Product for Aetna and Amy Cueva, Founder, Chief Experience Officer and Health Principal for Mad*Pow.
REGISTER NOW to attend M2W®-HC™ and learn from these (and many other) health care and pharma marketing experts and brand leaders.
Research released by HealthyWomen (HW), an Affiliate Sponsor of this year’s M2W®-HC™, sheds new light on women’s understanding of their role and influence in America’s growing obesity epidemic. The survey showed that while the majority of women believe a parent’s obesity has an influence on a child’s risk of becoming obese (87 percent), surprisingly only one-quarter (28 percent) of women surveyed assign the responsibility to themselves. And the influence starts early. Only 11 percent of women in HealthyWomen’s WomenTALK survey realized that a child’s risk of becoming obese more than doubles if the mother is obese during her first trimester of pregnancy. Because a mother’s influence is so strong, some see the survey findings as an opportunity to reverse bad behaviors and a call to action for breaking the cycle once and for all. “While the statistics are disconcerting, we know that mothers are commonly viewed as role models for eating behavior and serve as gatekeepers of food,” says Elizabeth Battaglino Cahill, RN, executive director of HealthyWomen. “From an early age, children tend to eat the same foods as their parents, especially mothers, so exposure to nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables is not only setting a good example, but also positioning your child on a lifelong course of good health.”
Be sure to meet some of the HealthyWomen executives during this year’s M2W®-HC™, November 16 & 17 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
