Director's Blog
Health Marketing Musings
from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
In reviewing the work of health marketing at CDC last year, I am extremely proud of the amazing things we achieved. If one word were required to sum up 2008, that word would have to be busy! In 2008, we created and launched CDC-TV, an online series of direct-to-consumer health videos. We posted exciting and interactive Health-e-Cards, created original podcasts and vodcasts with centers throughout CDC, and greatly expanded our outreach with web-based and mobile technologies. We also advanced and strengthened our science base through increased research, evaluation, and collaboration. Because of these efforts, people can now access CDC's science-based health messages and resources in ways that are more customer-centered than ever before, not only in print, but also on the air, interactively on the web, on their mobile devices, and through the social media they use.
If the past few years of health marketing at CDC have taught us anything, it is that the days of the passive consumer who receives top-down health information are virtually gone. People now choose participatory models of information exchange in which they seek out and interact with information, often using web-based and mobile technology. This shift challenges health marketers to use customer-centered strategies to keep up with people, because for health information to reach people, it must be delivered using the same cutting-edge media that people already use to access all the other relevant information in their lives.
Some of the ways health marketing at CDC has met this challenge can be found in Health Marketing for a Healthier Nation and a Healthier World, a report that gathers together selected success stories from CDC's health marketing work in 2008. Last year, our projects ranged in scale and focus. Some were domestic cross-cutting programs, like the entertainment education program in which CDC subject-matter experts partnered with entertainment industry writers and producers to deliver accurate health messages to millions of Americans through daytime and primetime television shows. Several other domestic projects were dedicated to raising awareness about influenza, a leading cause of illness in the United States. Health marketers used many new technologies, including social networking sites, streaming video and audio, and mobile technology to raise awareness about the flu immunizations.
Other projects were more targeted, such as the mobile KnowIt Campaign, which allowed people to use their mobile phones to text their zip codes to "KNOWIT" and receive a text message that identified nearby HIV testing sites. In another targeted effort, CDC partnered with Georgia Institute of Technology to connect patients' glucose meter readings to a diabetes management website. In one of CDC's global projects—to prevent and control emerging infectious diseases in China—health marketers adapted U.S. risk communication strategies for China and then used technology to deliver messages to China's workforce.
No matter a project's scope, the creativity and thoughtfulness used to captivate health consumers showed in every effort. Every project worked to engage people, because people—if successfully and deeply engaged—are more affected by health information and therefore more likely to act on the information and more likely to pass it along to others in their lives. By applying health marketing in a customer-centered and cutting-edge manner, CDC is ensuring that people receive accurate, science-based information where, when, and how they need it to make healthy decisions. In a sense, by encouraging the spread of CDC health information and interventions through health marketing, CDC is engaging in its ultimate partnership: a partnership with the people to further the cause of public health.
As great as 2008 was for health marketing at CDC, I'm very much looking forward to 2009 and the many opportunities the year will bring. Please let me know your ideas and expectations for the year and your suggestions for advancing our work.
Click on Health Marketing for a Healthier Nation and a Healthier World to review some of 2008's health marketing success stories.
Posted by Jay on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 3:00pm ET
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