How To Create Health + Healthy Lifestyle Brand Ambassadors

Check out this SlideShare Presentation, which lays out Netlog's 5 "C"s of creating brand ambassadors. Do you agree with them?
1. Content - which should be useful, unique, newsworthy, first, controversial, insightful, inspirational, extraordinary, unexpected, etc., that captures people's attention and gives them something valuable and sharable (e.g. Kashi Wellness Hub)
2. Conversate - the community(s) of people who share the same interests and passions who are speaking (and spreading) to one another through non-stop brand interaction (e.g. Kashi friends and events)
3. Continuous - facilitating the ability for brand conversations to take place anytime through any device from anywhere around the world (e.g. Nike Plus)
4. Context- the conversation isn't driven from the brand, it's among friends telling friends, such that the brand becomes intertwined into people's daily conversations, which can be good and bad (e.g. Restaurant's creative way of disguising bad health report)
5. Contribute- how the brand ultimately contributes to making people's lives better (e.g. LiveStrong)

Netlog: How To Create Brand Ambassadors?

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Giving health and healthy lifestyle brands the ability to do the best they can

I know an organizational consultant who gets through the day by saying to himself "they're doing the best they can." It is the only way after many years of consulting, he says, that he can survive his customer engagements. He's learned to accept the fact that we're all flawed, and don't always operate (no kidding) in a rational manner.
But through social media, we have the ability to speak through an unfiltered pipeline about, and to, brand and company owners. So there's no excuse for them not to be doing the best they can. Unless they're not listening, in which case, we'll talk more frequently and virally until they do.
Using Twitter as an example, here are seven ways that social media helps us help brands "do the best they can":

1. Great experience. Nice to meet you on Twitter- I love shopping on zappos.com, great user experience!
2. Lousy experience. I'm really hoping that what I need will be at Target so I can avoid a Walmart shopping experience.
3. Never again unless you fix it experience. ITZShop.com: Worst online shopping experience!
4. Customer service channel. Sorry to hear about that @xxxxxx call 8009612075 and our customer service team will correct this for you.
5. Product feedback. wholefoods: @xxxx We appreciate your feedback though and will look into creating a better system for collecting and reviewing product requests
6. Special events announcement. Special hands-on activities at the Grand Opening of the WOW Science Museum this weekend! Schedule of events: http://tinyurl.com/ce6xjf
7. New product and service ideas:Good morning "twitters"! I need 5 great/NEW innovative suggestions to launch a product to the industry. All ideas are welcome!

The Health 2.0 reform movement

I visited Wikipedia to see if there were any updates for the definition of Health 2.0, as it's still being defined. There's a traditional view offered by The Wall Street Journal, and this ambitious game-changing definition from Scott Shreeve, MD., who states that Health 2.0 goes way beyond just the pervasive social networking technology to include a complete renaissance in the way that Healthcare is actually delivered. He developed this visual representation of the Health 2.0 reform movement, and provides an accompanying explanation of the model.
To date, adaption of Health 2.0 technologies and tools among health care practitioners lags behind healthcare consumers, who use social to research and manage their health, their medical conditions and to gain emotional support. The collaboration between patients, caregivers and medical professionals (the ultimate goal which will benefit the consumer in their daily lives) is still largely a concept - though inevitably this will change. As Matthew Holt points out the issue is, how are these tools and technologies going to be used, what does that mean for health care organizations, and doctors and patients, and how fast will it matter?

Does Your Healthcare Brand Have Fans Like This

When was the last time someone publicly raved about your organization? When they told the world how impressed they were with you. What if you had to gauge your success by the number of fans raving about you, which is a lot more credible relative to us pounding our chests about how great we are. Watch this video from a Ford fan. 

Why technology is no longer an option in public health

Another call to arms for the healthcare industry and healthcare marketers to be open to change and to embrace the opportunities that technology and social media provide to make things better.  View post by Andre Blackman Why Technology Is No Longer Optional in Public Health.

Boomers, social media and healthcare marketing

More than 60% of boomers consume and contribute to social technologies like blogs, social networks, microblogging, podcasts and online videos, according to a recent report from Forrester. This is up from roughly 40% a year ago. The implications for healthcare marketers are clear – either integrate social into your marketing efforts or risk becoming irrelevant. 

Here are some tips on getting started:

• understand the different segments of boomers in terms of how they use social technologies, e.g. their interests, goals, benefits and rituals (here's an introduction from the book Groundswell)

• confirm and prioritize your business and social media objectives

• identify your priority stakeholder groups based on your objectives

• develop your social media platform, e.g. is it education, empowerment or both

• determine the social media strategies that make sense to reach your stakeholders, e.g. content and conversations, types of channels and promotion activities

• determine the roles and responsibilities of those who will be driving and influencing your efforts, e.g. researching and developing content, providing videos, ongoing execution, conducting analysis, implementing refinements, etc. 

• clarify and develop your corporate social media policies

Importantly, it takes time to ramp up with social media. It takes time to engage people, to draw them into conversations, to build credibility and relationships. But the wonderful thing about social media is that you can take baby steps. Steps that are extremely efficient and that allow you to learn and quickly adjust as you go. 

  

Maximizing the insight from your health and healthy lifestyle online community

Some online communities are specifically built and managed as insight tools, states FreshNetworks in a recent post Maximising the insight you get from your online community.

However, all communities can be useful sources of insight, as companies are able to observe and learn from the unfiltered, real conversations taking place among community members.

Here are eight ways that FreshNetworks describes how companies can learn from online communities:

• Profiling data: to help you understand the demographic and lifestyle make-up of the people who comprise your community

• Focused discussions: that can be built around priority areas of interest, which can then provide rich insights for research and development

• Learn their language: by observing how members talk about your market and products, you can gain rich insight into their lives and priorities and your messaging and outreach 

• Rating and voting: asking members to rate or to vote on ideas or content provides input for you in turn to be more relevant and meaningful to them 

• Photo uploads: can reveal what people are thinking and feeling beyond words alone; and are often an easier vehicle for people to express their ideas

• Photo activities: by asking members to upload photos that they believe reflect a specific topic or a response to a question, you begin to learn how they see the world 

• Discussion events: can be focused on specific issues important to the company; at times that reflect the usage patterns of your community

• Quick polls: are easy to put together, and provide a tool to gather quick, directional insight about specific topics of interest

 

 

One simple Social path to health and healthy lifestyles brand energy

As Peter Drucker stated, the purpose of business is not to make a sale, but to make and keep a customer. 

But to keep a customer, you need to understand them. Which requires you to actively listen to what they're talking about and what's important to them, so you can make decisions based on how they really think and feel. So you can ensure your place in their lives. 

Yet we find that listening to customers is often overlooked. It's taken for granted that customer translates into customary. But at a time when everyone is re-evaluating their brand choices, you really should listen. And through the social media tools we all have at our disposal, there's no longer any excuse. The cost is insignificant. The time commitment is not, but if practiced routinely, becomes routine. And the payoff is huge – growing happy customers that you keep. 

Think crowdsourcing to produce health and healthy lifestyles brand energy

Crowdsourcing taps into the creativity, insights and wisdom of everyday people to help brands create more value. It's an open source (outsourced) method for customers to help improve and create new products and services through their comments, suggestions and ideas. 

Here are a few examples:

• istockphoto (which created a marketplace for amateur photographers)

• Wikipedia (an encyclopedia created for thousands of users)

• Dell Ideastorm (launched by Dell to gauge which ideas are most important and relevant to the public)

• digg (where users submit links to sites, articles, news stories, photos and videos and others vote whether they're worth checking out).

Every brand should at least be "consumer-sourcing." By engaging consumers in ways that they value and want through social media, you'll receive tremendous feedback that will help you strengthen your offerings and enhance your connections. In fact, any company that doesn't recognize the power of the consumer to their marketing efforts will eventually be pushed aside. 

"Social" brands that support a healthy lifestyle

True to Kashi's mission of helping people make healthy choices to live their best lives, the company is doing a nice job of delivering on this promise through Social Media.  If you go to their site, you can click on a section "Now accepting accomplishments. Major, minor and everything in between - shout out what you achieved today!"

It's a community posting filled with real stories of people and their accomplishments. There's also a Community Round-Up survey. And mosaic view allows for quick and easy scan of comments. 

Visitors can also "Join The Kashi Community", with the option to receive exclusive coupons, connect with friends and join the taste tester panel. "Today's Challenge" (updated daily) encourages people to keep coming back. 

Great to see a company delivering on its promise. 

  

A brands promise to its social media participants

This morning, I'm standing in for the voice of a brand. A brand astute enough to know, and mature enough to accept, that its future is being shaped by anyone engaging in social media and online communities. A brand that openly embraces this future, and will actively participate in it. 

So what would it proclaim:

• if you have an opinion, I want to hear it, and will let others hear it as well

• if you have a complaint, I want to hear it, and will publicly deal with it

• if you have a question, I will answer it

• and if I ask you a question, I will respond to it

• I will not talk at you, but to you

• I will not sell you, but engage you 

• if I let you down, I will apologize

• it's not about me, it's about you, me and all of us

• together, we can make a difference

 

Marketing To Moms Through Digital Technology and Social Media

Digital Mom is an excellent report from Razorfish and CafeMom. It examines how moms are adopting digital technology and social media to help her "do it all".  Key implications for health + healthy lifestyle brand marketers (synthesized from the report) include:

• beyond email (of which 95% of moms use), more than 50% engage through search, social networking sites, text messaging and instant messaging…which means that you need to consider how to rebalance your efforts to leverage these viable channels 

• younger digital moms tend to be more comfortable with new tools like social networks and SMS, whereas older moms are more comfortable with information channels online…so a one-size-fits-all is not going to work 

• by tapping into moms dual motivations - staying connected for their own needs, as well as the needs of their children - marketers have an opportunity to empower moms with content, experiences and community

• categories of Medication/Medical Condition (20%) and Health/Fitness (18%) fell roughly in the middle of those in which moms researched, sought advice, or purchased (in the last 3 months; all survey participants,not segmented by age).  

• there were five distinct segments of socially connected moms, dimensioned in terms of who she is, her Social Level, Activity Level and Content Creation Level…providing insight into how to reach and engage each segment, and leverage their interactions on social networks. 

Health + Healthy Lifestyle Brands On Twitter

This is a big list compiled by Paul Dunay from BearingPoint of brands using Twitter - Brands That Tweet.  These companies are across a wide range of industries, both b2b and b2c. 

Not much representation in the health + healthy lifestyles space:

• GE Healthcare (twitter.com/GE_reports)

• Growing Bolder (twitter.com/growingbolder)

• North Face (twitter.com/thenorthface)

• Planet Green (twitter.com/planetgreen)

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (twitter.com/rwjf)

• Travel Channel (twitter.com/travelchannel)

• Triathlete Magazine (twitter.com/TriathleteMag)

• Whole Foods (twitter.com/wholefoods)

But I think there's good reason for these brands to take advantage of the opportunity to:

• establish a personality beyond that of a faceless institution

• display their transparency

• at least listen in to what people are saying about their brands, 

• if not add to the conversation through valuable content,

• in ways that their audiences value and want

   

Health + Healthy Lifestyle Brands Need To Join The Social Media Conversation

In 2008 Forrester Research declared that social media is now mainstream. A consumer poll done in Q2 found that 75% of Internet users participate in some form of social media, up from 56% in 2007. By 2012, it's predicted that 80% of the web's content will be user generated. More and more companies are participating, but health and healthy lifestyle brands are much further behind the curve. 

So they need to join in on the conversation. Accept that their comfortable "traditional" world is no longer. And realize that the risk of not participating (of eventually becoming irrelevant) is greater than the risk of dipping their brand toe in the water. 

One of the important benefits of Social Media (vs. traditional) is its fluidity. It allows for micro strategies, experimentation, quick adjustments and rapid implementation - at far lesser cost than that of traditional media. 

Through social, you can help people connect to each other through your brand, in ways that they value and want. In turn, you can create positive interactions, transparency, authenticity, trust and loyalty.  

Here are four tips to consider:

• first, just listen in to the conversation, as you'll be surprised what you hear, what motivates your audiences and what messages appeal to them 

• join in only if you have something relevant to offer (defined as compelling, valued, authentic)

• don't interrupt with selfish one-way brand messages

• and don't squelch the conversation if you don't like what you're hearing

 

 

More Energy Sources For Brands

Adding to the list from yesterday:

11. Help improve our future. One Laptop Per Child. 

12. Create platforms for shared passions. Nike + 

13. Change our view of the world. Dove.

14. Let customers choose the price. ebay. 

15. Enhance the customer experience. Whole Foods.  

16. Engage people in your vision. Obama.  

17. Deliver beautiful design. Apple

18. Be the authority. McKinsey. 

19. Exude passion from the inside out. Google. 

20. Overcome the trade-off. Mini.  

New Energy Sources For Brands

Thought I'd start a list of ways that brands can get re-energized. I'll keep adding to it. Here are the first entries:

1. Social Media. Be about people, not about you; help them come together via your brand. GSK's myalli community. 

2. Crowdsourcing. Tap into the insights and ideas of your users. Dell Ideastorm.

3. Become the customer champion. LinkedIn.

4. Tap into their larger societal agenda. Fairtrade.  

5. Create a new vision for the market. Method.

6. Find new uses for your product, and use #2 above. Arm & Hammer. 

7. Focus in on the one thing you do better than anyone else. Zappos.

8. Introduce a new business model. BookMooch.

9. Make people happy. Wii

10. Re-articulate your brand story. Walmart. 

Thinking about social media and the shelf

Social media is quickly climbing its way up the marketing tools ladder.  But some things never change. Either a customer chooses you at the moment of truth, or they don't.  So while today's concepts - conversation, community, collaboration, engagement, experience - are important to more meaningfully connecting brands and audiences, we still need to close the sale. 

Yet these same concepts should be integrated in-store. We should be:

• respecting consumers who are in the aisle  

• providing a great experience 

• engaging rationally and emotionally  

• telling compelling brand stories 

Our in-store practices should take a cue from Social. But clearly, this is easier said than done, as it's incumbent on brands and retailers to be connected. Actually for consumers, brands and retailers need to be connected. Otherwise, everyone loses.  But this post is not meant to provide answers, as I'm just starting the conversation. 

More evidence of the rise of mobile in healthcare

I just read this article "With new smartphones, doctors reinvent the house call" minutes after my last post. An infectious-disease physician was able to view an injury through a digital photo on his iPhone. He then diagnosed and prescribed antibiotics. And over the next few days, he monitored the situation via photos sent to his iPhone.

140 health care uses for Twitter

Thought-provoking, status-quo challenging e-book by Phil Baumann, RN BSN about the possibilities micro-sharing (using Twitter as the example) offers as a powerful means of healthcare communication and collaboration.

Social media a great platform for healthcare

Was thinking about Hawaii's online health initiative (see yesterday's post) and wanted to continue the social media theme. As Steve Case, founder of Revolution Health told the World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress "community is the killer app in health care." And why not. The same user-generated content tools that we use to converse, connect and collaborate in our daily lives also provide a great platform for us to use for health information and support.

Jane Sarashon-Kahn, owner of consultancy THINK-Health refers to the Health 2.0 movement as the use of social software and its ability to promote collaboration between patients, their caregivers, medical professionals, and other stakeholders. Again, see post below as an example of this collaboration.

Some complimentary and reinforcing facts:
iCrossing conducted a study in January 2008, and found that the internet (59%) is the leading source (followed by doctors at 55%) used to find or access Health and Wellness Related Information in the past 12 months. And following the docs was the influence of relatives/friends/co-workers (much of which is probably accessed online).
















Again from iCrossing, general search engines (67%), Health portals (46%) and Social media (34%) are the top online tools and resources used to locate health information. Again, followed by the influence of relatives/friends/co-workers.




















So what's next. Where is Health 2.0 going? Maybe look for clues from Microsoft Health Vault M and Google Health. And then to take this a step farther, what does Health 3.0 have in store for us?