Background

Willis-Knighton Health System and its desire to bolster communications

The selection and pursuit of advertising

Impact on marketing communications: past, present, future

Conclusions

References

Abstract

Background: Healthcare establishments serve as key community resources, bringing into locales a wealth of resources aimed at enhancing and improving health and wellness. Without effective communications, current and prospective patients will remain unaware of available offerings, foiling opportunities for mutually beneficial exchange. Today, healthcare organizations engage audiences by selecting from among the components of the marketing communications mix, but this wasn’t always the case. There was a time not long ago when communications options were limited due to industry traditions, creating associated challenges.
Discussion: Willis-Knighton Health System faced a communications dilemma in the 1970s when, as a small healthcare provider desirous of growth, it could not achieve a satisfactory media presence via the usual and customary route of the day: submitting press releases to news media organizations, requesting conveyance of associated stories to their audiences. This forced the institution to explore other possibilities, ultimately leading it to experiment with and embrace advertising at a time period when its use was generally shunned in the industry. Willis-Knighton Health System’s pioneering deployment of advertising helped the institution achieve its intended promotions goals, supplying mutual benefits and affording insights which influence its communications approach to this day.
Conclusions: Deploying advertising years in advance of its widespread acceptance and use in the healthcare industry, Willis-Knighton Health System forged new pathways and acquired experience which fostered provider-patient engagement initiatives, affording an enduring marketing communications approach. Challenging situations are quite common in the healthcare industry and the one faced by Willis-Knighton Health System was no exception, but it supplied an immense opportunity to innovate, leading to communications prowess, resulting growth, informed audiences, and lasting mutual benefits.

Background

Health and medical establishments serve as key community resources, bringing into cities, towns, and other municipalities highly-trained personnel, advanced technologies, and related infrastructure aimed at enhancing and improving the health and wellness of the populace [1–۳]. Many, in fact, strive to become true community partners by extending efforts to deliver enhanced value of benefit to the citizenry [1, 4–۷]. Recruitment of physicians for the provision of innovative medical services, provision of free health fairs to foster wellness, celebration of new certifications that demonstrate excellence, and so on all constitute noble efforts and achievements worthy of being communicated vigorously. Without effective communications, current and prospective patients will remain unaware of the offerings provided by healthcare entities, foiling opportunities for mutually beneficial exchange. Transactions between provider and patient notably bolster the economic viability of healthcare organizations and, given the nature of offered services, shore up the health and wellness of individuals, making communications excellence imperative for generating productive patronage [8–۱۵].