Guest blog: Cause Adoption – A Strategic Word of Mouth Tool
The following is a guest blog from Anthony Cirillo:
"OK, did you catch this story? A family physician near San Francisco is encouraging members of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to resign in protest of the organization's alliance with The Coca-Cola Company to educate consumers about how Coca-Cola's products fit into a healthful lifestyle. Cola products fit into a healthy lifestyle!?
Dr. William Walker said he had resigned from the AAFP "with great sorrow. I resigned in protest of (AAFP's) judgment in this time of epidemic obesity," he said. The AAFP was not necessarily adopting a cause as much as going into a business arrangement. The offshoot of that was to somehow adopt the cause of healthy behaviors, something certainly supported by family physicians everywhere right? They could not have been more misguided.
What causes are you associated?
People want to align themselves with brands that stand for something they believe in and that they can feel good about. When you adopt causes that your residents and their boomer children care about, they notice and they talk about it. When you take ownership of a cause and bring communities of people together around it and step out of the way, they notice that too and talk to others about it.
Adopt Causes Strategic to Your Business
I joke with orthopedic practices and nursing homes that they should adopt the cause of slips and falls. And they at first look at me and say slips and falls are the main sources of their business. Why would we do that? I then explain that if you can keep someone in a better quality of life for five, ten years inevitably something will happen to someone. They will fall. And when they do where will they seek care? With providers that showed compassion for them and contributed to their better quality of life for a number of years.
Employees Judge Companies to Work for by Causes They Adopt
Employees are looking for more than money. Surveys have shown that students are willing to trade income to work for a company they consider to be socially responsible and ethical.
Causes Aid You in Crisis
When a crisis arises, your track record in adopting causes could help or hurt. Here is a personal example. In the 1990s, I was chief marketing officer for two NJ hospitals. The smaller of the hospitals, one that had been in the community much longer, was the target of closure. As that became a possibility and well before any official decisions were made, we instinctively started heavily marketing the larger and more profitable hospital. That included becoming much more involved in the community, being part of other causes and even owning one around bicycle safety. In another era, the announcement of the closing of the smaller hospital would have been front-page news not just for weeks but for years. Instead because of all the relationships we developed and causes we participated in, the hospital closing story was the topic for one day, one front page of one local paper. That was it. Years of investment paid off in the court of public opinion.
So take the mantle for adopting causes. Just make sure they are the right causes.
All this writing has made me thirsty. Think I'll go have a nice refreshing....."
Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC is a healthcare consultant, senior advocate and blogger for Wellsphere, Medpedia and others in the area of aging, person and patient-centered care and marketing. He consults with long-term care facilities and is available for management retreats and association keynotes. He is the author of "Who Moved My Dentures? His company, Fast Forward Consulting empowers organizations to change the healthcare experience and leverage it in their marketing. Hear him speak at both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the National Council on Aging annual conference in Chicago in March. www.anthonyssong.com