Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
35 35 CEO/STRATEGY Trend: Making the CEO Part of Your Hospital's Brand By Brooke Murphy Y our hospital or health system may have a potent branding tool sitting in the C-suite right now. Restructuring a hospital's business model amidst regu- latory uncertainty is stressful. But it also presents a great oppor- tunity for healthcare organizations to redefine their message. Reaching out to patients as individuals is valuable for building trust between providers and patients, especially as consumers ask for more healthcare experiences tailored to their prefer- ences and values. The hospital CEO sets an organization's tone and influences its vision, culture and overall brand. Some organizations are making their CEO the face of their campaign to help human- ize and personalize the otherwise nebulous, medicinal and diagnostic image of modern healthcare. Not all CEOs are the right match for your message. C-suite leaders who are uncomfortable in the spotlight, for in- stance, may have difficulty getting an organization's mes- sage to resonate. CEOs with the right personality, skills and enthusiasm for public speaking can make powerful brand spokespeople. Here are four benefits CEOs can bring to marketing strat- egy, according to Franklin Street, a healthcare marketing analyst and consulting firm. 1. Internal motivation. Placing the CEO at the front lines can rally associates and employees around a more defined and central figure. 2. Community influence. Clearly promoting the CEO as a public figure by featuring him or her in marketing cam- paigns can familiarize community leaders with hospital leadership. This is increasingly valuable as hospitals look to form partnerships and start conversations with communi- ty-based organizations. 3. Leadership buy-in. Involving the CEO in branding en- sures hospital leadership supports the branding campaign. 4. Neutralize internal politics. As the highest-ranking offi- cial, the CEO is a natural fit to represent the entire hospital brand. This helps to eliminate internal political battles as to what service line or which physicians the organization chooses to include in a campaign. n CEOs Pursue More Acquisitions When They Don't Win Awards By Emily Rappleye W hen CEOs lose out on awards from business media outlets, they up their game by seeking out more and/or larger ac- quisitions, according to a recent study featured by Harvard Business Review. In fact, the study's authors — from Kelley School of Business at Indi- ana University in Bloomington and Jones School of Business at Rice University in Houston — found CEO's companies up acquisitions by 22 percent in terms of number of transactions and dollars spent if their competitors win an award and they don't. e authors suggest CEOs seek out more acquisitions aer losing out because acquisitions tend to garner attention and spur quick company growth. ey also honed in specifically on "runner-up" CEOs — those most likely to have won an award based on firm characteristics and personal characteristics, but who didn't — and found the largest increases in acquisitions were associated with these executives. Unfortunately, the researchers also found the acquisitions conducted aer losing out on awards tended to have a more negative financial effect than those con- ducted pre-award period. To come to these conclusions, the authors identified more than 200 CEOs from S&P 1500 companies who won an award or were included in a top CEO ranking by Business Week, Financial World Gold/Silver Awards, Forbes, Chief Executive and Harvard Business Review. ey then identified 1,450 CEOs of competitor firms that were not recog- nized by the media and analyzed acquisition activity for those compa- nies in both the pre- and post-award period. e researchers suggest boards always investigate CEO motivation before approving mergers and acquisitions and heed CEO emotions. n