Bringing It Altogether

Bringing It Altogether

Marketing Approach of a Healthcare Marketer versus a Consumer Goods Marketer

When asked about their knowledge of marketing by healthcare companies, most people recall the marketing efforts of pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies, but the fact is that several hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, rehabilitation centers and others also fall under the bracket of healthcare organizations that actively pursue marketing. Before in the 1970s, acknowledgement of the role of marketing within these organizations was nonexistent; however, today, not only these organizations actively engage in marketing, but they have dedicated employees and departments to look after the same (Kotler, et al., 2011).

Important here to note is that healthcare marketing is significantly different consumer goods marketing because of several factors. First, the customer or consumer in the case of the healthcare industry is the patient, who unlike in the consumer goods industry, is not always right and does not always know about his needs and wants. Therefore, the traditional rules of supply and demand do not apply in the healthcare industry (Blair & Boal, 1991). The demand curve suggests that a reduction in price is likely to increase demand, but in health care industry, several companies that have decreased price in the past have found themselves with lower demand as consumers saw the same with skepticism and perceived it to an indication of a comprise on quality. Second, when consumer goods marketers enjoy a considerable degree of relative freedom in devising their advertising, promotional, pricing and other marketing strategies, healthcare providers find themselves subjected to several laws and regulations limiting their choices and strategies (Kotler, et al., 2011). For example, when many consumer goods marketers have the liberty to pursue any pricing strategy from market skimming, value based, cost plus, market penetration, economy, premium and others; health care marketers have to price their offerings to fall within a specified bracket (Gray & Christiansen, 2008).

Third, in case of consumer goods, the customer, in the majority of the cases pays upfront or at the time of the purchase, but in the case of health care, the person receiving the service is likely to be not liable for paying for those services. In such cases, third party organizations such as insurance companies, Medicare and others might make the payment, and those payments require more than a few weeks to process (Hillestad & Berkowitz, 2012). Fourth, consumer goods marketers constantly seek to maximize their revenue through selling the most profitable products and services and attracting the most lucrative customers, but healthcare marketers do not enjoy the same liberty (Kotler, et al., 2011). They have to provide a service to the consumer regardless of the fact that whether it is profitable or unprofitable and in many cases, they cannot deny service to customers. Fifth, word of mouth marketing is perhaps the most effective and powerful promotional tool within healthcare marketing. Sixth, in the consumer goods industry, marketers are more likely to direct their messages towards the end user, whereas, healthcare marketers may find themselves ...