CEOs' View of Marketing: Cloudy with a Chance of Opportunity

CEOs need your help—they just don't know it yet. The results of the 2010 HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey show a disconnect between marketing-related initiatives hospital leaders plan to take on in coming years and their esteem (or lack thereof) for the marketing department. Lucky for you, the first step to solving a problem is learning about it. We've got you covered there.

Views on marketing quality
One of the largest disparities between marketing executives and CEOs is their opinion about the quality of marketing at their organizations. Marketers seem quite pleased with their work, with most ranking it "very strong" (30%) or "slightly strong" (41%). CEOs' opinions, on the other hand, are less positive, with just 11.5% selecting “very strong” and 42% selecting "slightly strong."

A simple explanation for this is that marketers are immersed in and are proud of their work, so of course they're more likely to rate it higher than CEOs, who might not see all of the work marketers do. The problem here lies in perception—your department could be producing the "Starry Night" of the healthcare advertising world, but if your most influential critic isn't impressed, it might as well be in The Museum of Bad Art. (It's real—I live down the street from it.)

Marketing execs not quite in the inner circle
Continuing with this theme, marketing execs seem to have a skewed vision of their influence on hospital leadership. Fifty-three percent of them say they felt "highly valued" by the CEO and another 34% said they are "moderately valued." Similarly, 42% say they are a “key leader who contributes to overall organizational strategy” and 32% say the CMO is an important operations leader.

Even when marketing execs were asked to rate how valued the marketing department’s efforts were among internal stakeholders, CEOs fared best—they were the only group that the majority of marketing leaders (53%) say "highly valued" their initiatives. After CEOs, the numbers quickly dropped off. Just 15% of marketing leaders say hospital staff highly valued their work. Physicians came in next with 14%, followed by CFOs, with 13%.

But again, CEO responses tell a different tale; just 24% said their chief marketing officer is represented on the senior executive team that works on strategic planning, ranking them eighth on the list—the same spot as in our 2009 survey.

"That tells me that there are a number of healthcare marketers who are either in denial about their role and/or perceived value in the organization, or who are somehow misreading the signals from leadership," Chris Bevolo, president of Interval, a marketing firm in Minneapolis, MN, told HealthLeaders Media. "[Marketers] may want to take a more critical look at if they're really supported the way they think they are."

The good news
Now if you're feeling down on yourself for assuming leadership values your team when these results hint that they might think of marketing as the black sheep of healthcare hierarchy—don’t. All signs point to CEOs needing marketing leadership’s help more than ever as they prepare to build their business and increase market share in the months and years ahead.

When we asked CEOs how they will fuel financial growth over the next five years, two of the top four responses directly relate to marketing. The top answers were expand outpatient services (71%), start or increase promising business lines or facilities (57%), launch a strategic marketing campaign for an existing market (46%), and launch a strategic marketing campaign for a new market (34%).

"This should be good news," Bevolo said. "Organizational leaders seem to be saying they're going to be turning to marketing to help move the organization forward."

Marketers may have a chance to jump in beyond marketing campaigns, too. In fact, more than 75% of marketing executive respondents say they are "sometimes" or "always" involved from the first stages of product or service development. And if you're not, try to get your foot in the product development door now—the practice is universal in the consumer marketing sphere and healthcare organizations are beginning to catch on.

Though some of these results are sobering, there is definitely opportunity out there for marketers who are willing to seize it.

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