Posted: May 11th, 2015

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING AND NON-PROFIT MARKETING

Module 1 – SLP

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING AND NON-PROFIT MARKETING
For the first component of the Session Long Project*, your task is to write a 4- to 5-page essay about a health care organization with which you are involved, or are familiar. Specifically, your tasks are to select an organization and describe it. Then, discuss the main challenges in marketing that organization. For the second part of this SLP, your task is to discuss segmentation and target marketing of your selected organization. Be sure to specifically address the following questions:

How does your selected health care organization segment the market(s) that it serves?
What is your organization’s target market(s)?
How are your organization’s services positioned to meet the demands of its target market(s)?
*Components of the SLP:

Module 1: Description of the Organization and Main Marketing Challenges and Segmentation and Target Marketing

Module 2: Marketing Wellness and Prevention

Module 3:. Branding Strategies & Online Marketing

Module 4: Pricing Strategies and Costs

SLP Assignment Expectations
You will be expected to:

Focus your response to this component of the SLP specifically on the main marketing challenges that the organization faces.
Apply principles from the background materials in discussing the organization.
Provide a scholarly basis for your response.
Justify your opinions with evidence from the literature.
Cite several scholarly references for this assignment.
Properly cite your references in the text of your essay as well as at the end.
Suggestions: Be sure to gather as much information as you can about marketing within your selected organization as early as possible in the session. The tasks of subsequent components of the SLP require information gathered for the first Module.

Module 1 – Background

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING AND NON-PROFIT MARKETING
Required Reading
Astuti, H. J., & Nagase, K. (2014). Patient loyalty to healthcare organizations: relationship marketing and satisfaction. International journal of management and marketing research, 7(2), pp. 39–56. Available in the Trident Online Library.

Clariture; The Martin Companies Accelerates Healthcare Marketing Innovation via Clariture (2014). Marketing Weekly News, 68.

Codourey, M. (2013). The Public Handshake, the Pushed Gossip and the Healthcare Marketing. Economics & Sociology, 6(2), 11-27. Available in the Trident Online Library.

Garcia, M. R., & Gonzalez, L. I. A. (2013). The untapped potential of marketing for evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations: a framework proposal. International review on public and non-profit marketing, 10(2), pp. 87-102. Available in the Trident Online Library.

Fellows, J. (2013). Rebranding Helps Sharpen Marketing Strategy. Healthcare Marketing Advisor 14(11),  4-7.

Legato Healthcare Marketing, Inc.; NRHA selects Legato Healthcare Marketing as marketing partner. (2013). Marketing Weekly News, 232.

Health care brands
Sell, S. (2014). Healthcare brands. Campaign Asia – Pacific [Hong Kong] 46,48-49.

Stamats Healthcare Marketing; Stamats Healthcare Marketing Acquires Wellness Outreach Product, Lighten Up 4 Life. Mergers & Acquisitions Week (Apr 30, 2014): 36.

Star Life Sciences Medical Monitor Research Captures Healthcare Communications Trends. (2013). Business Wire [New York].

Website
SevenTwenty strategies; SevenTwenty strategies announces new growth. (2013). Marketing Weekly News, 195. Available in the Trident Online Library.

Modular Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to satisfy the following outcomes:

Case
Rationalize the difficulty for marketing concepts and strategies to penetrate the healthcare industry.
Argue whether marketing among health care organizations is a luxury or a necessity.
Compare and contrast marketing techniques in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.
SLP
Identify marketing challenges specific to health care organizations.
Assess the target market of a health care organization.
Discussion
Identify marketing challenges specific to health care organizations.
Judge the relative difficulty faced by for-profit and non-for-profit organizations in reaching their target markets.
Module Overview
Introduction

We begin this course by defining “Marketing.” According to Rooney (2009), the American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activities and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Marketing “…is a broad endeavor that involves relationship-building methods that rapidly multiply as technology evolves” (Rooney, 2009).

Health care organizations are increasingly recognizing that they face marketing problems. Shrinkage in clients, members, funds, and other resources remind them of their dependence on the marketplace.

Many public agencies face tough marketing problems. These organizations are confronting changing client attitudes and societal needs, increasing public and private competition, and diminishing financial resources.

Marketing is geared towards examining how, why, and when people satisfy their interests and desires, so as to attempt to influence the decision making process. Marketing is carried out through the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services. The goal of marketing is to create internal and external exchanges in order to satisfy individuals or organizations. Powers & Jack (2008) assert that the marketing of health care services must often be tailored so as to be volume-flexible in the face of changing demand, especially when considering patient satisfaction as an outcome.

As we will learn in this course, marketing is all about people, just as business and health care are about people-oriented industries. Successful marketing is built on strategic human bonds. Personal relationships occur before business relationships.

Not only does marketing drive an organization’s competitive position and overall success, marketing activities influence a broad range of activities and people within a health care organization, from planning to the medical staff.

Marketing Mix Principles

The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 ps.) are used extensively by businesses.

The marketing mix is a part of the organization’s planning process and consists of analyzing:

Product strategies
Price strategies
Place strategies
Promotion strategies
The four components must be carefully controlled to meet the needs of the defined target group.

The second part of this module is devoted to marketing in non-for-profit organizations. We will examine how marketing techniques differ in the for-profit vs. the not-for-profit sectors of the health care arena.

As you have perhaps learned in your other coursework at TUI, competition is very strong in the health care industry. In an interview, John Kaegi (group vice president of marketing with BlueCross BlueShield of Florida) asserted that non-profits are able to build their brands quickly and effectively by advertising through public education and engagement of consumers by appealing to their health (McPherson, 2008). We will learn more about the concept of branding in Module 4.

By contrast to not-for profit organizations, profit-seeking organizations utilize marketing to enhance their operations. Despite the fact that many health care providers operate as non-profit organizations, such organizations also need to implement marketing strategies. One example of non-profit marketing in the health care arena is the recruitment of students to careers in health care.

Not-for-profit organizations also appeal to a different aspect of the marketplace than for-profit organizations, such as public education programs. For example, according to Jeffrey Cowart (Chief Marketing Officer of Inova Health System), nonprofit organizations may devote a considerable portion of their advertising budget on heightening awareness of the availability of health and wellness classes, HIV clinics, or other subsidized community programs (McPherson, 2008). In the next Module, we will examine in greater detail the way wellness programs can be marketed effectively.