The good news for health insurance brands is they will have many more customers as the law mandates everyone must have health insurance coverage. The bad news for health insurance marketers is their offerings (as mandated by the law) will be pretty much the same – the only perceivable difference between them is the tiered “good, better, best” pricing structure the government allows.

And lets face it; price is the only thing that matters to consumers when it comes to health insurance coverage. Especially those consumers (think small business owners) who happen to own individual plans. For many people, the role of price is the main brand driver.

Of course, we all know that positioning brands for competitive advantage is a head game. As the well-worn phrase goes, the value of a brand, “lives in the mind” not in your branding.

In the age clutter and social media transparency, consumers are caring less about marketing and more about community and shared values. Brands that fail this price of entry won’t be able to even get in the game.

Profound Implications For Health Insurance Marketers

For health care marketers, who have traditionally had a B2B orientation, the time to evolve is now – as they must market to consumers directly. The target audience has shifted to real people–who historically have not had to care much about which provider is chosen. Their employer made that decision.

Now consumers, millennials in particular, will have to make more direct choices about their health insurance provider. These consumers will choose their provider based on more emotive and elusive reasons then the content of their policy, the amount of their deductible, and its monthly or annual out of pocket cost.

If you are a health insurance marketer right now, you’ve probably wondered “how are we going to get these consumers to care about us?” or, “what do we need to be doing for them right now that will influence their choice – then choose us?”

The Affordable Care Act may have a beneficial impact in the marketplace. Now faceless health insurance companies are going to have to be thinking more about community and serving people rather than mitigating their risk.

Don’t get me wrong; this does not minimize the important fact that large global organizations are making tectonic shifts in their entire business model right now. There must be a financial profit to owners, investors and employees who will deliver the service.

There’s No Free Lunch

The Affordable Care Act has removed “product innovation” as a point of difference in value creation. The law, in effect, levels the playing field of the competitors to bring more value to the consumer. Everything is now good and the same.

No doubt we will soon see a plethora of health coverage marketing campaigns touting warm and fuzzy visuals making claims about “caring more about you”.

Those health insurance marketers who fail to behave in ways that make a real and perceived difference in the lives of people before they become a mandated customer will pay a steep price.

I suggest health insurance marketers begin to formulate their answer to this critical question:

What difference does our brand make in the world that is highly valued by people and not in abundant supply from our competitors?

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“With the arrival of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, my healthcare insurance brand will have to advertise a point of difference. We will have to win in a B2C situation. This is completely new territory for us. Please share the process for gaining an advantage.”

Thanks for your question Dan. Certainly the time to evolve is now for many healthcare marketers. The first step in any branding effort is to identify all of the most promising consumer segments and then figure out how to most effectively and efficiently connect with them. Most of these will likely be the uninsured including the previously uninsurable. Many will be young adults, a potentially profitable market for medical insurance companies. And don’t forget about the fastest growing demographic markets in the US, such as Latinos.

Given that you will be marketing more directly to the individual (versus corporate) market, you will need to understand not only how to reach these individuals, but how their needs may vary from the needs of business customers. For instance, do you know the following for each target market segment?

• Their hopes, fears, aspirations and anxieties
• How they perceive their health and their health risks
• How they perceive the medical insurance market – the good the bad and the ugly
• What they believe they can afford and not afford
• Of which medical insurance brands they are aware
• How they perceive your brand and its competitors

Taking this information, which will come primarily from qualitative research but perhaps also from some quantitative research, you will need to develop campaigns that appeal to people on an emotional level. While medical insurance plans may seem “cut and dry” (subject primarily to analytical thought), most brand decisions are based on emotions. Every brand needs to have a unique value or selling proposition, one that is believable and emotionally compelling to its target audiences.

You mentioned that the brand campaign also needs to work in a B2B situation. I assume you are talking about corporations, professional associations and other organizations that offer insurance to more than one person.  In this case, you will first need to understand the end consumer’s needs and then the B2B decision maker’s needs. You will need to factor both sets of needs into your brand positioning and messaging to the B2B decision maker.

Dan, focus on customer targeting, marketing research, brand positioning and storytelling and you will be on your way to building an advantage for your healthcare brand.

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