Missed Opportunities

Missed Opportunities

Student’s Name

Institution

“Missed Opportunities”

Question 1: Examine the pros and cons from the perspective of Crestview Hospital of the placement of its new billboard directly adjacent to Briarwood Medical Center. Interpret the reaction of customers and other community stakeholders to the billboard postings.

One of the advantages of placing the billboards directly adjacent to the Briarwood medical Centre from the perspective of Crestview hospital is that it offered an opportunity for the facility to market itself to the customers. The billboards was directly influencing patients to visit Crestview medical Centre when they saw the advert. From the Crestview hospital point of view, it was like Briarwood medical Centre was helping them to market themselves. This is because from the analysis of the article, most of the patients look at adverts before making their decisions on which medical facility they are to visit. The placing of the billboard directly adjacent to the Briarwood medical Centre from the perspective of Crestview hospital gave the hospital a competitive advantage. This is because it appeared from the customers who were entering and leaving Briarwood medical Centre as if the Centre was helping to promote Crestview. This was the case given the proximity between the two institutions.

On the other hand, the disadvantage of placing the billboard directly adjacent to the Briarwood Medical Centre from the perspective of Crestview hospital is that it made the hospital to incur the cost of lease to have the advertisement in place. Further, the action was viewed by the competitor’s an unethical practice in competition. This is especially the case given the reaction of the stakeholders in of Briarwood medical Centre. The reaction of these stakeholders perhaps may have led top cold relationships between the two institutions.

Question 2: Use competitive marketing entry strategies to suggest the action that Briarwood Hospital should undertake to counter the messages in the new Crestview Hospital Billboard postings.

To counter the message on the Crestview hospital billboards posting, Briarwood Health Centre should buy Crestview hospital. This is because the message on the billboard made Crestview to gain a substantial share of the market and they are able to offer direct competition to briarwood health Centre. This strategy is the most appropriate because it will help Briarwood to enjoy all the benefits of the advert on the billboard. By the company buying, Crestview hospital it will be able to reduce competition and enjoy an established customer base and a combination of skills and experience in the field (Jaffe, Nebenzahl & Schorr, 2005). In this case, the patients will have a limited choice of where they seek services and they will not have the influence of the marketing communications. The hospital will have all the referral cases and enjoy monopoly in the area (Eliashberg & Jeuland, 1986). This is likely to promote its prosperity given that it will also enjoy the choice of most insurance.

Question 3: Recommend the marketing communication strategy or strategies that both Crestview and Briarwood Hospitals should employ. Justify why the Governing Board of both hospitals should take a proactive role in promoting and implementing effective marketing strategies.

The marketing communication strategies that I would recommend for both the Crestview and Briarwood hospitals are media publication and promotional camps (Balaure, 2002). The media publication will provide a platform where the customers can get information about the hospitals in a more composed way and get time to interrogate it. The printing and making available of the hospitals contacts numbers is the most effective way to reach customers especially in cases of emergency. This will enhance better interaction between the hospital and its main clients thus ensuring that customers understand the various services offered. The printed leaflets with information about the hospitals can then be circulated to wide group of customers. The promotion camps which are held indoor or outdoor will provide an interactive and informative platform for the marketing of the hospitals (Bobocea, Spiridon, Petrescu, Gheorghe & Purcarea, 2016). This is because the camps provide an avenue for continuous health awareness of the customers and awareness sessions for the public in general. Further, this health marketing strategy will help the hospitals to hold health campaigns at different days and venues to reach out to more customers.

The governing board of both hospitals should take a proactive role in promoting and implementing an effective market. This is because of the budgetary implications in the implementation of the market strategies. When the board are fully involved in the implementation of the marketing strategies they will be ready to provide the required financial support required for the implementation of the strategy. Further when the board members of the hospital take a proactive role in the promotion and implementation of the marketing strategies, they will be able to understand the benefits of such strategies and this will make them to support more of such strategies. The involvement of the governing in the implementation of the marketing strategies will ensure that no unethical practices in marketing. This is because the governing board will be having a chance to deliberate on each and every marketing strategy that the hospital is likely to be involved in.

Question 4: Assess the value of the various marketing research tool(s) that Briarwood and Crestview hospital could use to promote effective marketing communication strategies. Justify your response.

There are different marketing research tools that the hospitals can use to promote effective marketing communication strategies. Among these tools are the market surveys, social media and the Google trends which are of great especially in the promotion of effective marketing strategies. Among the value of the marketing research is to help the hospitals to develop a strategy and help to explore the opportunities in the market and avoid unethical practices (Haley, 1968). Research tools could be used in the monitoring of the competitors. This is to help to monitor the moves and counter those moves in order to maintain their respective market shares. The different marketing research tools are important so as to help the hospitals to find financial solutions to the problems experienced in the implementation of the marketing strategies. The marketing research tools could help the hospitals to identify the potential problems in the marketing and be able to respond to those problems before they arise. The hospitals will be able to adjust their marketing strategies.

References

Balaure, V. (2002) Marketing. Bucharest. Romania, Uranus Publishing House.

Bobocea, L., Spiridon, S., Petrescu, L., Gheorghe, C. M., & Purcarea, V. L. (2016). The management of external marketing communication instruments in health care services. Journal of medicine and life, 9(2), 137.

Eliashberg, J., & Jeuland, A. P. (1986). The impact of competitive entry in a developing market upon dynamic pricing strategies. Marketing Science, 5(1), 20-36.

Haley, R. I. (1968). Benefit segmentation: A decision-oriented research tool. The Journal of Marketing, 30-35.

Jaffe, E. D., Nebenzahl, I. D., & Schorr, I. (2005). Strategic options of home country firms faced with MNC entry. Long Range Planning, 38(2), 183-195.