Why trust is so vital to healthcare brands.

 

Back in the day, my father worked for Reader’s Digest and its founder, Dewitt Wallace. To “Wally,” trust was everything - both in personal relations and brands. So it’s no surprise that the Reader’s Digest Association is now known by the name Trusted Media Brands.

Recently, Reader’s Digest published its Most Trusted Brands in America award that ran across 40 categories of goods and services. Here are some of the most trusted brands in the health and wellness sector as determined by 3,500 people surveyed.

  • Facial Cleanser: NEUTROGENA

  • Weight-Loss: WEIGHT WATCHERS

  • Multi-Vitamin: CENTRUM

  • Moisturizer: AVEENO

  • Toothpaste: CREST

  • Antacid: TUMS

  • Pain reliever TYLENOL

According to RD, the number one-reason why respondents “trust” a health and wellness brand was because it worked for them in the past. The second reason is the brand’s overall reputation (whether actual or perceived is another interesting branding discussion altogether). The lowest influencer of trust? A claim that the product or service was “new” or “improved.”

Here’s our takeaway for hospitals and healthcare providers:

Trust is earned. A healthcare brand’s reputation does not materialize overnight. It is the result of purposeful brand discipline that starts with listening and being responsive to consumer wants and needs.

Trust is broadly defined. To the healthcare consumer, trust can be both singular and multi-faceted. For example, a hospital can have a reputation for medical “excellence” but still have a mediocre reputation for compassion or community relations. Be sure to know and address all of the areas where your trust or reputation could excel or suffer.

Trust is risk management. A hospital’s brand reputation can suffer not by just acts of malpractice or inferior medical services, but also through marketing related mistakes. These include HIPAA Marketing violations, failure to clear a new marketing campaign name or slogan, or non-permissible use of third-party publications and licensed software.

With proper education and training, your health brand reputation can remain safe and protected. The likely result? Greater market share and competitive advantage.

 
James Hastings