NewYork-Presbyterian’s Communications Strategy Leverages All Channels to Put the Spotlight on Cancer Research and Treatment

// By Jane Weber Brubaker //

In a publication like eHealthcare Strategy & Trends that focuses on digital innovation, it would be easy to lose sight of the big picture. We’ve written extensively this year about the need for different skills in healthcare marketing. A recurring theme is: MarCom is out and MarTech is in. But the truth is, we need both. The goal of everything we do as marketers is to communicate clearly and effectively, no matter which channel we’re doing it in. One thing healthcare does not need is more silos.

In one of the many excellent presentations at HCIC 2016, David Feinberg, former vice president and chief marketing officer at NewYork-Presbyterian drives this point home. “Digital is not a strategy,” he says. “You have a communications strategy. You develop those key message points and use all the armamentarium you have. They should not be competitive. They should be collaborative.”

Feinberg, with colleagues Harry Sherman, corporate director of strategic marketing, and Takla Boujaoude, director of media relations, shared a case study of a highly successful integrated campaign that demonstrates the effectiveness of beginning with the strategy, not the channel. MarTech may be one side of the marketing brain, but it can’t accomplish much without the other side, MarCom.

NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) is a massive and still expanding system, in the middle of the highly competitive New York metropolitan area. It has its own unique challenges, but the key issues it faces are the same ones other health systems confront: How do you present a unified brand when your business is constantly evolving? What are the growth opportunities? Which areas should you invest in? What are your strengths vs. the competition? What is the right message? Where should the message appear? How should it appear? In this article, we’ll see how NYP resolved these strategic questions and developed a winning integrated campaign, using each channel to its best advantage.

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