Point of View Archives

Transit Superstars: APTA 2019 Recap

Earlier this month I attended the 2019 American Public Transit Association (APTA) annual conference. I was there to keep tabs on the latest trends in public transit — and to spend time with friends!

What can employers do to address the opioid crisis?

Last week I attended the annual Health Care Forum from Greater Spokane Incorporated and moderated by our own Michelle Hege. The focus was near and dear to my heart — how Washington and our communities are addressing the opioid crisis.

Digital Marketing Statistics Shaping 2019

I recently posted a blog summarizing the biggest ideas I took away from this year’s Digital Summit event. I’ve since received several questions about specific trends shaping the digital landscape, so I wanted to share a few key stats I heard at the conference with implications for your digital program.

Health Care in the 2019 State Legislative Session

On January 10th, nearly 800 providers, payers, conveners, elected officials, policy wonks – and a few communicators – came together in downtown Seattle at the State of Reform to discuss the current health care landscape in Washington state and what to expect this coming year from our government officials as it relates to health care policy.

Australians & Americans Doing Business: The Culture Battles

Andrei was recently featured in a blog from one of our IPREX partner firms, Wells Hasley Mayhew, Alongside Alexandra Mayhew. They chatted about cultural dynamics driving how companies are doing business on either side of the Pacific.

A Field-Guide to Generational Health Care Marketing

By now hospital marketers know that different types of messages and varied tactics are needed to reach patients from different generational groups. But do hospitals need entirely different marketing strategies to reach millennials vs boomers?

Patient Experience – whose role? Everyone’s.

From the outside, responsibilities of hospital departments seem clear. Physicians and members of the clinical care staff provide services. Customer Service makes sure patients are informed on where to go, where to park, and how to pay.

AWB Policy Summit Takeaways

Last week I attended the Association of Washington Business’s Policy Summit. It’s an annual event that attracts business leaders from around the state to focus on policy issues of importance to employers. I was honored to serve as the Chair for the 2018 Policy Summit event and wanted to share some highlights from the experience.

DH World Tour 2018

We’re making our way across the country (and the globe!) speaking and learning about the future of communications, health care and traffic safety this year. So, we wanted to recap the big ideas from our presentations so far in 2018.

IPREX Global Leadership Conference

Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the IPREX Global Leadership Conference in Chicago. If you don’t already know, DH is a partner in IPREX – a global network of 65 independently owned communications and marketing firms.

#MeToo is here to stay

The #MeToo movement has swept through Hollywood and politics. If you think it’s going to stop short of corporate industry, think again. #MeToo has become a collective ethos within our society and has touched every community in the nation.

2017 Trends in Marketing and Public Relations

Cheers to the New Year! As we launch into 2017, we asked a few members of our team for some of the biggest trends they’re seeing in marketing and public relations. Here’s what we heard.

Why you should invest in “shared” media campaigns

Every once in a while we run into a marketing statistic that blows our collective minds, at least at face value. I call it Mic-Drop-Math–a stat that reflects a potential game-change across the industry.

Why you should invest in "shared" media campaigns

Every once in a while we run into a marketing statistic that blows our collective minds, at least at face value. I call it Mic-Drop-Math–a stat that reflects a potential game-change across the industry.

5 brands that won (or lost) the 2016 Olympics

There’s always attention on the games, but with so much drama this year, which brands communicated a strong message? Take a look at our picks, and notice how every campaign name is a hashtag… Interesting.

5 Marketing Trends to Look for in 2016

Tyler Tullis Senior Account Executive BY NOW YOU’VE PROBABLY read your fair share of articles about marketing and communications trends to be mindful of as we head into the new year. Rather than re-listing all of them here (we’d be writing until 2017), we asked...

Are you ready?

Crises can come with little or no warning. Communication professionals need to be ready with a plan. What will we do in the first few minutes of a crisis? What will people want to know? Who will act as spokesperson?

5 Ways to Get Social During a Crisis

Social media and crises go together like peanut butter and jelly. These channels feed people’s need for immediate information and answers and are unique in that they’re perhaps the only place where all your audiences come together—customers, employees, organizations, the general public.

Employees first in a crisis. Pinky swear?

You’re in crisis mode. The adrenaline is pumping. You’re gathering facts, fielding calls and trying to say and do all the right things. Please, whatever you do, don’t forget your employees.

3 Factors Patients Use to Choose a Hospital

Competition is stiff among hospitals in the U.S. According to U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 75 percent of all hospitals have a competitor within 15 miles. As a result, it’s becoming increasingly important for hospitals to differentiate from one another.

Crisis Communications: Not if, but when.

We’ve all heard the saying “It’s not a matter of if, but when.” Yet many organizations don’t remember the last time they looked at or updated their crisis communications plan. Or worse yet, they don’t have one.

I plan strategically, therefore I am.

Emily Easley Account Director TODAY, ANDREI AND I presented at Tri-Cities BizCon, the region’s leading business event hosted by the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce. With a diverse crowd of professionals ranging from small business owners to government...

Digital: Building Online Ecosystems

When a firm says they do “digital” in 2015, that could mean any number of services: web development and design, online advertising, social media programs, email marketing, robust content marketing—and a lot more. The trouble is none of these digital tactics can live in a silo anymore. To be effective, a program must integrate all these services into a flowing digital ecosystem.

Haters rejoice? How brands should prep for Facebook's incoming "Dislike" button.

“Not every moment is a good moment,” said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg this week in announcing his platform’s long-awaited and oft-demanded “Dislike” button. Sometimes people need to Dislike to “express empathy” around a sad or frustrated post, he continued.

5 ways for hospitals to improve patient experience

Today, wowing patients with a positive experience is critical—only 54 percent of healthcare consumers tell peers about a positive experience compared to 70 percent of retail and 66 percent of banking customers. Consumers are less forgiving of providers with whom they have had a negative experience and seem to recall the bad experiences longer.

Research: Uncovering Human Behavior

At DH, we have a passion for research. In fact, we think it’s the best start to any project. We don’t guess how an audience perceives an issue. We define it. We use research for a variety of reasons, including testing assumptions, uncovering target audience perceptions and drivers of behavior, message and creative concept testing, and determining a baseline trend against which to measure progress over time.

Advertising: Opportunities in Storytelling

One of DH’s core services is advertising. True, advertising often exists solely to sell something (a product, service or project) or to build an image, but we believe it can be so much more. It is a business strategy and an important expression of an organization’s brand.