the Marketing Tenets (principles and beliefs) in Contemporary Health Tourism

…for the “campaign” to be taken seriously

To illustrate this article, on the “commonality” of Healthcare Marketing and Health Tourism Marketing, I used the front cover of the book titled “Modern Healthcare Marketing in the Digital Era”, edited by Kakhaber Djakeli, a hardcover edition of which one can buy for $285.00, through Amazon (? https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Healthcare-Marketing-Digital-Era/dp/B0CFF5K9ZY ?).

BTW, there are so many books on the subject of “healthcare marketing”, that I was at a loss, as to which one to choose for illustrating this article – I settled for the one by Kakhaber Djakeli, because it is about “Modern” Healthcare Marketing – meaning “contemporary” – because Contemporary Health Tourism is what I am championing.

As I will explain, this is an “offshoot” article, i.e., one which developed or branched out from another article / post.

The “other” article was titled “ideas which cause a revolution - and become household names” (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/ideas-which-cause-revolution-konstantinos-konstantinidis-m-d-ph-d--zyu5f/? ), which in turn, was triggered by a post by Sir John Hegarty ( ?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/sir-john-hegarty-a1310a92/ ?), in which, he refers to the current “deplorable” quality of “advertising”.

The publication of this “offshoot” article, was triggered by a post on Healthcare Marketing, by Vivek Shukla (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/vivekshukla-growthadvisor/? ), to whom due attribution is extended – and, who I am following on LinkedIn, because he is a seasoned Healthcare Growth Catalyst, and “growth” (the organic type) is a feature of Contemporary Health Tourism – a.k.a. ht8 -? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/expanded-industry-address-broader-market-constantinides-m-d-ph-d-/? .

See Vivek’s post:? https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/vivekshukla-growthadvisor_marketing-healthcare-growth-activity-7256529680911003648-5Xj3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop? .

I am merely a Medical Doctor (M.D.) and, by no means an expert in “marketing”, but after reading a bit on the subject, and considering what Sir John and Vivek had to say, I came to the conclusion that Healthcare Marketing is – and should be – no different to Health Tourism Marketing – the “tenets” of which, I had found myself “formulating”, for the benefit of the Health Tourism “industry” (supply side) and “market” (demand side) - both stakeholder groups I address, as part of what I do.

Incidentally, there is a “connection” between "marketing", "promotion" and "advertising".

In essence, marketing is the overarching “strategy”, promotion is the specific “tactics” to execute that strategy and advertising is “one of the tools” within those tactics.

All three are interconnected and work together to achieve “marketing objectives”.

Consequently, what applies in the case of “advertising” applies equally in the case of “marketing”.

First to all, as Sir John points out, the “deplorable” quality of advertising, is due to:

• the fragmentation of audiences through social media
• the over-reliance on promotion versus persuasion

As Sir John concludes:

• advertising industry’s “new idea” to get noticed is to be whacky – but, “whacky” is not an idea: it is a device
• advertising was listened to when it had a point of view and a philosophical thought
• advertising campaigns need to be associated with a “big idea”, which stitches together and integrates those being addressed – instead of shouting for attention, only to be switched off
• an idea gets more powerful the more truthful it is
• revolutions happen because people yearn for something better

the tenets (principles and beliefs) in Contemporary Health Tourism:

• segment the audience addressed (to make the marketing message “relevant”)
• marketing should focus on “persuasion” – and less on “promotion”
• do Inbound Marketing – Storytelling – which has “gravitational pull” and amplifies the truth (? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/easy-sell-vs-hard-konstantinos-konstantinidis-m-d-ph-d--kmzef/? )
• to be taken seriously, marketing should not rely on “wackiness” (silly, eccentric or absurd) to get noticed
• as with advertising, marketing needs to have a point of view and a philosophical thought
• marketing campaigns need to be associated with a “big idea”, which stitches together and integrates those being addressed – instead of shouting for attention, only to be switched off
• the marketing message becomes more powerful the more truthful it is
• marketing should be about the offering of something “better” – which is what consumers yearn for (and this is the reason for claiming: “Health Tourism has changed for the better”)
• marketing “claims and assertions” (regarding health-related services”) should be evidence-based and refer to “best practices” (where these have been established)