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Mayo By Francesca Dickson
Mystique
How word of mouth has ensured the leading patient-centered health care brand’s relevancy from 1863 to tomorrow Every industry has its iconic leading companies—the Disneys, Ritz-Carltons, Apples and Microsofts of the world. And health care is no different. Of the many health care brands competing for market share and consumer respect, Mayo Clinic is consistently held up on a global scale as a premier health care organization. With
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frequent mentions in scientific journals and news outlets, and even on shows like “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Simpsons,” Mayo Clinic is widely recognized as one of the top organizations in health care. With a marketing approach that has primarily focused on word of mouth, what is it that makes Mayo Clinic so special?
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Roots Run Deep Mayo Clinic developed gradually from the medical practice of a lone pioneer doctor, Dr. William Worrall Mayo, who settled in Rochester, Minn., in 1863. His dedication to medicine became a family tradition when his sons, Drs. William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo, joined his practice in the 1880s. From the beginning, innovation was their standard, and they shared a pioneering zeal for medicine. As demand for their services increased, they asked other doctors and basic science researchers to join them in the world's first private integrated group practice. Although the Mayo doctors were initially viewed as unconventional for practicing medicine through this teamwork approach, the benefits of a private group practice were undeniable. As success of their method of practice became evident, so did its acceptance. Patients discovered advantages to a pooled resource of knowledge and skills among doctors. In fact, the group practice concept the Mayo family originated has influenced the structure and function of medical practice
caring attitude of the doctors and staff. This news traveled around the country and the world by reputation, publication of scientific articles, teaching and, ultimately, word of mouth. Through the years, Mayo Clinic has nurtured and developed its founders’ style of working together as a team—shared responsibility and consensus still provide the framework for decision-making. Mayo Clinic was created with a patient-centered focus. Every employee knew the clinic’s core value—“the needs of the patient come first”—and the clinic’s structures continue to support that primary value today. Mayo’s logo, three interlocking shields, represents education, research and clinical practice, with practice in the center.
Brand Basics Mayo Clinic’s service focus, combined with its excellent patient outcomes, produced a powerful brand. By the 1920s, Mayo had become a nationwide destination hospital for patients and doctors. In 1924 new train service was required to accommodate heavy passenger traffic from Minneapolis to
B R A N D A D VO C ATE S : All of Mayo Clinic’s employees, from staff to physicians, know the clinic’s core value of treating the needs of the patient. Above, an em-
ployee and a surgical team provide care. On the opposite page, Mayo One, the clinic’s emergency medical helicopter service provides high-level critical care and rapid transportation for patients, and Vivian Williams hosts Mayo Clinic Medical Edge, a weekly medical news package for television, radio and print newscasts.
throughout the world. Along with its recognition as a model for integrated group practice, the Mayos' Clinic developed a reputation for excellence in individual patient care. Doctors and students came from around the world to learn new techniques from Mayo doctors, and patients came from around the world for diagnosis and treatment. What attracted them was not only technologically advanced medicine, but also the
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Rochester. In 1928 The New York Times published long feature articles on the construction of a major new clinic building, and in 1934 President Roosevelt visited Rochester and paid tribute to the Mayo brothers. Following the death of the Mayo brothers in 1939, Mayo Clinic continued to expand in size and prestige. By the 1960s, patients were coming to the clinic from all 50 states
and almost every country in the world. A 1969 front-page feature article in The Wall Street Journal asked, “What is there about the Mayo Clinic that makes so many people—both the famous and the obscure alike—think it’s the best place to go for medical care?” During the 1980s and ’90s, Mayo extended its brand with phone consultation services such as “Mayo Clinic Lifestyle Coaching” and “Ask Mayo Clinic” and reference works such as Mayo Clinic Health Letter and the Mayo Clinic Family Health Book (Oxmoor House, 2009). In the 1980s, new campuses opened in Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz., and a regional network of clinics and small hospitals was established in the 1990s. Mayo is known for innovative treatments for complex diseases and the collective knowledge and expertise that can help the most unique and complicated patient. Thanks to these factors, as well as employees who are focused on putting the needs of the patient first, Mayo is consistently ranked at the top of lists of the country’s best hospitals.
The Sum Total From its earliest years, Mayo Clinic sought out innovations in all aspects of health care, from medical discoveries to new methods of delivery and service. In the early 1900s, the Mayo brothers and their colleagues founded the first integrated group practice of medicine and invented the first system of patient medical records. They studied innovative surgical techniques, developed new nursing procedures and built aesthetically pleasing structures that promoted the health of the whole person. The outcome of these efforts is one of the most trusted brands in American business.
Every day, at every location, the Mayo brand is reinforced by keeping “the promise” that patients expect—an unparalleled experience. There are a myriad of institutionally held standards that reach beyond the patient/physician encounter creating the brand. Dr. William Worrall Mayo defined standards of conduct for the staff that are still held today. The moment a patient steps onto a Mayo facility, he is greeted by employees who are inspired by the mission. Stop any employee and ask her what the Mayo mission is and she will tell you, “The needs of the patient comes first.” Empowered by this mission, employees are helpful, courteous and will always go the extra mile for guests. From the elegance and efficiency in the facilities to the dress code of employees, everything works in harmony to create an aura of expertise and respect for the patient accompanied by warmth and friendliness. Dr. Henry Plummer, the architect of many early Mayo innovations, thought of buildings as tools to help physicians provide efficient patient care. He staunchly believed in the importance of using good materials to create well-designed, well-constructed facilities planned for easy maintenance. Mayo Clinic’s structures are designed to provide a friendly, warm and spotlessly clean environment to continue Plummer’s concepts. They are built and maintained with the intention of advancing the integrated model of medicine to the next level of excellence. Exam rooms at Mayo are consistently similar, efficient, warm and unpretentious as they convey to patients a quiet and confident expertise.
Employees: The Greatest Asset In their 2008 book Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic:
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Inside One of the World’s Most Admired Service Organizations (McGraw-Hill, 2008), co-authors Leonard Berry and Kent Seltman describe the icon’s brand: “The Mayo Clinic brand was created by physicians and administrators and hundreds of support staff members dedicated to the humane delivery of clinic services. No marketing textbooks or marketing consultants guided the founding of the brand. Mayo had a one-person marketing staff from 1986 until 1992. To this day it uses little media advertising to promote clinical care. Indeed, Mayo Clinic’s brand story defies the commonly held assumption that great brands require great advertising.” Mayo Clinic leadership knows the brand is dependent on its greatest asset—its employees. Building that critical employee component appears to be a simple recipe of three ingredients. These include hiring and training the right people; sharing stories of the Mayo heritage to create a shared understanding of the organization’s values nourishing the roots the Mayo family laid down; and sharing stories from patients and staff both internally to employees and externally through publications and blogs like Sharing Mayo Clinic. The voice of Mayo Clinic is authentic. Today Mayo Clinic’s department of public affairs covers institutional communications, community relations, social media and marketing all working as an integrated team, with more than 30 employees in marketing alone. In 2010, Mayo Clinic developed an internal marketing campaign for employees, known as “The Mayo Effect.” Filled with candid con-
versations and transparent acknowledgment of hard times, employees were thanked and recognized for going above and beyond on a regular basis. The campaign recognized that everyone who works at Mayo Clinic, not just physicians, makes the patient and visitor experience what it is each day. The Mayo Effect has reset for employees a new sense of purpose. Mayo Clinic knows patients have choices. When patients travel the world to visit, and often spend several days on campus, that experience, that brand promise, depends on employees who individually and collectively are committed to changing lives, advancing medicine, fostering hope and transforming health care delivery. The campaign is built on four strategic requirements to ensure employees live their primary values, while enhancing and expanding Mayo’s core business: • Provide solutions and hope for patients. • Be most trusted and affordable. • Generate, evaluate, integrate and manage knowledge and information. • Transform Mayo Clinic’s health care delivery process.
Reaching Patients in New Ways Today, Mayo Clinic is reaching patients in ways never imagined by the Mayo family founders. Social media, an online patient community and innovative methods of delivering care with technology makes it easy to reach patients in new ways and with new models of care delivery. Mayo Clinic knows patients and non-patients want that Mayo Clinic
H U M B L E B E G I NN I N G S : Mayo Clinic has not forgotten its rich history, which dates back to 1863. Above left, a photo form the early 1900s shows the Mayo
brothers in the clinic’s first operating room; from left to right, Dr. Charles H. Mayo and Dr. William J. Mayo. The above right photo is of a bronze statue of the brothers at Feith Family Statuary Park in Rochester, Minn.
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Mayo Clinic leadership knows the brand is dependent on its greatest asset—its employees. Building that critical employee component appears to be a simple recipe of three ingredients. experience outside the exam room and have made it a priorchange. In 2008 the “My Answer Was Mayo Clinic” ity to provide it. That brand promise is kept with each new campaign began in Jacksonville, Fla., and in 2011 the tendril Mayo unfolds, ensuring that, no matter what avenue “Illuminations” campaign was created. is used to connect with Mayo Clinic, there is a response in Thirty-second artistically filmed mini-movies acted as keeping with the in-person experience. subtle and elegant commercials with accompanying print Mayo Clinic was among the first health care organizaads describing the many connections Mayo Clinic brings to tions to embrace social media; its Facebook page has nearly solving problems and patients needs. Both campaigns were 93,000 likes and it has roughly 342,000 followers on simple and understated, ultimately sharing patient stories in Twitter. A social media policy was created early on, so emtheir own voices or connecting the viewer back to other paployees felt empowered to participate and know the expectients, online communities or Mayo Clinic, retaining Mayo’s tations and rules for participation. By engaging employees, a authentic voice. network of committed “eyes” was created. When an inquiry A premier brand creates a loyalty and a bond with conor a problem is brought forward, someone quickly responds sumers by understanding their needs and wants at each on behalf of the institution. This standard holds true for turn. This is created and reinforced with every point of conTwitter and other online outlets beyond Mayo’s walls. tact—something Mayo Clinic founders knew instinctually YouTube is one of Mayo’s most successful online outreach and is carried out daily at Mayo Clinic. tools, a place where education and updates are pushed and The Mayo brand resides through personal experiences where visitors and patients post video and commentary. within the hearts and minds of patients and those that acThis could have become a nightmare for Mayo Clinic’s company them, as well as with employees, who are also brand— just imagine the patients. The Mayo Clinic snarky comments and acmystique is the sum total cusations that can arise on of experiences and percepany public online outlet. tions, including experiences Need More Marketing Power? But when such comments that are carefully planned, occur, loyal patients and such as the patient visit— go to marketingpower.com the public step up to deas well as those that are fend Mayo Clinic. With so not. mhs AMA Articles many evangelists genuinely Brand Love, Journal of Marketing, 2012 touting their own Mayo The Experiential Differential, COLLOQUY, 2012 Clinic experience, Mayo’s ✒ Francesca Dickson is a brand continually rises to communication specialist in public AMA Podcast Users Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of the top. affairs at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Your Business, presented by the AMA, 2012 No doubt the marketing Minn. She may be reached at model of Mayo Clinic will Dickson.Francesca@mayo.edu.
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