Upstream blog

ReThink Media

by Craig Gagnon

#2 in a series of blog posts on how to respond to a rapidly changing marketing landscape and the need to ReThink key elements of marketing and planning. Among all the changes that impact marketing, perhaps no single category has changed as radically or as quickly as media. While this is far too big a [...]

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Marketers Must ReThink Everything

by Craig Gagnon

Marketing is in the midst of a revolution. The world is changing and it’s changing fast. Time honored “best practices” have become irrelevant and new practices have yet to be proven. Advances in technology are responsible for many of these changes. Traditional media has declined. New media has emerged. Social media has allowed consumers to [...]

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Planning for today

by Craig Gagnon

This blog is all about planning and strategy and marketing and related subjects. Today is no different, and yet it is. Our day will be great because we’ve planned ahead for a relaxing unstructured gathering of family and extended family. The big plan: enjoy one another’s company and be grateful for the time together. The [...]

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When was your last marketing physical?

by Craig Gagnon

I’ve moved several times in my life. After each move I found a new doctor. And each new doctor started with a medical history, physical exam and blood work to determine the state of my health. However, almost every visit thereafter is due to a specific problem: the flu, a turned ankle or some other [...]

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“Hive Marketing” – Dan Dunlop talks about the strategic use of social media

by Craig Gagnon

By now, you’d have thought that social media had been discussed to death. The numbers of Facebook and Twitter users continue to grow beyond comprehension. Virtually every major brand has indicated a shift in marketing dollars away from traditional media toward social media (although traditional media channels continue to dominate).  It seems that every website [...]

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Health Care Reform: Implications for hospital marketing – a discusion with Karen Corrigan

by Craig Gagnon

What will health care reform mean for you, your family, your employer or employees? If you’re in the business of hospital marketing, the question is particularly urgent. And it was a common topic at this year’s SHSMD (Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development) conference in Chicago last month. In his General Session address on [...]

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Brand Experience Mapping: a discussion with Mark Rudzinski

by Craig Gagnon

Do what you say and say what you do. Large retailers have done a particularly good job of aligning their advertising messages with the brand experience they deliver in store. When Nordstrom’s promotes quality of service, they make sure to deliver it. When Wal-Mart advertises price advantage, you can expect to find consistently lower prices [...]

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How social media and marketing are evolving at Aurora Health Care

by Craig Gagnon

This is the second segment from a discussion with Jamey Shiels, Director of Social Media and Digital Communications at Aurora Health Care of Wisconsin – one of the hospital systems leading the way in the use of social media. In this segment, Jamey discusses how Aurora has evolved their use of social media channels over [...]

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Managing social media risk at hospitals: a discussion with Jamey Shiels, Aurora Health Care

by Craig Gagnon

Craig and Jamey discuss the risks of social media access for hospital employees It’s a topic that’s come up at every hospital in the country – the pros and cons of social media. Despite the continuous and aggressive growth of social media in health care, the majority of hospitals have yet to embrace it. Fewer [...]

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Another “surprising” campaign strategy

by Craig Gagnon

Following my last post on the use of “Surprise” as a strategy, I’ve been sent many examples of surprise as both strategy and tactic – in a variety of categories, including health care marketing. My friend Susen Rasmussen made good use of surprise to grab attention with messages placed in unexpected, but very appropriate places. [...]

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