Category: Branding

Timing is key

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

iDough-iDough-pintIn light of today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage, Ben & Jerry’s renaming of its staple “Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough” ice cream couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Vermont-based ice cream shop, a long-time supporter of LGBT rights, changed the name of the carton to “I dough, I dough” for a limited time, with all the proceeds benefiting the Human Rights Campaign.

When you’re thinking about rebranding a product, do your research. Know what’s going on in the world. Also, be smart in the way you market your product. Not only did Ben & Jerry’s change the name, they also changed the image on the container.

Be real

Posted on by Brian Lee

I was really disheartened earlier this week. A person in the world on PR–I’ll keep him nameless–seemed like a affable guy. I had attended a presentation of his, and I read his book. His theme was “I’m approachable. Call me. Email me.”

However, that was anything but the case. After he sent me some curt responses to my emails (I assumed he was just busy), I tried to chat with him in person on Monday at an event we both attended. After I introduced myself, he said hi and then immediately walked away and started a conversation with someone else.

The situation reminded me of an instructor I had in college. In class, he made tons of jokes, and he was friendly at a party he hosted at his house. But in office hours, he was a real asshole (an opinion I shared with many of his students).

Whether you’re branding an individual (including yourself) or an organization, it does no good to put lipstick on a pig. Doesn’t the public always find out? I think it’s better to be known as a jerk than a liar.

Another ICD-10 delay ultimately hurts patients

Posted on by Brian Lee

Make no mistake. The U.S. healthcare system is broken. In fact, you should be amazed that the care you receive is as good as it is, meaning that it could be even worse, but it should be a lot better.

What I find particularly laughable is the ongoing delays to the deadline for ICD-10 to be adopted officially. ICD-10 is the latest international classification of diseases and health problems. As I’ve discovered in researching this for a client, its mandatory implementation has been delayed before, first six years ago from the original deadline of Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 1, 2013, then again to Oct. 1, 2014, and then again to Oct. 1, 2015.

Now comes news of basically another delay. The endless push for delays stems from healthcare and medical trade associations spending money to lobby for more and more delays instead of spending that same money on implementation. Here’s an example from the Texas Medical Association.

“One of the major things that is different this time around is that the big hospitals feel ready and we’ve moved into the reality that any further delay is just costing us money,” UMMC Dr. John Showalter said in an interview with healthcareITnews.com.

Did you know that ICD-9 was published in 1977 (though not adopted in the United States until 1995)? It’s so old that 50,000 existing codes can’t be used, most of the terminology is outdated and no new diseases can be added to it. That means healthcare itself can’t improve without the new codes.

“This freezing of ICD-9 does not allow for improvements in the disease specificity that we need to measure outcomes,” Dr. James Kennedy of FTI consulting told HC Pro.

Hospitals and other healthcare providers, as well as groups like the American Medical Association, need to stop whining and begin the implementation process. Otherwise, we can continue to say goodbye to innovation, cost savings and most importantly, patient safety.