Marketing the Holocaust

As a crew of self-professed healthcare marketing junkies, we know we have a triple challenge to:

• engage
• educate
• encourage people to take action 

Like the rest of the extroverts at our agency, I don’t back down from a challenge. But when I took on marketing to 3^rd generation Holocaust survivors in Boston, I thought I might have met my match.

You see, in 2009, my wife, friends, and I started a support group in Boston for Holocaust survivors’ grandchildren (3^rd Generation) called Boston 3G. Marketing was my task.

Tough subject to market.

I was striking out until I considered the success of flash mobs at attracting attention. Could that work for us?

On May 29^th, at 1:20 pm (to honor the 1.2 million children who died in the Holocaust), our group of 115 people froze on cue, right in the middle of Boston’s Fanueil Hall.

For six minutes—to honor the six million who perished—we held our poses, taking time to:

• remember 
• honor the memory of family members
• be thankful that we live in a country where we are free to practice our religion as we choose
• reflect on our own lives  

Was it a success?

One way to measure? Listen to the typical conversations among tourist families, like this one:

“Mommy, what are they doing?” asked an elementary-school kid in his newly purchased Cheers t-shirt, the tag still flopping out of his back collar.

“It looks like they are remembering the Holocaust,” she answered, after reading one of our green t-shirts.

“Mommy, what's the Holocaust?”

That sure sounded like success to us.

Marketing the Holocaust presented a tricky, triple set of challenges, to:

• engage
• educate
• encourage people to take action

Sound familiar?

Striving for success is what we do as extroverts. It is our indefatigable desire to make a difference, with just the right balance of:

• information
• imagery
• imagination

All to leave an impression on the people that get touched by our work.

Thanks for letting us share.

Matt

Why Boston Is Poised to Be the Hub of Patient-Centered Healthcare

A cross section of 50 members of the Who’s Who of Boston-area healthcare gathered on June 25 at our invitation for a spirited discussion around a rallying call to “Make Boston the Nexus of Patient-Centered Healthcare.” The evening provided an exciting perspective on how many patients are managing their health outside of the formal healthcare system.

Cosponsored by North Bridge Growth Partners and organized by Future Forward, the event’s centerpiece was the panel moderated by Scott Kirsner, Innovation Economist at The Boston Globe. This roundtable discussion among trend setting entrepreneurs and leading policy makers in self-directed health and wellness included:

• David Dickinson from Zeo, an online sleep-management company
• Jason Jacobs of FitnessKeeper, which is focused on tracking, measuring, and improving fitness
• Joseph Kvedar from the Center for Connected Healthcare, which does research in technology-enabled healthcare delivery  
• Frank Moss of the MIT Media Lab, specializing in new-media medicine
• David Rose from Vitality, that makes devices to improve medication adherence
• Sonny Vu of AgaMatrix, the company that made the first iPhone-based blood glucose monitor

The lively conversation focused on the opportunity to make Boston the hub of patient-centered healthcare, just as Silicon Valley is the nexus of technology-based innovation. The group identified some important advantages that the Boston area has in supporting this trend:

• A strong digital-technology community, including entrepreneurs and developers
• World-class medical expertise and data capabilities, such as researchers, practitioners, and Big Data from research and clinical trials
• An active venture-finance presence with a strong track record in funding therapeutic, device, and diagnostic companies

We were indebted to the audience for their dynamic participation in helping make the exchange a success. We were also fortunate to have representatives of many of the major players in patient-centric health present, including:

• Digital and mobile health startups and later-stage companies, such as OhmUniverse, PrescribableApps, Healthrageous, and Humedica
• Payers and employers, including BC/BS of MA and AthenaHealth
• Academic medicine and policy experts, such as BU, and MIT Media Lab’s New Media Medicine group
• Pharma professionals, including Biogen-Idec and extrovertic
• Investors, including Rock Health and North Bridge Venture Partners 

The group’s collective findings are best expressed in the image above. It shows the Boston-area healthcare ecosystem that has developed over the last several years. Scribed courtesy of CollectiveNext.

This conversation is far from over. We will continue it in upcoming posts, where we’ll focus on the substance and implications of patient-centered health, including:

• What’s Goin’ On?: Who is managing their own health?
• Rage Against the Machine: Giving consumers healthcare control and independence
• Love the One You’re With: Opportunities for providers, payers, and pharma

Check back with us periodically and, in the meantime, thanks for letting us share.

Bill