Breaking Traditions with Humanization
Creative Marketing in B2B Healthcare
Assignment Essay as part of NextMBA Marketing Director Course.
Creative marketing, characterized by innovative and imaginative strategies, emerged as a response to an increasingly crowded advertising landscape. The "Creative Revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s demonstrated how fresh, emotionally driven campaigns could help brands stand out. Critical aspects of creative marketing include originality, emotional appeal, storytelling, visual impact, interactivity, and emerging platforms.
Despite proven results in growth and innovation, creative marketing in B2B healthcare has yet to bloom. Industry conservatism, perceived risks, and entrenched traditional approaches have led to missed opportunities for differentiation. This hesitancy may stem from confusing creativity with being bold, loud, or crazy – a misconception rooted in creative marketing's origins in mass consumer advertising.
Healthcare positioning rarely strays from projecting a professional, reliable, and trustworthy image – a natural byproduct of the expectation to heal and cure. Brand expression in this space often relies on deep hues and square containers, informed by color theory and UX design principles. Against a backdrop of protocols, objectivity, and long sales cycles, marketing focus shifts towards building credibility and maintaining a spotless reputation. This approach results in campaigns devoid of impulsive emotions or messaging risks, cementing a conservative style as the B2B healthcare marketing norm.
In the quest to 'perfect' creativity, we've narrowed it to a framework of proven hooks and offensive media, forgetting its original purpose: differentiation. If creative marketing began as a response to differentiate in a market that delivers similar messages to a singular audience, perhaps the ability to segment audience profiles would make the chase for the boldest campaign redundant. True creativity in marketing may be as simple as delivering tailored messages to each individual within a diverse audience – a humanization of delivery that is industry-agnostic.
At its core, marketing is about connection for action. Brands communicate messages hoping to resonate with audiences and inspire action. However, perception is highly individual, and the same message can be interpreted differently based on the recipient's beliefs, culture, and current emotional state. Humanizing marketing injects meaning back into the process, ensuring that people receive the intended messages. By understanding and valuing the audience's perspective, creativity then emerges from the variable ways a message can be crafted and delivered.
This humanized approach to creative marketing in B2B healthcare can start with:
Segmenting audiences by understanding pain points and needs
Delivering messages that answer the 'why' rather than just the 'what' or 'how'
Incorporating representative imagery into creatives
Focusing on empathy as the primary emotion to evoke in the audience
The key lies in understanding that creativity in this context isn't about being "bold, loud, and crazy" but rather about finding innovative ways to connect with the audience on a human level. As AI and data analytics advance, marketers will have unprecedented opportunities for hyper-personalization, tailoring messages that speak to the human beneath the profession.
While the healthcare industry will always require a degree of professionalism and reliability in its marketing, there's ample room for creativity through humanization and personalization. This approach offers a better strategy for building trust and meaningful relationships in a perceivably cold and rigid industry. By focusing on the individuals behind the institutions, B2B healthcare companies can differentiate themselves, build stronger connections, and ultimately drive innovation in the sector.
