Missed Opportunities

Missing Opportunities
Name
Institution Affiliation
Abstract
In the “Missing Opportunities,” a scenario is used where a hospital by the name Crestview is using a new billboard adjacent to the other hospital called Briarwood as an advertisement strategy. The raising of the billboard by the Crestview has some advantages as well as the shortcoming. Some of the advantages that it has included the creation of awareness to the new customers and also giving an alternative to the customers who are seeking a different medical center from the Briarwood. The raising of the billboard is also likely to result in mixed reactions since other people may feel that the Crestview are after making a profit without a proper delivery of services. For that matter, it is recommended that effective marketing strategies be put in place to cover up the shortcomings. The effective marketing strategies are normally accompanied by effective communication strategies with the customers as well. Therefore the two hospitals are expected to look into better ways in which they can get more market for their services and products.
Keywords: advertisement, marketing, strategies, effective communication, customers, services.
Pros and Con
Raising the new billboard by the Crestview directly adjacent to the Briarwood has both advantages and shortcomings as seen by the customers who are to be treated as well as the stakeholders of the healthcare community. Some of the benefits of erecting of the new billboard are the conspicuousness of the billboard that catches the eyes of the passersby, and this makes the information to spread to many people within a short period.

The Crestview, therefore, has high chances of receiving a large number of patients. The wordings that are used on the new billboard, “The Best Medical Care in Oakland” also attract the public that has seen the billboard and they gain interest and trust in the hospital more since the message was written on the billboard creates more emphasis on the quality of services that they offer as compared to other medical care in Oakland (Loskutova, Smail & Webster, 2017). There are also directions that are indicated on the new billboard and therefore making it easier to access Crestview as compared to Briarwood. The billboard raised by Crestview also give the hospital a new image since anyone who might not have heard of it can easily get access to it thereby increasing the population of the patients in the hospital. The fact that the billboard is placed strategically adjacent to the Briarwood gives the customers to have an alternative whenever they don’t feel like going to Briarwood.
On the contrary, some of the disadvantages of putting up the billboard are the charges that the Crestview will incur by paying for the space they have used to do the advertisement which might not be a guarantee of getting more customers (Loskutova, Smail & Webster, 2017). Secondly, due to the information on the billboard, some of the patients might view Crestview as a profit-oriented and not to major on the medication of the patients. And also few people take their time to read whatever is indicated on the billboards and therefore it might not have an impact on the marketing as intended by the Crestview. Finally, since the Briarwood medical center is not profit-oriented, most of the patient might prefer it to the Crestview since it is likely to charge cheaply.
Interpretation
There will be a mixed reaction of the community stakeholders and the customers concerning the raising of the Crestview billboard. For instance, the customers will feel relieved and optimistic concerning the alternative way of medication that has been introduced in the community. This will cause an increase in the number of patients in the Crestview hospital as compared to before the advertisement was made. In the negative side, however, the community stakeholders and the customers may be pessimistic about the fact that the billboard was raised just in the adjacent to the Briarwood just to create unhealthy competition among them. This will, therefore, hinder the customers from going to Crestview hospital however much they have carried out the advert (Mooij, 2004). The Crestview by putting the billboard next to Briarwood will be seen as an organization that is ill-intentioned and that they don’t want the prosperity of other firms that exist in the same locality. And also it will be viewed as business-oriented healthcare rather than service oriented as expected by the patients that need to be treated.
Competitive Marketing strategy
When it comes to the ways in which the Briarwood can counter the messages that were passed by the new billboard of the Crestview hospital, there are some decisions that the Briarwood medical center has to put into use. Most of them might expose the Briarwood medical center to a high level of risk but very much effective. Some of the strategic ways include the pricing of the services offered by the Briarwood medical center. The management at Briarwood should ensure that their charges for the services are relatively lower than that of the Crestview to attract more of the customers to counter the advert made by the billboard. The Briarwood can also get involved in a joint venture (Sternkopf, 2005). This can be done by venturing into an already established healthcare business so that they get introduced in the market with a good reputation. The joint venture should be made by the firm that has a good knowledge of the market and its challenges and the best ways to overcome these challenges. This firm should also have a distribution framework and hence limiting the expenditures made by the Briarwood medical center.
Marketing communication strategies
The two healthcare providers should make sure that they create awareness of their brands of services they offer by using appropriate communication strategies in the market. The marketing communication strategies that they can apply should be that which draws the attention of the intended market. For instance, they can use the mobile marketing. Since most people frequently use their mobile phones, it would be more appropriate if they make their communications through the mobile phone to reach a vast number of customers especially those that use smartphones for various purposes (Sternkopf, 2005).
Reasons why the governing board should take a proactive role
The effectiveness of the marketing strategies enhances the identification of the audiences that are well-defined, and it also majors in the direction of the need of the audiences. Some of the reasons why there should be effective marketing strategies are to ensure that there is a wide conceptual understanding. The marketing strategy should help in identifying the tastes of the customers at different levels, their expectations as well as their behavior trends (Mooij, 2004). The other reason is an out-flanking completion. An appropriate marketing strategy will make the hospital management to have enough understanding of the customers’ profiles thereby creating a gap between the hospital and its competitors. The hospital will also be in a position to speak the language of the customers hence creating a competitive advantage.
Marketing research tools
Some of the marketing research tools that could be used by both the Briarwood and the Crestview in communication effectiveness include; conducting a sale promotion. The sale promotions involve the provision of the incentives to the patients and the customers to demonstrate the effectiveness of the services and products that they offer to their patients and the reasons why the new customers should come to the hospital. The promotion is also meant to create loyalty to the customers that the hospital is dealing with.
The other effective communication strategy is the advertisement. The aim of the advertisement is to persuade the customers to choose the product being provided by the hospital over the other competitors’ services and products (Mooij, 2004). It also makes the services offered by the hospital to be known by a group of the public that has high chances to buy the product or use the service offered by the hospital. And also the communication strategy is meant to create a good public relation with the customers. This is done by making sure that there is a good relationship between the hospital and the general public.
References
Loskutova, N., Smail, C., & Webster, B. (2017). Missed opportunities for improving practice performance in adult immunizations: a meta-narrative review of the literature, 18(108), 1-10.
Mooij, M. (2004). Consumer behavior and culture: consequences for global marketing and advertising. Choice Reviews Online, 41(07), 34-41.
Sternkopf, S. (2005). Marketing strategies for small to medium‐sized enterprises. Strategic Direction, 21(5), 18-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02580540510594057