Building a brand in health tourism, as in every business, is extremely important. Unclear or poorly considered branding limits success and may lead to failure. Carefully planned and well-executed branding is a critical ingredient to success.
Effective branding will help to generate leads, create preference for your destination or your organization, and will help ensure referrals and repeat visitors – customer loyalty.
WHAT IS A BRAND?
Your brand is the dominant perception of your business or location held by your target audience. A brand is not a logo or a tagline.
What do people think of when they hear the name of your location? If you’re located in Marbella, Spain, for example, the image of an upscale European beachfront holiday destination comes to mind. On the other hand, if you are in New York City or Kuala Lumpur, your audience is more likely to think of a bustling urban location.
The brand of the destination where you are located will have an important effect on the types of businesses that succeed in that location, as well as the types of customers or consumers who are attracted. For example, for a wellness retreat, a bustling urban environment may not be as conducive for promotions as a quiet village in the Alps. To many (although not everyone), the concepts of “bustling city” and “relaxing retreat” are contradictory.
The interaction between the brand destination and Your Offer, i.e., the type of services you want to market, sell, and provide, is also very important. It is possible to successfully market a service or a destination, which at first do not seem to align. A getaway yoga retreat in the heart of Bangkok?11 Sure. A world-renowned medical center in a US midwestern suburb?12 Absolutely.
Brand: How you are seen by your audience
Branding: What you do to create or manage your brand
Position: How you are seen in comparison to your competition
Positioning: What you do to manage your brand position
Effective branding starts with an understanding of the perception of your destination. Global tourism resources provide a starting point to understand how destinations around the world
are seen from the leisure as well as a business travel point of view. Many publications offer periodic rankings of destinations and brands from various perspectives.
Global Destination Ratings
- UNWTO Tourism Highlights: https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284419876
- World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report: https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-travel-tourism-competitiveness-report-2019
- Future Brand: Country Index: https://www.futurebrand.com/uploads/FCI/FutureBrand-Country-Index-2019.pdf
- Interbrand: Best Global Brands: https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2019/
These rating systems may not be scientific or rigorous – and you may not agree with them – but these published lists create media and public relations messages that can be highly influential. What’s important is to use these rating systems to understand how your audience may currently view your destination.
In health and wellness, some brands are very well known; in other words, they have excellent “brand recognition” (for example, Johnson & Johnson, Canyon Ranch, or M.D. Anderson Medical Center, to name a few). Others are not well known or may have no brand recognition at all. Low or no brand recognition is not a bad thing; starting with a blank slate gives you an opportunity to purposefully build your brand.
If your health or wellness brand has some recognition, the next step is to determine exactly what your brand is known for. Is your spa known for its exclusive clientele and out-of-the-way location, or is it known for its local charm, affordability, and easy access? Is your ambulatory surgical clinic known for its established specialization and its “rock star” surgeon, or its low-key efficiency, credentials, and outcomes in an exciting destination? Is your Medical Center renowned for cancer treatments or innovations in orthopedics? It should be clear; that focus is an essential ingredient in marketing success.
The same is true in brands and branding. Saying, “We do everything very well,” leads to almost certain marketing disappointment. It may be the case that your wellness, health, dental, or medical services have a broad base of excellence, but without a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and/or a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) it will be difficult, if not impossible, to stand out among competitors.
You can assess your brand position by interviewing or surveying current or past customers or consumers. (For more information, see Chapter 8, Market Research).
Objective, rigorous assessment of your destination’s brand, and the development of Unique Selling or Value Proposition (USP/UVP), built on an understanding of your offer’s current brand position, are the foundation on which to build a strong brand in health tourism.
Stay tuned for our next article on “Steps To Building A Strong Brand in Health Tourism.”
About the Marketing Handbook for Health Tourism
Health tourism and wellness travel markets are in turmoil. The marketing challenges and opportunities for health tourism destinations and providers of health, wellness, dental and medical services have never been greater – or more complicated! Established destinations and providers of health, wellness, dental and medical tourism are looking for ways to remain competitive, and new entrants to these competitive health, wellness and medical travel markets are looking for the path to success. The Marketing Handbook for Health Tourism offers practical, applicable insights for all these audiences.