Healthcare Organizations Will Need to Tailor Not Only Their Message, But Also Their Services to Meet the Needs of Generation "Xers" and "Yers"

Business Wire, April 16, 2007

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c53968) has announced the addition of Healthcare for the New Generations: Understanding and Engaging Generation "Xers" and "Yers" Through Tailored Products and Channels, an Audio Conference on CD-ROM to their offering.

Healthcare for the New Generations: Understanding and Engaging Generation "Xers" and "Yers" Through Tailored Products and Channels, a March 28, 2007 audio conference on CD-ROM, provides an overview of the media preferences of these generations and the impact these preferences are having on healthcare marketing, products and services.

See how the Mayo Clinic is using new media channels to promote its service and WellPoint's Tonik health plan is utilizing urban language and cutting edge graphics to market to 19-29 year-olds.

Listen to some pre-conference comments from our audio conference presenters.

As Generation Xers and Yers move into the realm of healthcare consumers, healthcare organizations will need to tailor not only their message, but also their services to meet the needs of these generations. During this 90-minute audio conference, we examined how healthcare organizations are beginning to use new media channels to develop products and services to attract this generation and how to create a healthcare marketing message that resonates with them.

Lee Aase, manager of national media and new media at the Mayo Clinic, presented a case study on how the Mayo Clinic is taking advantage of new media channels as a creative communication opportunity, and Scott Schroeder, president and CEO of Cohorts Inc., described characteristic distinctions between these generations and how these differences can influence marketing channels. Aric Hooverson, account director, Grey Worldwide San Francisco and Shelley Patchin, director of advertising, Wellpoint, described the research, development and marketing of Tonik, Wellpoint's health plan that is tailored to the lifestyle and attitudes of "young invincibles" (young adults ages 19 to 29).

You will get details on how to:

-- Leverage new media channels to market and engage the younger generation;

-- Design content and applications for mobile phones;

-- Determine which media is the best marketing channel by generation;

-- Use language and imagery that resonates with these segments; and

-- Create a healthcare marketing strategy that addresses the needs of the new generation.

Web-based social networking sites are key to reaching Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers, says Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic's manager of national media and new media, but assuring the validity of healthcare information on these interactive sites can pose a challenge:

Marketing toward younger generations differs from marketing toward baby boomers, says Scott Schroeder, president and CEO of Cohorts, Inc. Marketing channels and type of message should be influenced by the preferences of this audience:

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS AUDIO CONFERENCE?

CEOs, marketing directors, sales executives, health plan executives, new product development executives and business development and strategic planning directors.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

Lee Aase

Lee Aase is manager of national media relations and new media at Mayo Clinic. He leads a team focused on telling stories that enhance understanding of health and medical issues in general, and Mayo Clinic in particular, through mainstream broadcast and print media. More recently his team has been charged with producing content for new media, to enable direct interaction with the general public and with potential patients.

Aase has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Mankato State University (now Minnesota State University, Mankato). He spent more than a decade in political communications, media relations and fundraising at the local, state and federal level before joining Mayo Clinic's Department of Public Affairs in 2000.

Aric Hooverson

Aric Hooverson is account director at advertising agency Grey WorldWide, San Francisco. He leads the Grey agency team for client WellPoint/Anthem's Tonik product line, which focuses on individual insurance plans for the 19-29 year old audience. The Tonik work includes a revolutionary approach to advertising and marketing a product specifically designed for this target market.

Through a unique distribution model, and innovative advertising, Tonik has literally changed the landscape for marketing individual health insurance plans. It has made health insurance meaningful and approachable for 19-29 year olds simply by putting the value of insurance in context with their lives. In 2006, the Tonik campaign won a prestigious Gold Effie Award, multiple American Advertising Federation Addys, and the coveted Jay Chiat Planning Award among other accolades.

A leader in through-the-line integration, Hooverson has over 15 years experience marketing healthcare and health insurance products with agencies such as Grey Worldwide, Foote Cone & Belding, and T3. Hooverson has a master's in Communications and a bachelor's in Liberal Arts from the University of Texas.