HBA

Senior Vice President and Health Practice Leader, CRT/tanaka

 

Managing corporate reputation is a topic that is buzzing through board-rooms across the healthcare industry. Increasingly, healthcare companies are paying attention to reputation, particularly as it relates to the bottom line. But many organizations still do not have a handle on how to build a strong reputation bank and manage that bank’s trust revenue over the long term. One approach is to effectively use the corporate brand strategy as a continual building block for reputation.

 

The words reputation and brand are often used interchangeably. While similar, there are nuances that differentiate the two. Brand relates to who you are — a corporation, a product, or a person — and the emotional and functional experience others have with you. Reputation is how the experience with you is interpreted over time, such as admiration, indifference, or skepticism. So, if a consumer has a positive experience with your brand and that experience is consistent, a reputation of trust begins to evolve. The greater the trust becomes with each stakeholder group, the harder it is to withdraw or empty the reputation bank when an organization en-counters the inevitable bumps and blows over its corporate lifetime.

 

Creating positive experiences with your organization’s brand requires the whole company’s attention. Relegating management of reputational branding solely to the strategic planning, marketing, communications, and public relations departments will not work. While these professionals are clearly the experts in developing the brand strategy, owning and living the brand becomes everyone’s responsibility … from the CEO to the sales team, internal and external communications, and so on. This can be overwhelming for many companies and often difficult for some to grasp, especially since brand and reputation are made up of intangibles that are not easily measured. But for companies that are serious about reputation, there are four key success factors that should be implemented.

 

SUCCESS FACTOR NO.1: Align the Brand with the Company’s Mission and Business Strategy

 

If your business strategy is to “dominate,” a brand that represents compassion is unlikely. While brands can be dressed up and dressed down — just like individuals — a company’s brand cannot represent something the company’s soul is not. Understanding who you are and what you want to be known for is crucial for creating a realistic and believable brand.

 

SUCCESS FACTOR NO. 2: Know Your Brand and Reputation Equity

 

Healthcare organizations, in particular, understand the value of research when it comes to new product development, scientific discovery, and patient care. But measuring a company’s reputation among investors, customers, and other stakeholders traditionally has been overlooked or written off as too soft. Yet when an issue emerges or a crisis hits, CEOs can be frustrated if reputation recovery takes longer than expected, because the company’s reputation bank was unknowingly low or on empty. Establishing a formal approach to consistently measure equity will allow you to make brand and reputation management decisions based on fact, rather than gut feelings.

 

SUCCESS FACTOR NO. 3: Cultivate a Brand Culture

 

At the foundation of every solid brand are the people who bring it to life: the employees. Employees at all levels impact how external audiences perceive the company’s brand, its personality, and its promise. Proper internal branding will establish thousands of responsible brand ambassadors who represent a company’s brand to the world. Everything a company does projects its brand. If customer service, product development, and sales all represent the brand differently, the brand experience most likely will vary significantly from stakeholder to stakeholder, resulting in an inadvertently earned reputation that is inconsistent and confusing.

 

SUCCESS FACTOR NO. 4: Communicate Often

 

Consistent messaging cannot be emphasized enough. Strong visual and written messages that are repeated frequently over time will create memorable brands and lasting reputations. The key is managing the message to the moment and by audience, and using messaging to paint the brand personality. This is best accomplished by ensuring the message tells a story with which the audience can relate.

 

 

Director, Program Development, ISMPP, and Scientific and Editorial Director, PHOCUS Inc., for the Global Women in Science committee

 

Does one size fit all? That was the question Buket Grau, Strategic Marketing Manager at Stryker Development and current President-Elect of the HBA Boston Chapter, debated with others in late 2003. The outcome has been the Women in Science initiative. This relatively recent addition to the HBA’s services was first piloted in the Boston chapter and is now being rolled out across a number of HBA chapters and affiliates. This initiative demonstrates how the HBA has continued to over the last 30 years to better meet the needs of its members. And it is this flexibility that makes the HBA the thriving, vibrant, relevant community that has been, and continues to be, essential to many members as they develop professionally.

 

The Women in Science Affinity Group evolved from conversations around the unique needs of scientists versus the more business-focused members of the HBA. Grau and others recognized the gap and that something needed to be done.

 

Grau organized the Women in Science Committee in Boston to systematically research the needs and interests of women scientists. The committee, which she co-chaired with Margaret Lee, Executive Director at CombinatoRx and current HBA Boston Chapter board member, used the findings to create a business plan, customized programming, and other offerings to address the void. Despite some challenges, the Boston Chapter Women in Science Affinity Group became active in May 2005. Transitioning from a Pilot Project Women in science was, and remains, one of the fastest-growing segments within the organization. In 2006, in addition to Women in Science programs at global events, the HBA Metro Chapter launched its Women in Science Affinity Group under the leader-ship of Aafia Chaudhry, Executive Vice President, Medical Knowledge Group, and 2007 HBA Rising Star, and Lisa Murrell, Founding Partner, MetaSystem Consulting Group, with support from Charelle Cusberth, a member of the HBA Metro Chapter Board of Directors with responsibilities for all of the Chapter’s Affinity programs. At the end of 2006, the HBA Board created a Women in Science committee to coordinate efforts across the organization and provide more cohesive support to this segment. This committee is co-chaired by Chaudhry and Lee, with strategic input provided by Leigh Ann Luzzi, Worldwide Marketing Director at Ethicon and HBA Director of Business Development, and Elizabeth Mutisya, MD, HBA President-Elect. A long-time supporter of this initiative, Mutisya is excited to see the group’s continued growth and evolution. Looking AheadChaudhry and Lee, along with their committee members, are focused on sharing the significant professional and personal benefits they’ve realized by becoming part of Women in Science, and look toward expanding the reach of this vital affinity group so that others can do so as well. Activities currently underway include the creation of a comprehensive toolkit to support chapter-level efforts, new content on the HBA Web site, and exciting programming at the global and local levels. Addition-ally, the committee is planning broad-scale outcomes research to monitor the needs of Women in Science stakeholders and is exploring novel strategic partnerships with other high-profile, scientific organizations. Partnering with such organizations enhances the incentive for women scientists to get involved with the HBA and expands awareness of the value of HBA membership to this important demographic.

 

Why Join Women In Science? As Carol Vallone Mitchell, PhD, Founding Principal, Talent Strategy Partners, LLC, relates, “You can’t even imagine how important it is to be able to build relationships with female colleagues, which is incredibly valuable to advancement and development.”

 

This is an exciting time of transition as evidenced, for example, by the recent appointment of a woman to head the Pasteur Institute for the first time in its history. Isabelle Buckle, PhD, Global Accounts Director, Applied Biosystems, says, “Women are required to be more knowledgeable about management… [and] need to be trained in skills they usually don’t learn when studying science.”

 

If you’re in a scientific or clinical role or have a scientific background, reach out and take advantage of the tools the HBA offers through Women in Science, yet another member benefit and part of your membership. Get involved and get connected.

 

WOMEN IN SCIENCE: EXPANDING HORIZONS

A DEDICATED MISSION