Over
the course of the last month and a half, we have been very focused working in
retail and healthcare. I post limited blog content about healthcare despite
extensively working in the category.
We
have spent a lot of the last six weeks working with the largest healthcare
system that serves greater Detroit.
We have been helping them chart out future growth and specifically how
that growth affects real estate and operations.
Healthcare
today is not only going through a set of changing models related to health
reform, but healthcare leadership is also encountering the effects of
generational changes along with continued advancements related to
technology.
No
question that both Millennials and aging Boomers are presenting opportunities.
I
am entertained on one level by all the urban development that continues to
expand based on Millennial-anchored planning models Millennials who at this moment in time love the charm of
live-work-play.
What
many players in the urban development field overlook is that Millennials are
coupling and having their first kids.
Gone quickly is the discretionary money to spend on a new app or another
round of organic, environmentally friendly micro-brews.
This
past week, I heard word that a past pediatric healthcare system client is
focusing 100% of its marketing efforts against Millennials. I do not find that as an “aha insight,”
but those on the client-side apparently do.
Of
course, if you follow the “drive-by” media, you are hearing claims that range
from Millennials being the largest generation ever, Millennials deciding not to
get married, Millennials electing not to have kids, Millennials electing to
have kids – but outside of marriage and Millennials being trendsetters of a
baby-bust.
Simple
statistical facts challenge much of the “drive-by” media assertions.
Nearly
90% of all babies born in 2016 were birth by Millennials. That percentage is expected to exceed
90% in 2017. More Millennials are finally coupling, getting married and moving
out of their parents’ homes and now more 50% of Millennials actually have at
least one child.
My
assertion is that the vast number of pediatric hospitals… and their ad
agencies… are limited in their understandings and preparation strategies for
the change. How the Millennial
parents communicate, the media the agencies recommend, the relationship
dynamics and the topical points of interest and dialogue engagement marketing
strategies that emerge… are likely to be “out-of-whack!”
Bill
Creekmuir, a gentleman that I was blessed to meet and in some ways is a mentor
of mine, sent me a link to a study that was released by KPMG. Bill served as CFO of one of the top
House & Home corporations in the U.S.
The
study tracked the impact of what it calls the “new consumers” emerging in the
marketplace and it’s not too surprising to discover that Millennials make-up a
significant portion.
What’s
particularly interesting is what the study explored related to health and
wellness in which the report specifically notes two distinctive drivers – an
emerging consumer focus on “sustainability” and emphasis on “health and
wellness.” The report goes on
further to talk about how these drivers affect operational and financial
models. There is limited “digging
deeper” in connecting the two.
Are
all Millennials engaged in a physician-centric, physician-guided relationship?
No.
Are
all Millennials actively involved in proactive a wellness-focus regimen? No.
And
if I replaced “Millennials” with “Baby Boomers,” would the answers change? No.
BUT…
there is a far greater share of both generational groups engaged in health and
wellness and variations of physician alliances that similar age groups in the past.
And that percentage is expected to grow.
When
I interact with healthcare marketers and healthcare agencies, I get a kick out
of their “drive by” strategies that focus around social media. I truly do not make this up. I am sure
that the healthcare CFOs must love their marketing teams who advocate shifting
all the marketing dollars away from “mass media” to “free” social media.
The
deeper dynamics of “sustainability” and “health and wellness” are rooted in emotions
that circulate around “self-destiny,” “immortality,” and “directive
control.” All of which are
proactive that further translates to rational deliverables of “prevention” and
“early detection.”
Healthcare
providers today are beginning to explore the opportunities emerging.
Three
weeks ago, I had lunch with a good friend of mine that is a primary care
physician who is also an internist.
He wanted to get my thoughts on opening up a “wellness management”
center adjacent to his practice.
The
hospital CEOs that I am working with in Detroit are actively engaging in real
estate assessment in the context of “treatment” versus “wellness-prevention”
service centers.
There
is a study that I am beginning to launch that specifically explores provider
perceptions in the context of “coaching” and “guidance” roles versus
“dictatorial” and “treatment” roles.
What
I will leave for readers of this post to think about are several ways in which
healthcare plays a more significantly broader market role than many perceive
and understand.
In
what ways do the deeper dynamics of “sustainability” and “health and wellness”
impact another service category like financial services? Is debt manageable and real estate
investments sustainable?
To
what degree will the desired, natural balance of high-tech and high-touch
impact how advisory council is delivered?
Where
is investment delivery better fulfilled… among Boomers who are beginning to
face the health challenges of aging or the Millennials who are emerging as the
family-centered households of the here and now?
Is
one’s personal fulfillment of “self-destiny” really something that is
self-defined and self-achieved or in actually, a “group task” among the
socially connected Millennials?
The
one thing I certainly know is that when I have my 7-year-old nephew around, I
get my share of exercise… as well as a context of the world around me that is a
whole bunch more accurately perceived than behind those corporate office walls!
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