Clinix Health Care Company’s Branding & Online Marketing Essay

Introduction

The Clinix Health Care Organization should integrate branding and online marketing in its operations to continue gaining sustainability. Many established health care organizations not only provide consumers with treatment, prevention, and wellbeing measures but also use marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors (Dumovic & Knowles, 2008). For instance, they use their own branding strategies to make their intended recipients recognize a specific identity or image. This paper looks at a plan by the Clinix Health Care Company in branding its products and services. It discusses services and promotional strategies. These two are aimed at addressing a natural disaster in California, resulting in a mass evacuation of 300,000 people who are currently living in temporary housings. The paper also looks at how the financial situation of these people will affect the company’s pricing plan.

An overview of the Clinix Health Care Organization

Clinix Health Care Company is one of the largest health care organizations in California. This state has faced several natural disasters in the recent past, leaving people in critical conditions. For instance, the current natural disaster that evacuated more than three hundred thousand people left them homeless. There are many health care organizations in California, some established, and others, not. The established health care organizations employ branding strategies and online marketing in their operations. This enables them to increase their market share and growth more easily than those that do not integrate branding and online marketing (Bashe & Hicks, 2001). However, the Clinix Health Care Organization is among the companies that only rely on acute care in its treatment provided to the communities surrounding it. Currently, this health care organization does not integrate branding strategies and online marketing in its operations. This makes the company miss lots of opportunities compared to its competitors.

Branding

Branding can be described as a marketing strategy that is used by marketers in making their products and services the most preferred by consumers. As earlier mentioned, a branding strategy aims at making the target audience recognize and prefer to be associated with a certain product, service, or company. According to McPherson (2008), branding builds awareness and establishes loyalty (McPherson, 2008). Organizations incorporate branding advertisements with the aim of building certain images or associating attributes to their products and services as the most compassionate, technically competent, and rewarding among others (Schmidt & Pioch, 2005).

Gapp and Merillees (2006) argue that branding can serve as an interface between the public and a health care organization. It also serves as an internal communication medium between employees working with health care organizations (Gapp & Merillees, 2006). The changing preferences of consumers in the health care environment shape the way health care organizations put branding in practice. McPherson (2008) asserts in SLP Module 2 that both the non-profit and the for-profit sectors need to integrate branding in their operations (McPherson, 2008).

Branding can be an important part of a marketing plan (Spur Interactive, 2009), and thus part of an overall strategic plan within the Clinix Health Care Organization. The following steps can be used by this organization as it integrates a branding strategy to gain a competitive edge in California.

1. It will then choose the best channels and employ them in creating awareness to the target audiences. For instance, the Clinix Health Care Organization can use a strong online marketing database that includes a website, social media profiles, and online advertising among others. This organization can also engage in frequent speaking at local community events, or participate in shows in local TV and radio stations. The Clinix Health Care Company can also produce regular print publications and distribute them to the target audience.
2. The Clinix Health care organization should first identify its niche markets and research on their needs. This is critical in its plan of brand strategy because it will help it in timing what, how, where, when, and whom to communicate its brand.
3. The next step is to engage with consumers through social media by providing them with information about causes, symptoms, and prevention measures.
4. The Clinix Health Care Company should create a core messaging that is appealing to its target audience, and then employ relevant delivery mechanisms determined by the company’s research. In this stage, the company should focus on marketing and branding efforts to create awareness, attract, influence, and make consumers loyal to its products and services.
5. After identifying the target audiences and the best marketing channels, the next stage or step is to produce customized marketing materials for each of its audiences. For instance, the marketers of this health care organization can identify issues surrounding consumers such as healthy eating, or women’s health, and create communication channels that target the audiences specifically. This way, they will feel that the company is offering unique products and services meant for them. Clinix can also customize its mail templates to fit each of its niche categories. This will help the organization to send information relevant to its target audiences (Pinkerton, 2002).
6. The last step is to manage patient relationships well in order to win their trust and loyalty to this health care organization. Making patients feel special should be part of the organization’s agenda. The Clinix Health Care Company will need to train its staff to provide high-quality services and relate with the consumers in a friendly manner. For instance, they need to handle them gently, and with empathy and understanding.

References

Bashe, G., & Hicks, N. (2001). Branding Health Services: Defining yourself in the marketplace. Marketing Health Services, 21(1), 42-43.

Dumovic, P., & Knowles, D. (2008). Marketing Masterclass: Product differentiation for competitive advantage. Journal of Medical Marketing. 8(1), 5-8.

Gapp, R. & Merilees, B. (2006). Important factors to consider when using internal branding as a management strategy: A healthcare case study. Journal of Brand Management, 14(1/2), 162-176.

McPherson, B. (2008). Dialogue: Advertising by Nonprofit Health Care Organizations. Inquiry-Excellus Health Plan, 45(3), 256-262.

Pinkerton, S. (2002). Marketing and branding, Nursing Economics, 20(1), 42-43.

Schmidt, R., & Pioch, E. (2005). Community pharmacies under pressure – can branding help? International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(6/7), 494-504.

Spur Interactive. (2009). Online Marketing for Health Care. Web.