Trend paper

It has been very interesting doing this trend paper. Even though I have been a nurse for many years, I have learned to continue to do research on trends in healthcare to make sure that my patients have the options to looks at when making decisions on their healthcare.

Marketing to the generations

I learned a new term today: "Spring greens" (16-19 year olds)

This generation are the advance guard for an environmental movement that will find new answers to industrial age problems. A small group in adult terms at the moment, they were born between 1989 and 1992, so are now teenagers. Unlike the baby boomers, less than half of them care about society, but nearly half of them say online social communities are very important to them. They are likely therefore, to be even more tribal than generation Y. They worry about their safety in public places, but their greatest concern is for their ‘green credentials’, with 20% being hardcore environmentalists and 25% saying they choose their friends based on green attitudes and values.

http://www.mycustomer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=133804

Medical house calls

www.futureofaging.org/publications/pub_documents/house_calls.pdf

http://www.mobilemedicalpractice.com/

Additional information on medical house calls.

"Who's going to take care of the baby boomers?"

This is an interesting article about "who is going to take care of the baby boomers?". According to the statistics, there will not be enough geriatricians when the 78 million baby boomers begin to turn 65 in 2011.( according to a new Institute of Medicine report). By 2030, there will be an estimated 8,000 geriatricians, but the nation will need 36,000.

www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/05/05/prl10505.htm

Taking care of the baby boomers

I thought this was an interesting article. Everywhere you go these days, you meet someone who's caring for a parent, brother, sister or friend living at home. I thought this was interesting as I was doing research on trends in healthcare. Take a look.

www.taking-care-of-mom-at-home.com

Advertising to Baby Boomers Book

I feel that this book is based on the experiences and opinions of the author rather than on research. One benefit that the book does have is some book and web resources to utilize.

Trends in healthcare- Physician home visits

A new trend is arising in healthcare. In some areas of the country, particularly on the east and west coasts, physicians are making doing home visits their business. This is benefiting the frail elderly, parents with young children that are sick, etc. This is an option rather than going to the clinic or ER for a visit. Many people are too sick to go to the clinic, but not sick enough for a ER visit. I think that this is a very good thing. I think it is important for physicians to see clients in their own environment. They can get a better, and broader picture of everything that is going on in the patients life. It is interesting that what physicians did many years ago is now coming around full circle.

Internet trends in healthcare

The new generations are looking more and more at self-directed care and self-managed care. Often, when people are not feeling well, they will go to the internet to research on their symptoms or diagnoses. Here is one website to go to for information about your health.
www.webmd.com

Trends in healthcare- end of life choices

Today, more than ever, people are facing their mortality head on. People diagnosed with a life limiting illness have many options available. Hospice is designed to support the choice of people who have decided to manage end of life for themselves. Hospice allows patients to experience the disease in its normal course while managing symptoms as they arise, rather than pursuing curative treatment. I have worked as a hospice nurse in my career and I have definitely seen the benefits of having a hospice program available to the community. It gives people another avenue of choice when dealing with their healthcare. Many people want to die in their own homes and a hospice program may help a person to meet this objective.

Home health

Home health is a health care service that works with client's in their homes, where ever that may be. Skilled homecare can provide skilled nursing, aide, or therapy services. The patient must be home bound to receive these services. This service is short term, intermittant care. The focus is to treat and educate patients so that they recover quickly and are able to self manage their care. Home health also has a couple other programs. This is personal care and supportive care. You do not need to be home bound for these services. The focus on these programs is to assist patient's to keep them in their own homes. Personal care workers assist with things such a bathing, dressing, light transfers, meal preparation , medication reminders, etc. Supportive care workers do not do any "hands on care". They do meal prep., house cleaning, run errands, shop for clients, take people out in the community, etc. The trends in health care are really supporting "in the home care".

Trends in healthcare

Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. One aspect of telehealth is remote monitoring. Many home health agencies are using "technology" to help serve their clients. The nurse may set up monitoring equipment in the home of the client in which the client can take their blood pressure, pulse, weight, etc. in the home independently or with the assist of someone and then the results are immediately transmitted to the computer at the home health agency. The agency can put in indicators that may flag for need for an intervention; example: blood pressure range or weight gain/loss. The staff can use this information for medication monitoring or help to increase a clients abilities to self-manage their healthcare. They have found that this has helped to reduce hospitalizations. This technology is very beneficial to home health agencies in rural areas where distance between clients can be a lot. Some monitoring equipment can have video cameras on them so the nurse can also get a visual on the client without actually going to the home.

Happy Fourth of July!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvBFkgErV9I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RssIN3ustUw

The aging of boomers

Product failure

I saw on the news this AM a newscast on Starbucks Coffee is closing 600 stores in the near future. This company did have very rapid growth in the past and now they are seeing a decline. Their stocks have shown a drop. They are trying to recover from their rapid growth. They foresee that they will open different stores in 2009, but will be searching out a more lucrative market.

Baby Boomer and Alzheimer's Disease

I thought that as we are looking at trends, the effect that Alzheimer's Disease may have on the Baby Boomer population is something to look at. Possibly increased marketing for healthcare.

http://a.abcnews.com/Health/story?id=4475644&page=1

www.alz.org/national/documents/release_031808_2008_facts_and_figures.pdf

Trend paper

I want to focus my trend paper on the focus of home-based health care. Example: home care, home physician visits, medical websites, etc.

http://boomer-living.com/homeshopping/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50

Please look at above site on the trends for baby boomers towards home care services.

Advertising to Baby Boomers

Baby boomers are the largest demographic, the primary target market. Boomers are the richest generation in history as a whole- those 46 and older control more than half of the nation's discretionary income. One comment made was that Baby Boomers are still ' the single most vibrant and exciting consumer group in the world". I agree! (Since I am in this group). One way to capture the attention of the baby boomers is to use humor. Use a witty turn of a phrase, a humorous slant on things, etc. Make sure the wit is not derogatory and the humor is not embarrassing. One key marketing tip was to make sure you do not criticize or alienate a secondary or hidden market group. When developing a marketing campaign for baby boomers, focus on the product or service and not the age the consumer happens to be. As baby boomers get older, they do not want change, but to continue life as it has been. They want a seamless transition. Some sociologists predict that retirement communities in the future will be based on common interests, example: gardeners, motorcyclists, vegetarians, the arts, etc. Others say that Baby Boomers may shun retirement communities and opt for a mixed community. Due to the Baby Boomers focus on health, marketers should focus on this. Examples, bike trails, walking/running trails, ergonomics, etc. Another concept discussed is "aging in place". This really is the focus now. People want to stay in their own homes and continue life as it has been. Baby Boomers love to read and will want to know everything about a product. They are not looking for change but are looking for products that compliment their lives and help them create more choices.

I am not surprised by this information. Since I am in the baby boomer group, I totally agree that I do not want change but a transition as I get older. I feel that now, I am at a point in my life where I am still young enough to do anything I want yet. I am still very young at heart, and definitely do not consider myself "old". Baby Boomers generally are eager to try new technology, they just want to know all about it and have all the pertinent information. Most baby-boomers are going into a transition now, where their children are grown, and they may have more time and money on their hands. More people are then looking to travel, buy things that they could afford before, or advance their educations.

The view from baby boomer, gen x ,and gen Y

Baby boomers

Some interesting facts about marketing to the baby boomer population.
Size of the Boomer and Senior Markets:
77 million people were born between 1946 and 1964, which is defined as the baby boomer era (U.S. Census).
The first baby boomer turned 60 on January 1, 2006.
An American turns 50 every 8 seconds — that's more than 10,000 people every day (AARP).
By 2015, those aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population (AARP).
By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people (U.S. Census).
Wealth of Baby Boomers and Seniors:
78 million Americans who were 50 or older as of 2001 controlled 67% of the country's wealth, or $28 trillion (U.S. Census and Federal Reserve).
Households headed by someone in the 55-64 age group had a median net worth of $112,048 in 2000 — 15 times the $7,240 reported for the under 35 age group (U.S. Census and Federal Reserve).
The 50+ have $2.4 trillion in annual income, which accounts for 42% of all after-tax income (U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey).
Adults 50 and older own 65% of the aggregate net worth of all U.S. households (U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey).
Spending Habits of Adults 50+
Adults 50+ account for an estimated $2 trillion in total expenditures for 2005.
This group has $2.3 trillion in disposable income.
Between now and 2010, the total spending for 50+ households will increase by over $900 billion.
By 2010, adults 45-years-old and older will out-spend younger adults by $1 trillion annually.
In 2004, people aged 50 and older spent an average of 47.6 percent of their family's budget on "nonessentials" (Bureau of Labor).
50% of baby boomers plan to buy a new home after retirement (Del Webb Survey).
As of January 2007, baby boomers are 27% more likely than any other generations to embark on a major home improvement or repair in the next 6 months (Consumer Intentions and Actions Study).
96 percent of baby boomers participate in word-of-mouth or viral marketing by passing a product or service information on to friends (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
Online Habits of Adults 50+
As one-third of the 195.3 million Internet users in the U.S., adults aged 50+ represent the Web's largest constituency (Jupiter Research).
2/3 of Americans age 50-64 use the Internet (SeniorNet).
Email is the most popular online activity among 50+ users, followed by web browsing, research, and shopping (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
72 percent of baby boomers have broadband Internet in their homes (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
Adults 50+ spend an average of $7 billion online annually (SeniorNet).
The Internet is the most important source of information for baby boomers when they make a major marketing purchase, such as automobiles or appliances (Zoomerang).
42% of all travel industry purchases happen online, and adults 50+ account for 80% of all luxury travel spending (Pew Internet and American Life Project).
82 percent of adults aged 50+ who use the Internet research health and wellness information online (Pew Internet and American Life Project).
By the end of 2007, the number of mature social networkers is expected to top 20 million (Deloitte).

www.immersionactive.com/lower.cfm?section=resources&page=facts_fiction

Widgets

Have you all heard of widgets?
Well, you can utilize widgets in marketing. They can be uselful in:

• Extending branding
• Driving traffic to your site
• Creating a persistant presence
• Develop cool viral tools to reach a broader audience
• Piggeyback on emerging media
• Distribute targeted, dynamic information through an ad-served unit
• Embed content on other sites or blogs via partnerships

There is alot of information on widgets on the internet. Take a look.

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625115

Ten "Internet Marketing Tips"

Top 10 internet marketing tips for 2008:

1. Optimize your website's content

2. Create a content development strategy for your website

3. Invest in a paid search (pay-per-click) campaign

4. Publicize your website through article marketing

5. Develop a social media marketing strategy

6. Create a Company Blog

7. Experiment with video marketing

8. Engage your audiences with web widget marketing

9. Discover the benefits of mobile marketing

10. Create an effective email marketing strategy

http://www.networkstrategics.com/

Cultural Trends in Marketing

http://www.culturetrendsusa.com/


Check out this site if you are interested in cultural trends. CultureTrends USA is about connecting advertisers with multicultural consumers and multicultural consumers with local and national ethnic communities who share common interests, traditions and trends.

Video's on going green

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=d37bd032-cb62-4d6a-9db2-d6e03068afef

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=8d7fc45f-9bfd-417f-9ad4-cb578cc05d27

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=eb9cb02a-9d78-489b-9ce9-4468541b466a

Here are some interesting videos on "going green"

Green website

This is the website on going green environmentally that I had posted previously. www.environmentalleader.com

Going Green

I found an interesting article on marketing green. Listed are some marketing tips.

1. Know your customer and understand how much they know.
2. Companies need to be transparent. Consumers must believe in the legitimacy of the product and the claims a company is making.
3. Consumers need to feel empowered and fell that by buying a certain product, they can make a difference.
4. Green doesn't mean a compromise in quality.
5. Green does not mean allowing unacceptable spikes in price.

http://www.evnironmentalleader.com/2008/01/04/green-marketing-under-the-microscope/

"Cyberchondriacs"

After our discussion in class on Friday about trends in marketing, I found this article interesting. It talks about the increasing number of people who go to the internet to find out about their health, then talking to their personal doctors about what they find. The statistics shown in this article state that the number of people looking up medical information has increased 37% from 2005. Take a look.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135308-page,1-c,markettrends/article.html

The "4 P's " of marketing

Marketing Trends 2008

I looked at several sources and found that they listed similar marketing trends for 2008. Here they are:

1. Time to go green- May have corporations fighting to prove their "greenness".


2. Ads in the great outdoors- Using RFID activated billboards. (Radio frequency identification). Digital billboards.


3. Getting in on the game- using on line games. Gives gaming a new look while blending messaging, training, or recruiting.


4. Mobile marketing- Example; Apple's iPhone partnered with Google and Yahoo to enable ad-supported programming.


5. Join the club- Capitalizing on social networking.


6. Rise of the widget, known as mini software applications , can provide access to hard-to-reach targets.


7. Use of videos- 123 million Americans watch a video at least monthly, and three-quarters tell a friend about them.


8. From behavioral to contextual.


9. Focus on experience- Interactive brand experiences can be far more effective than advertising and should be the starting point of a customer conversation.


10. Marketing as a service: Marketers who treat marketing as a service and deliver real value to customers an prospects alike will succeed.

What I am seeing as looking at advancements in technology, green marketing, but yet staying with the basic marketing tools.

http://consumerlab.wordpress.com/2007/11/26/the-top-ten-marketing-trends-for-2008/

http://crmweblog.crmmastery.com/?p=973

Blogging in progress

Alternative ways of marketing

When researching the web about blogs and buzz marketing, I am finding that there are many innovative and creative ways of marketing. I have been hearing three key terms: buzz marketing, word of mouth marketing, and viral marketing. Hopefully, as our class continues, I will learn more about these terms. I found an interesting site, that I thought was very innovative. Check it out.
www.grow-marketing.com

Blogging Terms

I thought this site was interesting for the novices who are just learning about blogging. Nice to learn the language of the blogger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogroll

Dangers of blogging

Previously, I had discussed some of the benefits of blogging. There also are some dangers to look for.

1. Don't trust everything that you read in blogs. Many blogs are filled with false information.
2. Never trash a company that you are working for in your blog. Some people have been fired for blogging about their employers. Don't use a blog to air your frustrations.
3. Don't give out too much personal information. Be weary of identity theft- so don't give out any personal records or financial information.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

Benefits of blogging

Blogging can be very beneficial for a small business. Some key benefits are;

1. Builds community awareness of your business. You can share your knowledge and information with a larger audience.
2. This is a easy web publishing solution. Blog software is easy to use.
3. There are higher search engine rankings. The cost of creating traffic from a search engine is much lower than general media. Search engine optimization does cost more.
4. Lower costs to the business. Blogging offers an inexpensive method to get your business's name out on the Internet.
5. Improves communication. You can get your information out to the public quicker and to more people. It can be a time saver for businesses.

Source: http://sbinformation.about.com/od/businessblogfaq/f/businessblogs8.htm

Fortune 500 blogs- Check it out!!!!

I checked out some of the blogs from the Fortune 500 list. McDonald's has a "Open for Discussion" blog. Started to meet corporate social responsibility through the eyes of the Vice President, Bob Langert, and others at McDonalds. They share what they are doing and to learn what customers think. Google blog has "Insights from Googlers into their products, technologh, and Google Culture". Amazon discusses Amazon web services, products, tools, and developer information.

I believe that most of the Fortune 500 companies use the blogs to do research on their customers. They can learn alot from what the consumers write. They also can post up to date information on their newest products and technology. A inexpensive way to collect data.

This was very interesting. I hope you all have an opportunity to check out these sights.---Thanks, Shawn

Creating a SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis is the framework for generating strategic alternatives from a situation analysis. SWOT stands for strenths, weakenesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are found internally and opportunities and threats are found externally.

Internal factors that should be evaluated are:

• The company culture
• Company image
• Organizational structure
• Key staff
• Access to natural resources
• Position on the experience curve
• Operational efficiency
• Operational capacity
• Brand awareness
• Market share
• Financial resources
• Exclusive contracts
• Patents and trade secrets

When doing an external analysis, you should look at :

• Customers
• Competitors
• Market trends
• Partners
• Social changes
• New technology
• Economic environment
• Political and regulatory environment

When the analysis is completed, a SWOT profile can be used for the basis of goal setting, strategy formulation, and implementation.

Source: http://www.netmba.com/strategy/swot/

Fortune 500 business bloggers

I thought that this was an interesting site. Lists the Fortune 500 businesses that use blogging.
http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi

Defining Buzz Marketing

Buzz marketing is a new trend in the marketing field. What people are looking to do is gain the attention of the consumers by talking about their product, service, company, or brand. Therefore causing a "buzz" of information. Every business can benefit from learning what customers want or need. Using blogs can be a very cost efficient way of doing buzz marketing. You can get valuable feedback from you customers (good or bad) to help you to possibly redesign you marketing plan or product to go with the current trends. One of the key strenths with blogging is establishing good dialogue with the readers of your blog. It is important to post frequently to keep your readers up-to-date with you service or product. You definitely need to be able to control the message that you are extending. If you are using blogging in your business, it might be a good idea to establish policies and procedures for your employees when using blogging. ---Talk with you later, Shawn

Introduction to Shawn

Hello Everyone. Well, here it goes, my first attempt at blogging. Actually, I thought it was quite easy to do. You may all call me Shawn. I have no nicknames. I work approximately 40-50 hours a week, plus attend school on day a week for the summer. I work in the healthcare field, and have done so for over 25 years. After my daughter graduated from high school, I decided to go back to school. I work in management, so I thought HR/BA would be beneficial. As I took classes, I saw that Marketing interrelates with many other careers, so I went for a dual associate degree including marketing. My current job is manager of a home health agency. In this role, I do everything from interviewing, hiring, disciplinary actions, terminating employees, training and development, write policies, make sure the employees comply with state and federal regulations, budgeting, community education, etc. You wear many hats in this job. I try to set short term personal goals for myself. My next goals are to become certified in homecare and hospice. My class goals are to complete the summer courses (with good grades), and therefore completing the requirements for graduation in Marketing. I did graduate from the HR/BA program this spring. I also took the Professiona HR certification test in May and passed that. I enjoy golfing, gardening, and spending time with family and friends. I think this may open my eyes on a new way to communicate with my family and friends. I don't think I could do this for work unless I got approval from my supervisors. Talk with you all later. ---------Shawn