A recent poll found that 70 percent of Americans feel the U.S. health system has failed them. This sentiment was confirmed by a Commonwealth Fund report that revealed Americans are sicker and die younger than their counterparts in nine other wealthy countries despite paying twice as much for healthcare services. Add to this the Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement cuts that took effect earlier this year, which only increase the budget shortfall that most nonprofit hospitals experience and the continuing dearth of primary care physicians, mental health providers, nurses and other healthcare workers, particularly in rural areas, and the pressures healthcare CEOs experience are immense. These factors help explain why the CEO turnover rate at hospitals rose by 42 percent last year. It also is why healthcare CEOs should include executive branding as part of their healthcare institution’s overall marketing strategy.
What is executive branding?
Executive branding (also sometimes referred to as personal branding) is about building trust and credibility. It’s a focused undertaking that positions executives as thought leaders in their industry, capable of influencing market trends, driving business growth, and attracting new customers. Rather than just selling or promoting a company’s products or services, executive branding focuses on individual relationships, sharing what’s on the executive’s mind and what motivates them, and providing short, practical tips that will be of immediate help to the executive’s followers. Thought leaders with an established executive brand are not just experts but trailblazers who challenge the status quo and lead conversations in their industry.
Trust and credibility are especially critical for healthcare organizations, given the high stakes involved in people’s health and the impact that has on them and their loved ones. The exhaustion, frustration, and pain of living with a severe illness or condition like cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular disease make patients feel particularly vulnerable.
Executive branding deploys a mix of content creation and marketing, media relations, speaking engagements, and social media management to establish a senior executive as a thought leader while at the same time engaging in an ongoing dialogue with target audiences. This audience may include patients and their families, healthcare insurers, care providers and staff, philanthropic organizations and individual donors, state or federal lawmakers and regulatory bodies, and/or peers.
Benefits of executive branding
The benefits of executive branding are many:
- Establishes Credibility: Thought leaders build credibility by consistently sharing innovative ideas and informed opinions. This credibility is fundamental in establishing trust with their audience, clients, or customers.
- Serves as a Differentiator: Standing out in a crowded market is crucial. Executive branding allows you to differentiate yourself by what you do, what you think, and how you lead. It positions you as someone who adds value through unique insights.
- Creates a Narrative: Your personal or executive brand is your story. It’s about sharing your journey, the challenges you’ve faced, the solutions you’ve discovered, and the knowledge you’ve gained along the way. Because humans inherently respond to storytelling, people start paying attention to your healthcare company since they already feel a connection with you.
- Engages with your Audience: Executive branding allows you to engage in authentic conversations rather than a one-way street like advertising or traditional promotion. It opens opportunities to interact with your audience, understand their needs, hear differing perspectives, and tailor your messages to ensure they resonate.
- Expands your Influence: As a thought leader, your influence transcends your immediate network. Your ideas and insights can reach a global audience, extending your personal brand’s reach exponentially. This can lead to new opportunities for you personally and your hospital, health system or health practice.
In the age of AI, when humans engage with chatbots as often as they do with each other, and at a time when the denial of science and facts, and mistrust of institutions of all kinds, including the U.S. healthcare system, are at an all-time high, people care less about corporate brands and more about the people who make up that brand. This is particularly true if your organization isn’t a top-ranked institution like the Mayo Clinic, Cedars-Sinai, or MD Anderson Cancer Center, or you lead a stand-alone physicians group or community hospital unaffiliated with a medical school.
With the arrival of for-profit Urgent Care centers, which seem to pop up on street corners nearly as often as a new Starbucks, and national players like CVS expanding into offering basic medical services at some of their pharmacies, the need to distinguish yourself and by extension, your healthcare organization, has never been greater.
Sandi Sonnenfeld is the U.S. Director of Client Strategy and Accounts at Prestidge Group, one of the world’s oldest and largest executive branding agencies. She has 20 years of experience working with C-Suite executives, entrepreneurs, physicians, academics and medical researchers to advance their personal and corporate brands through thought-leadership campaigns. She can be reached at sandi@prestidgegroup.com.