Cockfighting...What NOT To Do!

My “weekend getaway” mountain cabin is finally under contract.

In the present day real estate market that’s like winning the lottery.

One of the aspects of the mountain community that I will not miss is the cock-fighting farm.

Although, cockfighting seems to be the new marketing forum for a number of firms.

Case in point…hospitals in the healthcare field.

I won’t name names, but I will simply say that the two players I am going to highlight are essentially the only two hospital options available to residents of the community where they are located.

One of these players paid BrandVenture a good amount of money to help them assess market perceptions, evaluate positioning options and develop a 5-year brand-building plan.

In taking on the assignment, we went out into the community and spoke with residents, business owners, physicians and community leadership.

It was refreshing to hear all of those audience groups talk about the emotional experiences that they found delivered by our client and how those experiences differentiated the hospital from what the competitor across town provided in their “system of healthcare.”

We completed our work and were actually moving ahead on some really great advertising creative that tapped right into the heart of the emotional chords of their experience offering…no pun intended!

BUT…

The hospital CEO retired and a new guy was hired.

The new CEO is barely 40 and came on board from a smaller hospital in Florida.

The CEO at the other hospital is a Baby Boomer that has been in the business about twice as long.

The new new CEO of the hospital never returned a single phone call we made and I will put some money on the table, never read any of the work we completed.

At first, we took it personally. But that did not last long.

Within a week after the new CEO came on board, the talk of the town was that he was making all the staff wear different uniforms color-coded by department.

Should we say, the new CEO was not well-liked by those working “the line.”

What then followed was a set of ads declaring “we are better than the other hospital in town” ads touting their new machines, their certifications and their awards.

Oh…and the new CEO used that four-letter C-word of healthcare marketing that the other hospital had in its newspaper ads and billboards.

The word that consumers say has been so overused and abused in healthcare that they don’t believe any claim of it.

And what did the other hospital CEO in town do?

Welcome to the cockfight!

The ads tout that they’re each #1.

Others declare new awards and certifications.

One of the ad series features a picture of a machine.

Other ads feature pictures of staff teams standing in front of machines.

Each new ad set declares “we are bigger and better”… and of course “we care”.

The other hospital’s ad running in today’s newspaper claims to be “a Primary Certified Stroke Care Center from The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.”

Wow. That’s an emotional differentiator! And certainly one that Joe will remember when his wife Joanne is having a stroke!

At least “we care” is easier to say!

Not that I have direct observation of an actual cockfight, but It’s like watching those cocks strutting around crowing and ruffling their features in the fields where those mountain farmers have them housed!

Cockfighting is not limited to healthcare or to smaller size companies.

Think about the AT&T versus Verizon ads. Think about the GM versus MINI Cooper Ads. Think about the Coke versus Pepsi ads.

Why am I sharing this story in the blog-logue?

Because when brands do this, it spells opportunity for the brands that “get it” and raise the bar above the cockfighting.

Something tells me with this being an election year, there will be a lot of political ads to watch from which we can learn what not to do!