By Dana Maiman, CEO, IPG Health
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Reflecting on the unprecedented global turbulence of the past few years, two things have risen to the top as being all-important regardless of the curve balls that life inevitably will always throw – the primacy of health and the unfailing power of integrity, specifically, choosing to always do what’s right, especially in challenging times.
As someone who has worked in healthcare marketing for over two decades with deep reverence and relentless focus on the humanity of what we do, and a constant advocate of inclusion and social justice, this has been a hallmark of my career.
The primacy of health
As a leader in healthcare marketing, I’ve always been acutely aware of how crucial/vital the healthcare sector is in our day to day lives. If you don’t have your health, nothing else really matters. The global pandemic, among a myriad of macrotrends that are fundamentally shifting our world, have laid this simple truth bare.
And, seemingly overnight, healthcare became the new business frontier, with nearly every sector pivoting to health and wellness. From mobility providers launching healthcare delivery services, luxury brands leaning into health and wellness as a marketing tool, and even national variety chain stores hiring Chief Medical Officers.
In this increasingly crowded healthcare arena, it’s vital for brands to focus on the humanity of patients and personalised, meaningful connections. This level of interaction and care will never go out of style especially as people are savvier, more sophisticated, choiceful and expectant when it comes to their health and care.
This presents an opportunity for us in healthcare marketing – to play into the humanness of what we do every day, and connect with brands and patients on a deeply personal level. Given the global reality of the past three years, I’d say this is a unique privilege that personally excites and energises me. As healthcare marketers, are we ready to seize the opportunity?
Doing what’s right
When we think of the humanness of what we do in healthcare, I can’t help but think about ‘doing what’s right.’ That is foundational to the healthcare sector – from the physician’s Hippocratic Oath to HIPAA regulations and compliance.
IPG Health itself was born from this commitment. Against conventional wisdom, IPG Health launched in the middle of a global pandemic, bringing together 45+ of the world’s most awarded and renowned healthcare marketing agencies, to do what’s right for our clients, their brands, and our people.
Central to doing what’s right is EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion), and it’s embedded across all aspects of our business – from our creative solutions, to our recruitment efforts to our impact on our industry and in our communities, and so much more. We view EDI as business imperatives that, similar to growth and innovation, cannot be the responsibility of any one person, group, or even department. It’s just too important. The way I see it, EDI is not just a responsibility, it’s a privilege, and it’s something that every single person in our organisation is responsible and accountable for ensuring on a daily basis.
At IPG Health, we recently launched EDI+You, a formal strategic evolution of our longstanding evolution to EDI that formalises our approach to creating systemic changes and solutions across four core areas of our business: Our People, Our Culture, Our Creative Solutions and Our Impact.
While I would never say we have it all figured out, we ARE making progress, bit by bit. As an industry, while progress has been slow, I know we are all fully committed to the ongoing journey, so let’s do it together.
