Alberta Health Care 101

Marketing Analysis

Completed By:

Jacquelyn Walker

Kirsten LaPlume

Annette Kerpel

Jared Hubbard

MGT 3250-A

Social Marketing

Sameer Deshpande

Executive Summary 3

The Organization 4

1

Social Marketing Environment 4The Program Focus 4The Campaign Purpose 5

Exhibit 1.0 6

SWOT Analysis 7Strengths 7Weaknesses 7Opportunities 8Threats 9

Past and Similar Efforts 12

Target Audiences, Objectives and Goals 15

Objectives and Goals 17

Target Audience Analysis 19

Competition and Partners 22Promotion 33

Social Marketing Program Management 38Implementation Plan 38Budgets and Funding 42Expenses 45

Future Recommendations 45

References 48

2

Executive Summary

Our team was tasked with the assignment of marketing a product given to us by

Alberta Health Services. Labelled Healthcare 101, this module was designed to allow

Albertan citizens to take a grasp of their own health care needs- by learning about the

system, the processes and the players involved. Comprised of four separate areas of

learning, the interactive video format and animated characters ensure that audiences

are more engaged with the information being given to them.

The challenge with this task was to find the appropriate target market to market

this to, as well as the appropriate marketing strategy to market to this segment. By

looking at strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the module, we were

able to look at target market segments, and marketing methods. We chose a market,

and we then did an analysis involving: this target market’s current behavior versus the

desired behavior we are striving to see, goals and objectives of the module, the 4 P’s,

and promotion strategies and implementation. It was vital for our team to conduct an in-

depth level of research before determining our strategies and explaining our findings.

For this we conducted various interviews as well as a survey to get a well rounded

variety of data.

Below are our findings including our research on your organization as well as on

the module. Additionally, we provide our recommendations on how to market this

module appropriately towards the market we have chosen, and future recommendations

we can see adding value to your organization down the line.

3

The Organization

Employing over 108,000 employees, 15,600 volunteers, and 9,300 physicians,

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has been there for over four million people in Alberta,

parts of Saskatchewan and the NorthWest Territories. They currently offer services and

programs at over 650 facilities throughout the province. Founded in 2008, AHS aims to

provide community-based services to aid Albertans in maintaining a healthy status.

AHS has recently created and are preparing to launch a new information system.

This new module will allow all Albertan citizens to access any form of health information

online at any time. AHS hopes this new launch will aid Albertan citizens in the ability to

become knowledgeable about their rights, as well as their benefits within the Alberta

Healthcare System. We have been tasked with analyzing this new tool and determining

the best format of which to market it to the Albertan citizens.

Social Marketing Environment

The Program Focus

AHS provides all Albertans with public and reliable health information and

services. They strive to do this through their hospitals, clinics, and hard working doctors,

nurses and physicians. They currently employ the use of a website that provides a

variety of information - from information on benefits and what is covered under Alberta

Health, to tools such as the symptom checker to aid in self diagnosis for potential

sickness. The primary focus of AHS is to help citizens become more informed as well as

allow them to use the system the most effective way possible. However room for

improvement in this current system has been noted, and therefore a new campaign has

4

been launched in order to inform citizens, and in turn ultimately improve the health

system’s effectiveness.

The Campaign Purpose

The main focus of the campaign is to help Albertans as a whole understand the

healthcare system. Research has shown that the increased level of health “literacy”

within a population correlates directly to the level of knowledge and empowerment these

individuals have to work with their health systems. The goal for Alberta is to have

citizens engage effectively in health related activities and have discussions related to

their own health and health care system improvements. In order to achieve both of

these goals, it is important to understand the current behaviors displayed by Albertan

citizens. By analyzing this, we are then able to understand the causes behind the

current behaviors and ultimately hope to change these behaviors towards one’s desired

by the Alberta Healthcare System. We recognize that there are several barriers

associated with the current behavior - however until this point there has been few

alternatives. The release of this new tool by AHS aims to direct desired behavior

towards using their tool rather than unreliable online sources. While there are still

barriers when using this new system - the ultimate goal is that this more reliable source

of information will become the “go-to” when looking for AHS information. Figure 1.0

below shows the analysis of the current behaviors and their benefits/barriers as well as

the benefits and barriers associated with the desired behaviors we hope to achieve.

5

Exhibit 1.0

Benefits Barriers

Current Behaviour- Using other

resources found online or through friends/family to find information needed about the Alberta Health Care System.

● Searching many other sources of information - wide scope of information.

● Creating confusion with “self diagnosis”.

● Citizens not knowing their full rights/ benefits under the Alberta Health System.

● Ultimately leading to unnecessary hospital visits and an ineffective Health System.

Desired Behaviour- Using HealthCare

101 to find information about the Health System, the players and the processes.

- Utilize the health care system appropriately and efficiently

● Reliable information● Controlled information ● Returning to one

source to find said reliable information

● Having a full understanding of Alberta Health System.

● Knowing rights/benefits.

● Confusing and time consuming site.

● Not well known as a reliable “go-to” - due mainly to lack of knowledge about site.

● Reliable sources are unknown and therefore consumers are unsure of how to change their behavior and searching results to find the most reliable sources.

● Lack of motivation to change the way information is found.

6

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Alberta Healthcare 101 has a variety of strengths - even though this is a fairly new

product. The first of these being that the product or module covers a very wide

audience. This module is accessible to all Albertans online and is easy to find.

Additionally, the videos make it easy to understand for almost all ages - and have a

large entertainment factor involved due to the interactive format. The goal for this

module is to reach the widest scope of Albertans with this information, and the format

and distribution of this product allows this to be an easy goal to achieve.

Additionally, due to the fact that the product was created solely by individuals

working within the Alberta Health Care System, this information can be seen as a very

reliable and trustworthy source. In a world where information can be found everywhere,

value is placed on information that is seen as reliable and it is very important that this

information is seen as trustworthy.

Finally, it has been noted that there is a very wide scope of information that is not

readily available on any other online source. Additionally, the potential to add different

levels of information as the module expands means that the scope of reliable

information can only continue expanding.

Weaknesses

While this module has a wide scope of information available, it is not without its

weaknesses. The first one highlighted would be the distribution of the information. While

video format is entertaining, it is not the preferred format for many segments within the

7

market. Interview and survey research has shown that citizens have expressed concern

about not having a quicker way to receive the information that is relevant to them.

Instead citizens have requested an easier and quicker forum for their information so

they have the option of reading or watching the videos to receive the information.

The second weakness highlighted would be the relevance of the information

provided. While many Albertans have questions regarding the health system, its

processes and it’s benefits, they find that this information is not what is being provided

by the forum. Instead they find information that is not necessarily relevant to their

current lifestyle, or that doesn’t answer the questions they have. Additionally, there is no

section within this forum to ask questions, or no Frequently Asked Questions section.

Interviews have shown that the information provided is not what Albertans are looking

for, and therefore the use of the module would be limited.

Opportunities

Due to the fact that this project is very new, there is a great level of potential for

this project to expand. Currently there is a very small and focused level of information -

generally focussing on the processes and players within the Alberta Health System.

After research, there has been more information identified that Albertan residents are

searching for. As this project continues to grow, this information should be considered in

order to accommodate the feedback from Albertan residents.

The second opportunity we see is including a much younger demographic into

the receiving of the information. The style of the module as well as the simple set-up

means that it is ideal for a younger audience. While we know that most young people

8

will not go on to the module voluntarily, the opportunity for including this module into a

Health or a life literacy class means that this information reaches people at a much

younger age. The potential for this information to have a much higher reach by reaching

out towards the younger audience is very high. Incorporating this information into the

school curriculum is a big opportunity for this information to reach a wider scope of

market segments.

Finally the last opportunity highlighted is to provide and encourage this

information and the use of this module within the Alberta Health System. While most

Albertans don’t have a general understanding of this information, there are individuals

who work within the system that most likely don’t know the extent of this information

either. The videos created are ideal for training materials - to use with any person who

joins the Alberta Health Care System team. It is vital as someone who works within the

system, to know all the information about the system. Incorporating this information right

into the training of all individuals ensures that all team members have an ingrained

knowledge about the system they work within - and can therefore educate others.

Threats

This module is fairly new and therefore does not have the “first-mover

advantage”. Due to this, the biggest threat found is the use of other online sources as

well as outside (human) resources to find the same information. After multiple interviews

as well as survey research, it was found that the majority of the chosen target audience

has the current behavior of using multiple other online sources to find the necessary

9

health services information that is required. Therefore a very large risk would be the

concept that the resource created isn’t used by the audience that it is being targeted to.

The second threat has been highlighted before in the weakness section - and this

threat would be the relevancy of the information being provided. The biggest feedback

that was provided from our target market research was that the information provided

within the module was not the information that Albertan residents needed or were

looking for. Rather than information about the partners within the Albertan Health Care

System, many individuals within our target market were looking for specific details and

wanted the opportunity to ask questions themselves and have them answered promptly.

Questions asked by the target include those such as:

1) Is it faster and more convenient to take a ambulance to a hospital as opposed to

driving myself?

2) When is it appropriate to visit the ER versus visiting my walk in clinic?

3) How do I contact a variety of different doctors and how do I know who is taking

new clients?

4) What is the most effective way to take advantage of the Alberta Health Care

System - and to move through the system as quickly as possible?

This is the information that residents want quick and easy access to. This is the

information that has become relevant to their lives. The module has the potential to

carry this information however, it is not currently within the module.

Finally the last threat is directly correlated to the relevancy of the information.

Due to the fact that the information currently offered is not necessarily the information

that residents are looking for, how then do you encourage Albertans to read information

10

that is not necessarily relevant to their lives? This could be the biggest struggle that

Alberta Health Services may face.

Below in Exhibit 2.0 is a ranking of all factors considered internally and

externally. Each of the internal and external factors are ranked on a scale from (-3) to

(+3) with the negative end meaning that it is not performing well, and positive end

meaning that it is performing or being handled very well. Anything irrelevant will be

ranked at a zero and therefore will not be considered in the SWOT analysis. For

example, we have ranked current alliances and partners at a (+3). This means we have

determined that Alberta Health Services has worked well and have a very expansive list

of partners they they have and can collaborate with. On the opposite side of the scale,

we have ranked previous experiences at a (-2). We are well aware of the negative

connotation that Alberta Health Services has created, and know this as a strong

weakness within their organization when promoting a new product/service.

EXHIBIT 2.0

Internal

Resources +2

Service delivery -1

Management support +2

Issue priority +2

Internal publics +1

Current alliances and partners +3

Past performance -2

External

11

Cultural forces +3

Technological forces +2

Demographic forces +2

Natural forces -2

Economic forces -1

Political/legal forces -2

External publics +2

Past and Similar Efforts

This year, the King’s Fund--an independent charity with the mission of improving

health care in the UK--released a 6 minute video explaining how Britain's public

healthcare service (the NHS) works. Like Alberta Health, the NHS is a complex system

that works with numerous providers, regulators, governments, and other stakeholders to

deliver care across the country. Given the vastness of the NHS, the King’s Fund

underwent efforts to explain it in a concise, humorous manner while remaining neutral

and nonpartisan (Mantel, 2017).

While the current video is fairly new, it is preceded by a another clip from 2013 of

the same nature which took off in popularity and reached over 300,000 views. The

current animation focuses more on recent reforms to the system, and allows viewers to

stay current on the different changes to the system. This campaign is relevant to Alberta

Health Care, as it presents an example of a relatively successful effort (in terms of

outcome or views of the video) in educating the public about the public health system.

Given that this type of campaign is a relatively new area of social marketing, it is useful

12

to pick up on the elements of success present in existing projects. Two areas of the

NHS video which offer benefit to the consumer are its humorous approach, as well as

its brevity. These are both important factors to consider in developing awareness

campaigns, as they give the customer incentive to sit through the entire video while

making it memorable with the addition of humour.

Literature Review

In preparation for developing this report and suggesting ways to promote this

educational module, our team also conducted a literature review seeking out reports

and articles that analyzed similar interventions. We did this in order to learn from their

successes and shortcomings, however we found that there were only a few efforts

trying to promote greater health literacy and therefore a very limited selection of articles

covering these efforts.

Ensuring the health literacy of the Alberta population is an important objective.

However, as found by Kickbusch (2008), when people are provided with a wide range of

health information, it can leave them questioning what is accurate. He found that with

the wide variety of sources for health information, audiences became confused which

prevented them from taking action. He concludes that there are three areas needing the

greatest attention: improving the health literacy of citizens, developing the

communications skills of health care professionals, and improving the readability of

systems.

Gallego, M. & Vazquez-Navarrete, M. (2013) researched users’ awareness of the

healthcare system in Colombia over 10 years from 2000-2010 and found that user

13

awareness was poor in 2000 but that it had decreased further by 2010. Although users’

believed that they had health care rights, they did not know how to navigate the

healthcare system and therefore couldn’t execute their rights. Individuals of lower

economic status were found to have the lower level of health literacy. A follow up article

written by Garcia et al., (2016), then addressed Colombia’s efforts to increase health

literacy. They found that Colombia did this through “i) characterization and improvement

of the sources of health information (i.e. e-health solutions), ii) standardization of health

information and services, iii) Generation of evidence and analytical strategies (such

national health observatories); and iv) data dissemination and transfer through enquiry

channels”. Colombia’s Health care also provided multiple access channels to help meet

the end-user's’ needs. Platforms such as mobile apps, websites, and interactive data

tools were introduced to provide different populations with different avenues based on

their need and to enable them to learn in the manner that best suited them.

Target Audiences, Objectives and Goals

Select Target Audiences

Alberta Health services strives to provide a patient-focused, quality health system

that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans. For this campaign to be effective we

will need to narrow the target focus to make an impact with the initial launch of Alberta

Healthcare 101. We wanted to chose a target market that would spread the impact of

this campaign as effectively as possible. We segmented Alberta into 5 different

categories that we feel would require different marketing efforts to reach. We have

graphed these segments below and all of our number were collected from the 2016

14

Canadian Census Profile on the government of Alberta website. The largest segment

listed below is children who fall under the age of 14 followed by young adults and

seniors. Each of these groups could be utilizing the Alberta Healthcare system and

would benefit from exposure to the Alberta Healthcare modules but they are likely

accessing the Healthcare system for drastically different reasons. The segment

composing of women between the ages of 35- 44 is smaller but we feel that they are

influential on all of the other segments and potentially more willing to act on our

campaign messaging.

Segments PopulationMen Age 35-44 296,200 Women Age 35-44 290,510 Seniors Age 65+ 500,215 Young Adults Age 18- 30 572,770 Children 0-14 779,155

15

Primary Audience

Our chosen primary audience is specifically women aged 30-45 years. These

women are caretakers to children but may also be taking care of other family members

who are experiencing health related problems related to old age. This target market can

be referred to as the sandwich generation. In Alberta there are roughly 2.1 million

women and 290,510 of them fall between the age limits of 35-45. (Canadian Census,

2016).

Objectives and Goals

Our goals and objectives have been set out for us by the Alberta Health Care

representatives. They are categorized into three main areas as follows:

Knowledge

● Albertans will be aware that Alberta Healthcare 101 portal exists

● Albertans will be better informed of how Alberta healthcare system works.

● Albertans will realize that they have the right and the responsibility to understand

how the provincial healthcare system works. 1,2

Belief

● Albertans will believe that understanding the healthcare system will lead to healthier

outcomes for themselves and their loved ones.

Behavioural (Deliverables)

● Albertans will visit the portal on a regular basis

● Albertans will share the portal and its information on social and traditional media

platforms and have conversations on this topic

16

● Albertans will provide feedback to the organizers to improve the portal

● Albertans will participate in influencing health policy and services of Alberta health

care system.

● Albertans will utilize the healthcare system in an efficient and appropriate manner

We would like to take these objectives a bit further and make them specific,

measurable, and time-orientated. This will hopefully be useful in supplying this effort

with measures by which it can be evaluated and therefore improved on as it progresses.

We suggest that AHS evaluate this campaign and measure its success by how

close we are able to capture and influence our target market according to the metrics

listed in the graphic below. With any marketing campaign you can’t expect to reach

100% of your target market and the percentages listed below are an industry standard

that are associated to a successful campaign.

TM = target market

17

Therefore, if 246,934 women become aware of the modules, 111,121 women

believe that using the modules will be useful to them, and 5,557 women in our target

market actually visit the Alberta Healthcare module in 2018, this campaign should be

deemed a success. Although these numbers may seem measly, especially the number

of women that we expect to visit the module site, please bear in mind that commercial

marketing efforts often experience similar difficulty in trying to convince consumers to

switch to their brand or try a new product. While AHS has the advantage of being

trusted by the public, there will not necessarily be a huge influx of users seeking to learn

about the system since it requires time and they will not necessarily see the immediate

benefit of gaining this knowledge.

Target Audience Analysis

In analyzing the primary target audience of women aged 30-45, we conducted

several interviews as well as distributed a survey to members of our target audience

that reside around the Lethbridge area.

Survey Results:

We conducted a 10 question survey that received 25 responses from individuals

within our primary target market. Based on these results we can conclude that on

average our target market only has a 65% understanding of how Alberta Health care

18

works. Most of the respondents stated that they are usually accessing Alberta Health

Services (AHS) when they have serious health issues or when they are going to the

hospital. About 53% of our respondents said that they often or very often access the

internet to receive medical advice. With this high percentage using the internet as a

healthcare reference tool we also asked which specific sites they use and rely on the

most. Only 1 respondent said that they use the Healthlink while the majority said that

they used webMD and/or Mayo Clinic. In comparison when we asked how respondents

found information specifically about AHS many responded saying that they visit the AHS

website meaning that our target market knows about the AHS site but does not typically

use it when they have a health related question. When we asked what information do

you wish was more accessible from Alberta Health Services many answered generally

with “services offered” and others wanted AHS to have a symptom checker and travel

information which is all already available on the current AHS website. One respondent

that answered “other” made the comment that they wish AHS’s website looked more

like BC’s health link. 45% of respondents do feel that they are in control of their health

care decisions but over 79% of respondents do not find the Alberta Health Care system

user friendly.

Interview Results:

We interviewed 4 people who are currently or had previously been within the

“Sandwich generation” (individuals who simultaneously took care of their children as

well as their older parents). From these interviews we found that most had a general

knowledge of the governance of the Alberta Health System and could briefly state a few

19

of the resources and services provided by AHS. Our interviewees did express however,

that they wished they had a greater understanding of the system and believed that this

knowledge would make them feel more comfortable and capable of navigating the

services. They specifically wished that they had a better understanding of what services

were provided by AHS and could comprehend in greater detail how the system

operates.

Interview participants were also given a link to the Alberta Health 101 modules

and were then asked if they found this resource useful. There were mixed results for

this question. Some women responded positively, with one woman even commenting

on how, because she is a visual person, this tool was useful and helped her to gain a

better oversight and comprehension of AHS. Another woman responded that, as of

now, she didn’t find it useful since there were many parts which made it confusing and

difficult to navigate. She said, “It’s almost as if it is just a fancy template to spit out a lot

of information. It plays too fast.”

When asked when they thought they would find these modules the most useful,

again the results were mixed. Some women gave the response that they would need

and use it most readily during a time when they had a pressing medical emergency that

they had to deal with. Others said that they would most likely never use it because they

valued speed and specificity. “I just want to be able to ask a question and get a quick,

specific answer. People don’t just wake up and say ‘I want to know all the details of the

healthcare system.’ People usually only seek health information when they are in a

state of crisis or want to look up a symptom. Because AHS is a free system, I am not

really motivated to learn about its structure. It doesn’t affect me directly!”

20

Beyond using it for emergency counsel on services that they had available, the

women commented that this resource would be most helpful if it was “straightforward”,

“not too complicated or elaborate”, “practical”, “concise and to the point” and “reader

friendly”. One woman suggested having a live chat or an input tool where they could ask

a specific question and receive direct answers. When asked how they thought this

resource should be promoted, many opted for educational methods such as brochures,

flyers, emails, or internet announcements.

Competition and Partners

When reviewing potential barriers that AHS must overcome or seeking out

opportunities that it can take advantage of, it is essential to take account of sources of

competition that might inhibit our target audience from carrying out the desired

behaviour that we are trying to produce.

Within social marketing it is important to understand that our competition is

usually the target market’s current behaviour as well as any organizations, forces, or

efforts that encourage that behaviour. Therefore, as can be seen in the table below, one

source of competition for this effort is the misunderstanding and subsequent improper

use of the healthcare system. Factors that may contribute to this current behaviour (and

we should therefore seek to overcome) could be:

● Complexity of the system (many interconnecting factions that are hard for the

average citizen to keep track of),

● Few sources for information (module is addressing this point),

21

● Lack of time (target audience is taking care of two generations and therefore

most likely won’t have a lot of free time to research or learn about the healthcare

system)

● Lack of motivation (several interviewees mentioned that they don’t seek out

information about the healthcare system beyond asking their doctor)

● 811 Helpline (this may not always be true, but what we heard from interviewees

was that when they used this phone line, the suggestion was often to just go to

the emergency room. There were no specific suggestions or directions for

anything beyond emergency care)

● Symptom checker (again this is not always true, but if the behaviour that we are

trying to discourage is the misuse of the AB healthcare system, then this

resource may not always be accurate at directing users to the resources that

they should be seeking and therefore defeating the purpose that we are

attempting to achieve)

Desired behaviour Current behaviour (competition)

Short-term Use ABHealthcare 101 to learn

about health care system

Accessing other sources of

information

Long-term Proper and informed use of AB

healthcare system

Improper use of ABhealthcare

system

22

In carrying out a social marketing effort, it is also important to seek out potential

partners that can help improve and magnify the results. For the short-term effort of

trying to get individuals to view and learn from the modules, there are a number of

partners that could help with connections and promotion:

● Symptom checker (this resource is already on the myhealth.alberta.ca website

and helps to direct people to the correct sources of aid that they need to see. If a

link for the Healthcare 101 modules was placed on the same page, this would be

a great place to transition worried people into learning more about the AHS)

● WebMD (similar to symptom checker, although it might be costly)

● Local doctors and clinics (many interviewees mentioned that this is where they

already get information so it could be a good leeway into teaching them about the

whole system)

● Hospitals (specifically emergency rooms, this is when our audience will most

likely be most concerned and interested in learning about the health care system

so they know where their next step is)

Social Marketing Strategies

As with commercial marketing projects, it is crucial that strategies be formulated

for each of the four marketing mix areas when conducting social marketing. As such,

our recommendations for the Healthcare 101 module are divided into product, price,

place, and promotion strategies. These strategies are largely based off of our primary

and secondary research and contain recommendations to both increase views of the

module’s content and to position it as an alternative to other sources of information and

23

unnecessarily using the emergency room. This strategy can be summed up in the

following positioning statement:

“We want women aged 35-44 to perceive Alberta Healthcare 101 as more convenient

and reliable than other information sources.”

By using this positioning statement, we are able to build strategies in the

following areas of the marketing mix:

Product

In social marketing, product can be defined in three areas: Core, Actual and

Augmented. Core product refers to the benefit(s) of performing the desired behaviour,

while actual product refers to tangible goods or services that cause the consumer to

perform the desired behaviour and receive the core product. Similarly, augmented

product is something that can be used to assist the consumer in achieving the desired

behaviour and subsequent benefit, but is not necessarily directly associated with the

behaviour change. In the case of the Healthcare 101 module, we do not have an actual

product, but rather a core and augmented product. Our product mix is as follows:

- Core Product: A better understanding of the Alberta Health Care system. This

short term benefit will allow Albertans to become more aware of the options

available to them in the system and will eventually lead to a long-term core

product of reduced wait times in Alberta emergency rooms.

- Augmented Product: The Healthcare 101 Module. This module helps Albertans

achieve a greater level of understanding about the health care system and

24

therefore can be considered an augmented product, as it can lead participants to

the short and long term benefits shown in the core product.

Discerning the roles that each product has to play in our campaign allows us to

formulate strategies in the other areas of the marketing mix in order to provide

immediate, guaranteed benefits to the consumer as an exchange for performing the

desired behaviour. One way to visualize the direction we would like the product to travel

is through a perceptual map as shown below.

Perceptual Map

The criteria that we selected for our perceptual map mimics the 2 main criteria

analysed by Cabrera-Barona, P., Blaschke, T., & Kienberger, S. in their 2016 study on

healthcare. Satisfaction and accessibility would be applicable to our target market in

whatever situation they are dealing with. Currently our target market resorts to going to

the emergency room to see a doctor with whatever situation they are dealing with. This

behaviour does result in a solution being created the majority of the time which usually

reflects high satisfaction. This solution though has become less accessible or

convenient for our target market though as emergency rooms become full and

inefficient. Many of the alternatives that AHS has created to help address this issue do

not necessarily result in higher satisfaction and are also not always convenient. The

goal of the Alberta Healthcare 101 product is to create a resource that creates higher

satisfaction for our target market as well as easy accessibility for our target market to

use.

25

Price

As demonstrated in the perceptual map above, the Alberta Healthcare 101

module is seen as neither satisfactory nor accessible when compared to competing

sources of information. The focus of a social marketing pricing strategy is to identify

existing barriers to the desired behaviour and formulate ideas to overcome them,

resulting in the desired behaviour becoming more accessible and satisfying to the

consumer. The current barriers to changing from the current to the desired behaviour in

regards to Healthcare 101 are listed below:

Entry Exit

Monetary - N/A - N/A

26

Non-Monetary - Time- Effort in retaining

information from module

- Content is “not user friendly”

- Perceived loss of familiar sources of information

The above exhibit shows the monetary and non-monetary barriers to using the

module. Entry costs refer to the barriers to performing the desired behaviour (using the

module), and exit costs are the barriers associated with stopping or changing the

current behaviour (not using the module). From our survey and interviews, we observed

one of the main barriers to using the module is the amount of time it takes to view and

retain the information in it. We also noted in our survey that over 79% of our

respondents do not find the current Alberta Health Care system to be user-friendly.

While not as important as the entry costs of using the model, one possible exit cost of

using other information sources is the perceived loss of information or the feeling of

missing out on crucial knowledge from current sources. To mitigate these barriers to

using the module, we propose using two price strategies:

1. Reducing non-monetary barriers to entry

2. Increasing non-monetary cost of competing behaviours.

1. Reduce Non-Monetary Barriers to Entry

Of the possible price strategies in social marketing, the most relevant one to this

project is the reduction of non-monetary barriers to using the module. Since the main

costs of using the module are the time and effort it take to view, it follows that our price

strategy should be centered around reducing this usage time in order to make the

27

module more user-friendly. This could be accomplished by modifying or creating

shortened versions of the module that can be consumed with less time and effort. This

has been demonstrated with some effectiveness in earlier mentioned efforts by The

King’s Fund (as mentioned earlier), who utilized aspects of fun and comedy in a short

video about Britain’s NHS health-care system. A similar type of video presentation for

Healthcare 101 would effectively reduce the barrier of time while presenting the

information in a more memorable, user-friendly way; and could serve as an effective

alternative or complementary product to the module. This is just one example of how

the content of the module could be distributed in a less time-consuming format. Later

suggestions can be found under our Place and Promotion Strategies.

2. Increase Non-Monetary Costs of Competing Behaviour

While not as directly applicable as the first strategy, it is useful to consider the

competing behaviours (unnecessary use of the emergency room, lack of understanding

of the health care system, use of alternate information sources) and the effect that they

have on our target audience. By framing these competing behaviours as more

inconvenient than accessing the module, we can help change the perceptions behind

them. This could be accomplished, for example, by focusing on the cost to the system

that an unnecessary visit to the emergency creates; or by highlighting the long wait

times and suggesting alternatives. As with price strategy 1, these principles are further

elaborated on in the Place and Promotion sections as we look to reduce these barriers.

28

Place

Place strategies are similar to Price strategies in that they help remove barriers

to performing the desired behaviour. The primary concern our Place strategies is

convenience and increasing the accessibility of the Healthcare 101 module to our target

audience. To accomplish this, we propose three strategies:

1. Be there at the point of decision making.

2. Reduce psychological barriers associated with accessing the module.

3. Be more accessible than competing sources of information (internal and

external).

Be There at Point of Decision Making

This is a fundamental Place strategy for any social marketing campaign, as it

allows us to determine the circumstances under which an individual may face the

decision to use the product. In this case, that decision is to conduct a search for health

care information and ultimately: a decision whether or not to go to the emergency room.

Results from the interview suggest that the decision to go to the emergency room is

often made through using existing AHS services such as Healthlink (811), or online

symptom checkers. People who are not necessarily experiencing emergencies but need

to see a doctor often check the online wait time (also available on an app) for their local

emergency room before deciding if the wait is worth it; while less tech-savvy people

may call the ER or bring their questions to their family doctor. We believe that these pre-

existing services can be paired with information from the module, so that people

deciding whether or not to go to the emergency room can learn about their other

possible options. This pairing would involve simple modifications such as the addition of

29

a link to online services, as well as basic orientation for physicians and Healthlink

employees who are at the decision point.

Pairing the Healthcare 101 module with existing decision points not only helps

the healthcare system to be more cohesive as a whole; it also helps to reduce the time

and user-friendliness issues mentioned in our Price strategy.

Reduce Psychological Barriers Associated with Accessing the Module

While the online nature of the module makes it relatively accessible, it is

important to note the potential barriers that people may mentally associate with it. In our

Price strategy, we mention that one of the larger barriers to using the module is the

amount of time it takes to completely read and understand the information presented in

it. In fact, the sheer volume of information in the module was shown to be a barrier to

some of our interviewees, who expressed that they would prefer to just search for

specific answers to their personal questions. While our Price strategy outlines the most

effective ways to reduce these barriers (modification of the module’s contents); Place

can also utilized to this end. One strategy to reduce the perception of time cost is to

embed the module in another time-consuming activity. The combination of activities

creates a sense of “time savings” by reducing usage times (Fox, 1980, as cited in Lee

and Kotler, 2011). One way to achieve this would be to “combine” the contents of the

module with a visit to the emergency room by displaying key information from the

module on the waiting room televisions. In addition to this, the hospital’s Wi-Fi portal

could be modified to direct users to a website with information from Healthcare 101

once they have logged on.

30

Be More Accessible than the Competition

Earlier in the report, we identified short and long-term competitive behaviours:

misunderstanding the Alberta health care system and misusing it. With that in mind, our

place strategy should work to make understanding and properly using the system seem

more convenient than the alternatives. Given that the module is an augmented product

with the end goal of increasing knowledge of the healthcare system, it is important to

consider the competing augmented products that may direct our target audience to

other information sources. As noted in our survey, many respondents are aware of the

AHS website but still use Mayo Clinic or WebMD to find answers to their questions.

Since the module is embedded in the MyHealth website, we recommend working with

Google Adwords to ensure that the MyHealth website is at the top of the list when

Albertans search for medical information or information about the health care system

online. This will allow more traffic to flow to the website and, subsequently, to the

module.

It is also important to note that in addition to competing external online health

resources; Alberta Health Services’ other resources are a source of competition to the

module in and of themselves. For example, many people use Healthlink when they have

a medical question, or are drawn to the AHS website but may be unaware of

MyHealth.ab.ca where the module is located. Rather than working against these

effective services, Healthcare 101 should be integrated and included as a part of these

services (as mentioned in our first Place strategy) to provide a complete spectrum of

online services for Albertans.

31

Promotion Our promotion strategy builds off of our Product, Price, and Place strategies and

consists of two parts:

1. A Creative Strategy consisting of our primary message (message strategy), the

people we want to deliver the message (messenger strategy), and how we want

the message to be delivered (execution strategy).

2. A Media Strategy outlining the mediums through which the creative strategies will

be presented. We utilize 2 elements of Alden, Basil, & Deshpande’s Integrated

Social Marketing Communication in this strategy; namely advertising and public

relations (2011).

Creative Strategy--Message Strategy:

The message strategy forms the basis for the rest of the creative strategy and is

linked to the consumer benefits, convenience and reliable information, outlined in our

positioning statement and marketing mix strategies. While properly utilizing the Alberta

Health Care system is more convenient in the long run for Albertans, it would appear

that people do not immediately perceive this convenience and thus persist in pursuing

the avenue that gives them the most timely and concise results. Through our Promotion

campaign, we want our target audience to know and believe that Alberta Health Care

101 can deliver those timely and concise results. Accordingly, we propose the following

message as an examples from which to build the Promotion strategy:

32

“Healthcare 101: Simplify Your Health.”

This message is short and effective, and conveys a sense of convenience that appeals

to people who are frustrated with a complicated system. It could easily be adapted into

different advertising mediums and expanded on. Most importantly, it emphasizes the

benefit that our target audience is searching for.

Creative Strategy--Messenger Strategy:

Messenger strategy refers to the party conveying our promotional message.

Since Healthcare 101 deals with the different partners of the healthcare system, we feel

it would be useful to showcase representatives from each of these stakeholders to

convey how their participation in the system helps it run smoothly. These

representatives could be anyone from non-profit employees to the consumer

themselves, and would help emphasize the human element of the system in a way that

citizens can relate to.

Creative Strategy--Execution Strategy

The execution strategy deals with the nature of the promotion and how we get

our message across to the target audience. Presentation should be brief and

memorable, with personal messages that will resonate with the people that are exposed

to them. Common tactics used to this end in social marketing include fear, humour,

social norms, family, etc. Given that we want to highlight the benefits of the Alberta

Healthcare system, it makes sense to present them in a way that utilizes warmth,

humour and fun rather than fear or other tactics. In order to succeed, the message will

33

have to be presented in a way that is both concise and memorable. Using emotionally

evocative stories of family members under the care of our target audience (the elderly,

children, the family all together, etc.) combined with other stories from Healthcare 101

stakeholders could help convey our message of simplicity and convenience to the

public. These stories could directly relate to the health care system, such as a time

when a citizen wished that they knew more about the system or benefited from a certain

area in the system that they were previously unaware of. This emphasis on family

health will be especially powerful when considering our targeted demographic, who are

often taking care of senior relatives and young children at the same time.

Media Strategy--Advertising

For our advertising strategy, we propose the following methods and mediums:

- Website banner and popup: The AHS and affiliated websites are great places to

advertise the Health care 101 modules. Having a banner across the most

commonly used sites or a pop up that appeared during a user’s visit would help

bring attention to this new tool and increase traffic to the site.

- Facebook and Pinterest: Planned promotional strategies include advertising to

our target audience via Facebook and Pinterest. According to Pew Research,

women from ages 30-44 use facebook at a rate of 84%, as well as Pinterest at a

rate of 34% (Greenwood, Perrin & Duggin, 2016). Both of these platforms are

ideal, as women make up the larger percentage of their user base, and most

women in our surveys

34

- Google adwords: For a relatively small fee AHS can advertise the Healthcare 101

site as one of the top search suggestions when people within Alberta use Google

to search for certain words. This can be tailored to key phrases that the AHS

thinks the audience would be most interested at the time (ex. “Flu” during flu

season, “sunburns” or “heat exhaustion” during the summer, even common

words like “sick”, health services”). More information on this service can be found

here: https://adwords.google.com/home/how-it-works/.

- Messenger Strategy/video interview: As mentioned in our Messenger strategy

above, the stories of various stakeholders in the system can be utilized in video

advertisements that could be displayed through online mediums or television.

- Waiting room ads: Since being in the emergency waiting room involves users

spending large amounts of time just waiting for treatment in one place, the AHS

could make use of the televisions that are often already there to advertise the

modules and display tips that would help explain the healthcare system better.

This would be a useful way to reach consumers and educate them because you

would be reaching them at the time that they are utilizing the system and would

be most interested in the information (just in time marketing).

- Embedding: As mentioned in our Place strategy, “piggybacking” Healthcare 101

onto existing AHS services would make the module more readily available to

people who already use those services. Examples include family physicians,

Healthlink, MyHealth AB symptom checker, and emergency room wait time

counters online and via the app.

35

- Wifi access page: Similar to the banners and popup, having the Healthcare 101

site as the first page that users see when they log in to free wifi sites that AHS

provides (similar to McDonalds, Shaw, and Tim Hortons wifi) will help spread the

awareness and hopefully increase the use of the site as well.

Media Strategy--Public Relations

- Press Release: This step is crucial for awareness of Healthcare 101 and should

be implemented through news groups in health centers across the province

(Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Grand Prairie, etc.). This will bring more

attention to the advertisements and drum up more hype around the campaign.-

- Release event: In conjunction with the press releases, we propose that the AHS

should host an event in February where the modules will be “officially released”

to the public (much like a new Apple product). This event should have public

officials, doctors, and other medical professionals attending, showing their

support, and attesting to the reliability and usefulness of this tool. The event

could also include several volunteers that would walk around with tablets and

interact with citizens. They would show the users where to find the modules

online and how the website worked. They could also propose that users sign up

to more in depth classes.

36

Social Marketing Program Management

Implementation Plan

For a better understanding of our proposed implementation, we have made a

phasing schedule that visually outlines the steps that we believe should be taken.

Year-round - Several marketing efforts should be used continually or

intermittently throughout the year to create a widespread awareness of Healthcare 101

and then later serve as a reminder for people to continue to use it. Platforms such as

social media, website popups and banners, Google adwords, ER television ads, and the

wifi access page should be used as soon as possible since they are low cost marketing

mediums and easily reach a wide audience. Our marketing plan has been created for a

January 2018 start as per the client's request. Our budget and implementation plan is

spread out throughout the year but of course there will need to be constant evaluations

taking place throughout the year. The resulting feedback from these evaluations should

be used to alter and improve the plan.

We have centered this plan around some of the key events that take place in

Alberta and suggest that the goal of reaching 5,557 women is evaluated at the 6 month

mark before the second half of the year. We are predicting that we will be able to meet

our goal in 6 months and have placed the remainder of our marketing efforts at the end

of the year when our target market would be thinking about their extended family the

most and spending time with them.

January - Since the modules have been just recently released, we believe that a

large marketing effort should be initiated to rapidly increase awareness among

Albertans. The majority of January should be spent perfecting the modules and planning

37

the release event described above. The AHS should also begin with a large onslaught

of advertising through the year-round mediums but also through social media such as

Facebook and Pinterest. It should also try to develop a class for members of the target

audience that may not have ready access to the internet, have questions beyond the

scope of the modules, or would just like a structured setting where they could learn.

Lastly, the AHS should conduct a few interviews with health care users and create short

commercials to play on the TVs and over other forms of media promoting the value of

learning about how the Alberta Health care System works. Throughout the marketing

plan there should be constant monitoring and evaluation to figure out which mediums

are reaching the greatest population size and resulting in the highest level of impact.

February - February’s efforts should be focussed primarily on the planning,

promotion, and execution of the module release event. Ensuring that it is a widely

publicized event that is supported by medical representatives and professionals will

have a positive impact on how people perceive the Health care 101 modules and impact

their initial use of the program.

March & April - These months should be supportive and testing months; trying

out the different platforms of advertising and promotion and evaluating their subsequent

effect on the traffic visiting the modules. Future media plans should be tailored to the

findings of these evaluations.

May & June - Promotion and evaluations should continue with the added

promotional effort of sending mailouts to Alberta residents. These will serve as a

reminder to the audience of the modules’ existence and an encouragement to keep

using them.

38

July - December - Social media and commercial promotional efforts should

continue to be used to continuously remind our target audience of women that the

modules are available and can provide them with helpful information about the health

care system and how to better use it. These messages should always emphasize the

benefits that they will receive from understanding and therefore utilizing the system

appropriately (i.e. shorter wait times, less confusion about available services, decreased

anxiety.

39

40

Budgets and Funding

In order to effectively penetrate the market there will be costs associated with our

marketing campaign. AHS has requested that costs for this campaign stay low so there

is a combination of mediums used to help alleviate costs while still managing to reach

the target market. The more consistent the exposure is for longer the more of an impact

the campaign will have and the variety of this marketing mix will help increase the

success of the campaign. If some of these costs are not feasible there are portions of

this campaign that only require labour costs to implement and manage the strategy.

Below is a list of the costs associated with each of our promotions. Where each of these

costs come from will be broken down further.

The Healthcare 101 module is located online so having some paid advertising

online makes sense. Website Foot Banners are effective and easy to target. We

suggest investing $3,600 into foot banners which works out to $300 per month.

Alongwith online ads we feel it is also necessary to make the appropriate investment

into Google Adwords so that the module is seen by anyone searching for Alberta

Healthcare relevant information. Because the questions coming in our so vast and there

are already lots of other sources of information on the website a healthy Google

Adwords campaign of $25 a day should be utilized to see an impact. Google Adwords is

a great tool because it does look at your click-through rate success and charges you

appropriately creating great analytics that can be evaluated throughout the campaign.

We have budgeted for $25 a day for the whole year but this may need to be adjusted

depending on results. We do feel that Pinterest Ads would be an effective channel to

use for this target market (we asked target audience participants in our survey if they

41

used Pinterest and 81.25% said that they did) but Pinterest Ads are expensive and only

certain brands or businesses are invited to use them. With this being said Pintrest may

consider AHS because of their reputation and the nature of the campaign. If this is

successful and the Healthcare Module is able to be advertised on Pinterest there would

need to be at least $1000 spent every month they are utilized and we suggest that the

ads should run at least every other month. Social media is a very cost effective way to

reach the target market as well and to better tailor and reach our target market some

Facebook Ads should be created as well throughout the year.

To kick start this module and marketing campaign we also suggest hosting a

province wide event that our target market is welcome to attend. This event should be

educational and reflect all of the other efforts that are going to be taking place. We have

only budgeted for one event that could be hosted centrally in Edmonton, expenses will

increase if this event is duplicated in different locations.

Expenses listed for the physical locations expenses make the assumption that

there is already Wi-fi, TVs, and admin professionals at each of the locations. If all of

these assumptions are true there would be no costs associated with this promotion.

By increasing people's awareness of AHS the hope is that there will be better use

of the healthcare system and more health conscious people living in Alberta. These

behaviour changes would result in less unnecessary costs incurred by AHS as well as

more current services being utilized to their full potential. There are also many partners

that AHS works with and all of these partners would benefit from Albertan citizens being

more educated about their health care system. These partners would all be potential

funding sources for this campaign.

42

Expenses

Online:

AHS website Banner and Pop-up

$ -

Website foot Banner $ 3,600.00

Pinterest Ads $ 7,000.00

Social Media- General content $ -

Google Adwords $ 9,125.00

Video Content Development $ 8,000.00

Facebook Ads $ 800.00

$ 28,525.00

Event

Event Advertising $ 2,000.00

Event Expenses $ 10,000.00

$ 12,000.00

Physical Locations

Wi-fi Access page $ -

Waiting Room TVs $ -

$ -

Total Expenses $ 40,525.00

43

Future Recommendations

As mentioned earlier within the SWOT analysis, we recognize the potential of the

portal as a resource. We do have several recommendations however that could either

increase it’s efficiency as it is, or can change it to fit the appropriate audiences you want

to reach.

1) Add a “Quick Question” or “Chat Live” section

The biggest flaw within this system is that there is no area for citizens to get a specific

question answered quickly. Rather than wade through a large site of information they

don’t want to know - citizens need an area where they can ask a question quickly.

Whether this be from a FAQ section they can easily navigate, all the way to the “Live

Chat” with an Alberta Health Services Representative - this service should be available

within the module.

Alternatively, the 811 phone line could be tailored to have this feature added or

improved.

2) Focus this particular module in training programs and health literacy classes at a

lower age level

We understand that the goal with this module was to reach every age group with this

information. However with such a wide scope, it becomes difficult to ensure that all

targets are getting the full potential out of this module. After research, we recommend

that you launch this module with the focus being on training programs within the Alberta

Health System, as well as health and health literacy classes (such as high school CALM

classes). The information would be more relevant to these audiences as they would be

44

learning this information for specific purposes - and would be more eager to learn the

information being offered. After much research, we have determined that the majority of

the information being offered is just not relevant to the lives of the average every-day

Albertan citizen.

3) Streamline your resources to ensure that citizens realize their legitimacy

When looking at the current behavior of Albertan citizens, it shows that they search a

large variety of online resources as well as friends and family when looking for their

health related information. The main problem with this becomes the question of

legitimacy of the information they are finding. While citizens understand that information

coming directly from Alberta Health is bound to be correct, they struggle with the

amount of information that they find - and the large variety of websites they find this

information on. What we recommend to combat this problem would be to compile - and

greatly condense and streamline all Alberta Health related information onto one portal.

This allows citizens to find all information on one website - without getting redirected

from site to site. This will also increase the legitimacy of the information being provided

as it becomes easier to find - and will still bear the name of Alberta Health Services

within their singular site.

References Alberta Health Services (2017). About AHS. Retrieved from

http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/about/about.aspx

Alden, D. L., Basil, M. D., & Deshpande, S. (2011). Communications in social marketing.

The SAGE Handbook of Social Marketing, 167-177. doi:10.4135/9781446201008.n12

Canada, G. O. (2017). Census Profile, 2016 Census. Retrieved from

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/

45

Page.cfm?

Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=48&Geo2=&Code2=&Data=Count&SearchText=Alb

erta&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=PR&GeoCode=48

Gallego, M., & Vazquez-Navarrete, M. (2013). Awareness of the healthcare system and

rights to healthcare in the colombian population. Gaceta Sanitaria, 27(5), 398-

405. doi:10.1016/j.gaceta.2012.11.012

Kickbusch, I. (2008). Health literacy: an essential skill for the twenty-first century. Health

Education, 108(2), 101-104.

Kotler, P., & Lee, N. (2011). Social marketing: influencing behaviors for good. Los

Angeles: Sage Publ.

Penna Power. (2016). How Much Do Ads On Pinterest Cost?. Retrieved, from

http://www.pennapowers.com/how-much-do-ads-on-pinterest-cost/

Pew Research Center. (2016). Social Media Update 2016. Retrieved from

http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/

The King’s Fund. (2017). How does the NHS work? A never-ending story. Retrieved

from https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2017/10/how-does-nhs-work-never-

ending-story

Time Inc.. (2017). It costs you $43 to sit around the doctor's waiting room. Retrieved

from http://time.com/money/4063039/time-money-doctor-visit-healthcare/

46

47