Let's say you are in your basic Marketing 101 Course and your instructor gives you the following statistics and scenarios:
1. 70% of the market feels your product (widgets) needs to have a major product overhaul with how it is produced. The market feels that sometimes it's a pain to buy your widget when they need it, it's confusing to use on occasion, and is starting to think your widget costs too much. But, in reality it really doesn't know for sure because in most cases somebody else is paying for it.
2. 80% are generally satisfied with the widget(s) they have purchased or have used over the years.
3. And, you (as the maker of widgets), have more than enough information to acknowledge that the way you produce and deliver your widgets today is not sustainable under your current business model and you know that you are going to have to pass more of the expenses on to your customers (the 80% that is satisfied) in order to survive; the 80% number is going to decline over time.
What do you do?
The items above provide a pretty basic view of what we're dealing with in health care. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll of Americans provided the statistics for #1 and #2; we added #3 as a pretty safe assumption.
The "marketing answer" on how to spin your position is going to depend on which side of the debate you are on.
For those who feel the health care debate is a "non-issue" and only requires some minor adjustments, you're strategy is going to be focused on relying on the "80% Satisfied" as your foundation. Why try to reform something that 80% of the market is satisfied with? Why go to all of the expense of revamping when your customers are satisfied. They like the widgets they have. You might try to keep Items #1 and #3 in the background. You'll have to acknowledge they exist to some extent, but most customers like what they have so we won't rock the boat.
For those who feel a total revamp of our system is required, you'll be focusing on Items #1 and #3. You'll have to acknowledge item #2 but the main message is going to point to all of the flaws in the system of today, probably some bad guys to pin it on, and trying to get some of the "80% Satisfied" to move in your direction.
The marketing effort of the health care debate is about to take off. The "Harry and Louise" initiative in the 90's proved that marketing can have a dramatic influence in the public policy debate of health care. And, we've all seen from the political ads of the past how far some are willing to go to get their point across, truthful or not. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the basic consumer still does not fully understand how this system works and is looking for information. The general public will be very vulnerable to the marketing messages that are created over the next few months.
We've got our views on where we think this should end up. But, we've been following it daily and studying and evaluating all of the options on the table. We believe we have come to an "informed conclusion" on health care reform based upon our views of the relevant information and research. We will listen, but won't be as vulnerable to the marketing strategies that are about to be launched from both sides.
Let's hope that the messages that are about to hit the airwaves are informative, truthful, and present all of the facts so individuals can make their own "informed conclusion" on health care reform. We hope the outcome doesn't once again boil down to who has the most money or can scare the audience the best. We hope the messages focus on the real health care issues facing our country to help the market understand and comprehend the realities we're facing.
This is too important an issue to only focus on "spin". We can't forget the substance behind the ideas.
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