|  Scott Regan

If you don’t think hospital advertising will ever be banned, think again. In Vermont, State Representative Steve Maier has proposed legislation that would prohibit hospitals from using money for advertising and marketing. Does it have any chance of passing? Doubtful, as the State would have to prove that such expenditures actually add to healthcare costs, and most economists would argue that advertising spurs competition, which actually leads to cost reductions instead.

But let’s play through on this one and assume Vermont passes legislation banning hospital advertising and the other 49 states follow suit. I, for one, relish such a scenario, as we will quickly see which hospital brands are built from a house of cards and which are built from brick.

No more smoke-and-mirror branding that lures in patients and physicians alike with false promises. No more hollow adjectives claiming to be the biggest, best, lovingest, most advanced, newest, most specialized, smartest, top-rated, and preferred hospital around. No more five stars this, Leapfrog that, JD Power here, Press Ganey there, Magnet praise, and Thomson Reuters accolades.

The brand for every hospital in America would rest solely, entirely, and 100 percent on the patient experience.

But that’s where the brand has been all along.

Savvy hospital communications executives have known for quite some time that what happens inside the walls of the institution is infinitely more important than what is communicated externally. Sure, a good brand communications campaign gives the organization a strong brand voice, but the voice can never be stronger than the brand experience itself.

And in the end, an organization that spends zero dollars on advertising, but has a great brand experience, will trump a poor-performing organization that funnels hundreds of thousands of dollars into marketing. Certainly, the most powerful brands do both – they invest in creating and maintaining a strong brand experience, and they also invest in communicating that brand to their stakeholders.

Still, I relish the day when we strip away all the gloss and let hospitals battle it out on brand experience alone. Only then will the truly brilliant marketers in healthcare get their due.

In case you missed it, in its March 1 issue, Time magazine reported on Martin Lindstrom’s groundbreaking research into neural advertising. This is important reading for anyone in marketing, but particularly for those of us in healthcare.

Lindstrom, a leader in neuromarketing research, has spent the better part of a career trying to ascertain which sounds evoke the most powerful emotional responses. And he believes he has figured it out. The sound that leads the pack – actually, the sound that blows all the other sounds away – may forever change the way hospitals approach television advertising production.

So what sound surpassed all the rest for its ability to generate viewer interest and positive feelings? A baby giggling, which far exceeded the positive responses generated by the distant runners-up, which included the hum of a vibrating cell phone, an ATM dispensing cash, a sizzling steak, and the sound of a soda can being opened and poured.
But let’s stick with the baby.

What hospital hasn’t used a baby in its advertising? In fact, if you go back to the birth of hospital adverting (no pun intended) in the early 1980s, it was mostly a race to see which hospitals could put the cutest babies on the most trafficked billboards. Babies were the kingpin of hospital marketing then, and to some degree, they still are now.
But after reading the Time magazine article, it dawned on me that I couldn’t recall a single time that I actually heard a baby in a hospital TV ad. At least not giggling. This is not surprising, as hospitals are notorious for overlaying soundtracks on their ads that are so syrupy sweet, they could make a diabetic wince.

We have tried so hard to evoke an emotional viewer response through our TV spots with powerful visuals, crisp copy, and heavenly music beds, yet the sound that is the most powerful of all has been masked. As we build our collective brands, it is important to use the tools that can help us craft the strongest, most sustainable brand possible. Who would have thought that the giggle of a baby’s voice would be the strongest sound of all?