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Marketing Deal Has Patients Asking, 'Who's the Doctor Here?'

 |  By Marianne@example.com  
   February 19, 2014

An agreement for exclusive hospital marketing privileges between fiercely competitive, neighboring organizations has led to misleading branding. Now patients in Syracuse are suffering the consequences of the deal brokered by a global marketing giant.


Like successful Olympic athletes, the foundation of a thriving hospital marketing program is the desire to compete and win. It's hard not to make the comparison as the Sochi games roll on, as snowboarders go head-to-head on the half-pipe, skeleton sledders try not to go head-to-ice on the luge track, and ice dancers go overboard head-to-toe in sequins and ruffles.

Of course, when it comes to competing for market share, the spirit of friendly camaraderie soon gives way to all-out rivalry. Such a scenario is playing out in upstate New York, where Crouse Hospital and Upstate University Hospital's long-standing competition has reached new heights—and patients are suffering the consequences.

The trouble culminates in the first aid tent in the Syracuse University Carrier Dome, the university's 50,000-seat arena. If a spectator falls ill or gets injured during a sporting event, Upstate University Hospital doctors will treat her in the first aid station. But you wouldn't know that by the branded door-wrap leading into the first aid area, which promotes Crouse's sports medicine program.

Confused yet? So are patients.

Even the wrap's fine print doesn't help to clarify things: "First Aid Services provided by community EMS and other providers and not by Crouse Hospital."

The misleading branding stems from a three-year deal Crouse made with Syracuse University back in 2012, securing itself as the "Official Hospital of Syracuse University Athletics." That exclusive deal, forged by marketing giant IMG, gives Crouse exclusive hospital marketing privileges for all things related to Syracuse sports—including advertising inside the Dome.

That's right, even though Upstate University Hospital docs treat patients in the first aid tent, they are not allowed to post the organization's name anywhere within the arena. Neither is any other healthcare facility.

Exclusive Rights
Oddly enough, though Crouse has exclusive marketing rights, it does not exclusively care for Syracuse's athletes—Upstate takes care of them, too.

Further complicating the matter is that Jim Boeheim, a Hall of Famer and head coach of Syracuse's men's basketball team and a prostate cancer survivor, has been a spokesman for a few Upstate programs in the past, including in a video promoting the Upstate Cancer Center Team and serving as honorary co-chair of the Upstate Cancer Center campaign.

If he were to tape a video spot for them today, Upstate would not be allowed identify Boeheim as Syracuse's basketball coach. He cannot wear any University apparel or even hold a basketball with the team's orange logo.


"In the past we had videoed at [Syracuse's] Manley Field House," Melanie Rich, Upstate's former director of marketing, told a local media outlet. "After the contract [between IMG and Crouse] we had to shoot in a studio."

Lack of Recognition
As you'd expect, Upstate marketing leaders are not pleased. Nor were they informed by Syracuse or Crouse of the deal before it was signed. "We were not asked or included in any of those discussions," John McCabe, MD, Upstate's CEO, is quoted as saying in the Syracuse Post-Standard article.

For its part, Crouse, which has not released what the deal cost, says it's simply a part of their marketing plan. (Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the deal is a safe bet.)

"One of our strategic focus areas is the development of our sports medicine program," said Bob Allen, a vice president for Crouse told the Post-Standard.

What this all boils down to, at least as far as the Carrier Dome is concerned, is that Upstate doctors will continue to staff the first aid station without the hospital receiving any recognition. If anything, patients might leave believing they were seen by a Crouse physician. Upstate would not say how long their contract to work the arena's first aid station is for, but I wouldn't be surprised if they give up that posting as soon as they are able.

While competition has always been fierce between the two organizations—which are connected by a footbridge, by the way—Crouse has certainly upped the ante this time.

Unlike the Olympics' unambiguous medal podium, in this situation I have to wonder who the real winner is: the patients, the hospital, or, more likely, the global marketing powerhouse, IMG.

Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.

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