March 30, 2021
Lean times call for leaning on brand cheerleaders
With ad spend down, marketers are turning to brand advocacy.
Covid and the recession have put the kibosh on marketing budgets. So, CMO's have been looking to do more with what they have through brand advocacy.
Brand advocacy is when a customer supports or recommends a brand that they love" Ideally, you can involve your entire workforce from the bench chemist to the C-Suite.
You need to have buy-in to your company's vision and culture to make this work. We suggest starting with an assessment with focus groups and a brief questionnaire. You're bound to discover beliefs about your company and customer perceptions that may not fit with your advocacy program.
One of our favorite clients was a perfect candidate for brand advocacy, a medical equipment manufacturer, oozed pride in what they built, and the shop floor was always clean. Customers echoed what people internally said about the product, which is always fantastic!
The architecture of a brand advocacy plan.
- People selling to people. Your staff needs to communicate with customers and their influencers. Do they listen? Do they promptly return calls? Do they ask for feedback? Can they convey the vision of the company in their own words? Well, they should!
- Whip up an event or become part of an existing one that aligns with your product to help a local charity.
- Create a resource or website that solves problems for doctors and their patients.
Healthcare brand advocacy on the Web
As you can see, there are many creative ways to create a brand advocacy program. Website and charity tie-ins are especially popular.
Genentech takes on Breast Cancer
Genentech brought together partners Giuliana Rancic, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and ThirdLove their extensive website, Not One Type, that examines breast cancer as unique to every patient. The site is a hub for information for breast cancer patients, their caregivers, and family.
Mayo Clinic Shares
The Mayo Clinic's Sharing Blog offers patients an extensive amount of original content about all things medical, including medical research to treatment plans and diagnoses.
HealtheVoices' Online Advocacy Community
Johnson and Johnson created HealtheVoices as a resource for the online health advocate and patient blogger community. The J&J also built a web portal, HealtheVoices, for access to online patient health advocates.