Tag: UCHealth

The Art of Storytelling

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Storytelling is an important concept, but it’s often misunderstood. It is absolutely crucial for creating meaningful marketing efforts that stand out, but few B2B marketing leaders are using it to its full potential.

On this special 80th episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew revisits 5 past interviews that highlight key elements of successful storytelling and its use in marketing.

To hear these insights from successful story-driven marketers, click here to listen now!

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Why you need a signature story rooted in emotion – with David Aaker of Prophet

David explains that when trying to convey a message, a CMO has two options: share facts or tell stories. And facts don’t work. B2B storytelling must magnify the problem, offer a solution or accentuate the outcome. This can artfully be done by combining customer testimony with just enough facts to provide a reliable level of reality. However, simply listing data and facts is a record-keeping entry – not a compelling marketing campaign.

How and when to put emotion into your ads – with Manny Rodriguez of UC Health

Manny’s healthcare marketing philosophy goes against the grain: He always strives to connect to the human side of B2B marketing by putting the patient first. He shares how to nurture the emotional component of storytelling to effectively connect with the audience, as well as his 4 top lessons all CMOs should learn.

Brand identity and storytelling need to be strongly united – with Martin Häring of Finastra

One of the biggest challenges any CMO will face is the task of creating a new brand identity without losing the loyalty and enthusiasm of existing customers. It goes far beyond choosing new colors, a new name, and a fancy new logo. From legal issues, to market research, to the process can be daunting. Martin discusses the foundational principles – including storytelling – that helped him get the job done quickly and successfully.

With innovative storytelling, marketing campaigns can resonate with millions – with Rich Kylberg of Arrow Electronics

Arrow’s story-driven marketing campaign reached people around the world. Rich and his team connected with Sam, a former indy car driver who had become a quadriplegic following a crash in 2000. Arrow was given an opportunity to create technology with real human benefits, and to share a story that would engage people and bring about positive change. Some time after being connected, Sam was able to take his family for a Sunday drive again. Rich explained that Arrow wants to share stories that can “drive technology innovation forward and inspire people to dream big because anything is possible.”

How storytelling can be the foundation of a successful rebrand regardless of scale – with Carolyn Feinstein of Dropbox

With over half a billion worldwide users, Dropbox is major player in cloud storage. Despite their success, they wanted a to expand to ensure their continued status as an industry leader and innovator. With a story-driven campaign, Carolyn helped successfully execute the massive rebrand that coincided with a new company mentality.

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Quotes

  • Aaker: “The media world is clutter, today. It’s really hard. Into this context steps story.”
  • Häring: “In marketing, we are all storytellers. We have to create emotions.”
  • Feinstein: “At the end of the day, our role is to understand the people that we’re trying to reach deeply and to know the kind of stories that will resonate most deeply.”
  • Kylberg: “It was a wild success. This initiative totally transformed the company, totally pushed us into the dominant position in our industry.”
  • Rodriguez: “We took the risk of really tasking the patient with telling the story, and the payoff and the benefits have been huge.”

The Power of Storytelling

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It’s not easy to get a breakthrough marketing strategy off the ground; it’s even more difficult to kick start a new idea in a highly regulated industry. This roadblock didn’t stop Manny Rodriguez, CMO of UCHealth, from developing an eye-opening campaign. Through patient-centric storytelling, he managed to help the university hospital network invigorate its message. This tender approach isn’t just business for Rodriguez. He is a leukemia survivor who underwent many of the types of treatments his team now promotes.

Manny Rodriguez discusses how UCHealth embraced the power of storytelling on the Renegade Thinkers Unite podcast. If you’d like to listen to the episode, click here. If you don’t have time to listen, you can read the notes below for a summarized account of the interview.

Rodruguez’s healthcare marketing philosophy goes against the grain. Hospitals and clinics often showcase their technologies and services in advertisements, much to Rodriguez’s chagrin. “I just believe healthcare marketers in general have lost sight of what matters,” he says. “We’ve gotten away from the fact that what we do is about the patient.” Instead of explaining how great UCHealth’s treatments are, Rodriguez set out to reach patients on a more personal level.

Rodriguez wanted his UCHealth’s advertisements to focus on clients and their experiences. Being a leukemia survivor, he understands the pain patients have to deal with. Rodriguez says, “Most health care brands look at themselves as the hero. We believe that our patients are the heroes.” UCHealth decided to let its heroes tell their stories from their own perspectives. The result was a series of heartfelt video testimonies given by actual UCHealth patients, like this one:

You can’t help but cry during these 90-second flashes of affection. As Rodriguez notes, “You really feel, hear, and sense the heartache and the emotion and the feeling in the story.” Although the scripts are written internally, the patients themselves deliver the lines. Who else could?

One of the biggest challenges Rodriguez has faced is advertising services that have such a negative connotation. “Nobody wants what I have,” Rodriguez says. “Nobody is sitting there going, ‘I can’t wait to have my liver removed or my heart surgery!’” The UCHealth marketing team remedies this problem by delivering what Rodriguez calls a “lifestyle brand.” The CMO continues, “I want to provide you [with] content and resources, and talk to you in a way that prevents you from being broken more than selling you a service when you’re broken.” Warmth is at the heart of the strategy, giving patients hope and comfort in UCHealth’s message.

Enhancing patient experience plays a big part in the brand’s marketing strategy. When someone goes to a hospital, obviously the biggest goal is to leave healthy. For Rodriguez, the peripherals of a hospital visit also matter greatly. Elements like staff friendliness, parking accessibility, and cafeteria food quality make a difference in the patient’s experience. “It’s the softer side of healthcare that I think we’re looking at as an organization—How do you build the softer side?” Rodriguez wonders. UCHealth answers this question by staffing itself with sympathetic employees. While health remains the top priority, patient experience is still important.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Rodriguez, as his own encounter with terminal illness has driven him to help other patients in need. He says, “Being a survivor of ultimately a disease that takes many lives is a motivator for everything I do.” Rodriguez recalls the personal experiences he’s had with medical professionals—some great, and some not so great. Ultimately, those instances have given him the drive to connect with patients through heartfelt passion and understanding. (These show notes were prepared by Jay Tellini.)