Due to the scientific and competitive nature of the industry, healthcare and medical public relations requires well developed strategy, special attention to legal considerations (such as medical claims and HIPAA – patient privacy laws) and tenacity when building rapport with reporters. Factors such as busy doctors’ schedules, restrictions on connecting actual patients with the media and the complexity of many medical specialties make healthcare PR challenging. You need an experienced healthcare PR agency that understands the intricacies involved and can navigate around them.

Our team of healthcare and medical PR experts regularly works with reporters, writers and producers associated with dozens of media outlets across the country in a variety of medical specialty areas. Not only do we currently have relationships established, we know how to develop and cultivate new relationships to keep our clients in the press long-term.

In the last couple of weeks we helped two of our clients generate significant press coverage – both locally and nationally. Our healthcare and medical PR agency’s campaigns resulted in print, TV, radio and online press coverage for a fast-growing EMR-EHR software company in well-respected trade magazines such as Modern Healthcare as well as the Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Business Journal and Inside Indiana Business. All the press coverage helped put our client on the map!

Last week we also facilitated a day-long media tour at another client’s medical facility to allow the doctors in the practice to meet a head writer of SpineUniverse, a national pain management trade outlet. It was a great example of the amazing results sincere relationship-building can generate. The doctors enjoyed the opportunity for so much one-on-one time with such an esteemed publication, and the reporter appreciated that the doctors made SpineUniverse a high priority. We’re eager to see the end products when we read the various articles online over the coming months.

If your physician practice, medical software company, laboratory, hospital, clinic or pharmaceutical or biotech firm needs help simplifying your complex and scientific message so the general public can understand it and earning credible press coverage, give us a call. Our healthcare and medical public relations firm has extensive experience and a passion for media relations.

Give me or Marc Zucker a call at 888-284-0555 to discuss how we can help you.

This year alone we partnered with our clients around the country to launch new medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology products, clinical trials, new locations, mobile applications, IT services and software products. In addition to launching products and services we also help our clients launch (or re-launch) new brands. This is a great strategy to employ when your business has undergone a significant change, such as a move, new ownership, new leadership, new product/service mix or new vertical market focus.

Our new product launch and marketing services include market research to analyze the market size, opportunity and competitive landscape; marketing strategy and planning to give direction and accountability to the marketing investment; creative services which oftentimes includes logo design or refresh; website design and development; outbound marketing; lead generation; and public relations (PR).

Since our inception, we have served the entrepreneurial community so we love the challenge and excitement of launching new products and services and bringing them to market!

Synergy Marketing Group is one of the country’s most experienced new product marketing firms. If you are planning to launch a new product, service, company, location or vertical market – or if you are in the midst of a merger, acquisition or exit strategy, e-mail us today to schedule a complimentary consultation or call us at 888-284-0555 ext. 221 (ask for Marc Zucker).

We have extensive experience helping our clients market to primary care physicians (PCPs) as well as specialty practice areas. Our core healthcare marketing competencies are simplifying complex value propositions, breaking through the clutter of a competitive market, resonating with doctors and practice managers and compelling them to take action!

Two of the hottest issues in healthcare right now are helping physician practices achieve meaningful use of electronic health and medical records (EMR and EHR) and helping hospitals improve their processes for patient admittance, insurance reimbursement and billing. We’ve got both of these national challenges covered since we are helping our clients address these significant market opportunities.

If you targeting doctors, physician practices or hospitals with a scientific product, medical device, software system or professional service – our healthcare marketing and public relations services can help!

Synergy Marketing Group is one of the country’s most experienced healthcare marketing firms and healthcare PR agencies. Our team has a combined 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. e-Mail us today to schedule a complimentary consultation or call us at 888-284-0555 ext. 221 (ask for Marc Zucker).

If you answer “yes” to any of the questions below, it’s time to take a closer look at your corporate brand to determine if it is an asset or a liability.

1. Does your logo seem old or outdated?
Have you been thinking about creating a new brand? We understand, change is not easy, but it’s often necessary. Your logo is your company’s primary visual identifier and it can set the tone for all of your branding and brand marketing efforts. Professional marketing companies will approach a brand identity challenge with a blend of art and science (brand design and brand strategy).

2. Has your business name changed?
A name change is the perfect opportunity to hire a brand strategy firm to conduct a brand audit to determine if your new business name fits seamlessly and cohesively with your existing corporate image.

3. Has your business model changed?
When your business evolves, your brand should as well.

4. Has your key market or customer base changed?
Market research firms can help you identify market segments with the most opportunity, profile decision makers, document your current customers’ brand experience and focus your sales and marketing investments and efforts. This information will allow you to determine if your brand identity resonates with target audience groups.

5. Has your revenue growth diminished?
A new brand can breathe life into your business. Rebranding agencies can help you reintroduce your company, product or service to the marketplace once the new brand is launched. And with the right buzz surrounding it, a successful rebranding initiative should help generate new leads.

6. Have you lost market share?
Who’s your competition and what are they doing that you’re not? More important: what can you do to recapture or increase market share? Competitive research firms can be an invaluable resource in understanding your industry’s competitive landscape, identifying gaps and opportunities and gleaning best practices you can apply.

7. Have your current marketing efforts suffered diminished ROI?
Your logo alone is not your brand. Total brand strategy, including key messaging and sales and marketing materials should not be overlooked during the rebranding process.

If this list has triggered concerns about the strength and relevance of your corporate brand identity, perhaps it’s time to talk with a brand strategy consultant or expert that can help you determine a comprehensive approach to rebranding your business, product or service.

Looking for branding/brand strategy agencies in Indianapolis or Dallas?
Synergy Marketing Group offers branding from the Indianapolis and Dallas offices.

Synergy Marketing Group is one of the industry’s most experienced brand strategy firms and rebranding agencies. Our strategic branding services and rebranding services include brand audits, competitive and market research, logo development, corporate brand identity packages, key messaging, complete sales and marketing material development as well as other comprehensive branding services.

From my perspective, I felt it was obvious his company was in crisis, but he disagreed saying his company was doing well. His comment really got me thinking. Your business can be productive, generating revenue and even profitable, yet still be in crisis. So what constitutes a crisis and when might a crisis situation take its toll on business performance?

In this particular case, I defined the situation as a crisis based on market feedback. This specific company was receiving significant negative press as well as highly prejudicial commentary from industry peers on the social media networks. Any search for information about this company on the Internet returned lies, rumors, innuendoes and smear campaigns. In my professional opinion, this company was in crisis because it was not in control of its brand, message or reputation in the marketplace.

While the crisis situation has not started to noticeably affect business operations or revenue performance, I wouldn’t suggest waiting for the inevitable to happen before taking action. It is never too soon to take control of your brand, messaging and reputation. It’s only a matter of time before employees, vendors, customers and prospects hear about the negativity and demand an explanation. True or not, many people believe where there is smoke, there is fire. By not acknowledging a crisis and not taking a proactive position to defend yourself, your actions (or inactions) may be misinterpreted as a sign of guilt.

Over the last 10 years, Synergy Marketing Group has helped dozens of companies in crisis. We’ve helped businesses deal with law suits, hostile mergers, acquisitions and takeovers, facility disasters, mass layoffs, bankruptcies, executive firings and even workplace injuries before and after the courts, media, public and customers became aware of these situations. Our crisis management and crisis communications services include crisis pre-planning, collaboration with legal counsel when necessary, key message development (in the form of talking points, press releases and public statements as well as ghost-writing speeches, letters to the editor and editorials),   serving as company spokesperson and media training.

If you’re not sure if your company is in crisis or not or is heading toward a crisis situation that will affect the bottom line, give me a call. I’m happy to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) so we can have a confidential conversation – 317.205.9690 ext. 223 or amy@synergy-mg.com.

If you’ve been using the same company name, logo and mission statement for the last 20 years, you may be wondering why any business leader would intentionally shift away from the tried and true.  Good question.

The easy answer is the market is constantly evolving and your 20-year old brand may no longer be relevant, competitive or appealing to target buyers. Industry lingo constantly changes, market expectations continuously evolve and decision-maker profiles are always shifting. If you are not keeping a finger on the pulse of the marketplace and scrutinizing your organization’s ability to resonate with your target audience, you’re probably losing significant market share to more dynamic competitors.

My company, Synergy Marketing Group, reinvents companies every day. In fact, we typically re-brand 12-18 businesses every year. Our brand strategy engagements usually include a mix of company (or product or service) naming, logo development, key message development and corporate identity creation. This aesthetic make-over is only the first step in becoming relevant to today’s buyers.

Once we develop a solid brand platform, our clients usually engage us to take their new brands to market to capture revenue from an entirely new sub-set of the marketplace. We accomplish this in a variety of ways; through lead generating/converting websites, search engine optimization to help our clients be found on the Internet; e-mail marketing to improve customer retention as well as up-sell and cross-sell products and services to existing customers; advertising and public relations to improve credibility which ultimately shortens the sales cycle; and sales support to help our clients close deals.

If you’d like us to help you determine if your current company image is relevant to today’s buyers, contact me. I can be reached at devra@synergy-mg.com or at 317.205.9690 ext. 227.

Their concerns span a variety of areas. Business owners worry that operations will come to a grinding halt in their absence, executives worry their subordinates will make bad decisions, managers worry their clients will be angry and younger employees worry they will lose their position in the company if they take off a couple days.

The reality is none of these fears will come to fruition if you take some well-deserved R&R. In fact, most likely the opposite effect will occur. Your vacation time may create an opportunity for your staff to step up and prove themselves; clients may use your vacation time as an excuse to get away from the office as well; and your co-workers may respect you even more once they realize how hard you work and how difficult it was to fill your shoes.

I recently wrote an article on the importance and tangible value of vacation time. Inside Indiana Business was kind enough to publish it and share it with the Indiana business community. You can either check it out on the publication’s website or in Synergy’s white paper library.

As the chief marketing officer for one of Indianapolis and Dallas’ most experienced marketing and public relations firms, I too struggle to balance work, life and family – but it can be done.
In the spirit of practicing what I preach, I plan to leave behind my laptop and two mobile phones to take a full week of vacation this summer. I’d love to hear your strategies for carving out vacation time from a busy schedule. You can reach me at devra@synergy-mg.com or at 317.205.9690 ext. 227.

So how do I (and Synergy’s clients) define “lead generation”? It’s pretty simple. We both want decision-makers from our target audience groups to pick up the phone and call us;  fill out a web form to schedule a call; or e-mail us to request a meeting. Basically, we want our prototypical prospects to stand up, raise their hand and say, “hey, I need your help NOW!” This is Synergy’s definition of a qualified, in-bound lead.

As a marketing agency, our value proposition resonates well with serious business leaders because we take a very different approach to marketing. For starters, we lead with strategy versus creative. While we develop amazing brands and produce impressive graphic design work – it’s a means to a very specific end – helping our clients drive revenue. We’re a group of business analysts, marketing strategists and lead generation experts – and we produce results! Not many marketing agencies can make this claim.

As a CEO, I have the same high expectations that our clients do. I want to know that my marketing investment will yield qualified leads. Our company is a big believer in “practice what you preach.” We utilize the same strategies and tactics we recommend for our clients. In fact, Synergy BETA tests new marketing concepts on our self to develop executable processes and generate measurable results.

So whether it’s market research; marketing plan and budget development; brand strategy, development and management; public and media relations; search engine optimization (SEO); e-mail marketing; search engine marketing (SEM); website design and development; or advertising – we do it for Synergy and our clients, all to drive qualified in-bound leads.

If you’re serious about growing your business, talk to me. Synergy is the only Indianapolis and Dallas marketing firm that can substantiate our claims. Our marketing programs generate leads for our clients every single day. We are making a significant impact on our clients’ bottom line.

I am available for complimentary consultations. The sooner we get it scheduled, the sooner we can start driving revenue for your business. Call me at 317.205.9690 ext. 221 or send me an e-mail at marc@synergy-mg.com.

With today’s electronic marketing tools, the old adage that “half of marketing is wasted” is an outdated notion. There is no reason that every tactic in your marketing plan can’t be tracked, measured and evaluated for ROI (return on investment). In fact, I’d go as far as saying, “Don’t do it if you can’t measure it.” Few companies can afford to invest in extravagant brand awareness campaigns. In fact, all of the business leaders I know or serve are 100 percent focused on lead and revenue generation. In this economy, they don’t have the patience or luxury of making long-term investments in educating the market or gently raising awareness. They are trying to capitalize on tangible market opportunities today including displacing or replacing competitors that are exiting the marketplace.

In a down economy, a well-developed, well-executed marketing plan can make a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. Now is the time to invest in marketing because the competitive landscape is thinning and buyers have fewer options. Your marketing resources can sustain you longer and perform more effectively than in the past. You, in essence, have more marketing purchasing power due to economic conditions.

Conversely, a misguided marketing program can have detrimental and potentially catastrophic results. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration more than half of businesses fail in the first five years. Of these, many directly attribute their failure to unrealized marketing strategies. In 2009 alone 627,200 new businesses formed, 595,600 business closed and 43,546 went bankrupt. These findings do not differ greatly across industry sectors. These statistics make the case for closely tracking, measuring and evaluating your marketing investment on a regular basis to be sure it is a contributing factor, not a detractor.

There are many ways to transform traditional marketing strategies into measurable, focused, lead-generating investments. Read the full article here:  Don’t Do It If You Can’t Measure It.

Schedule a complementary consultation with Marc Zucker (888-284-0555 ext. 221), our CEO to assess your company’s brand and position in the market. We can’t wait to assist you!

Synergy Marketing Group, a full service, strategic marketing, advertising and public relations agency with offices in Indianapolis and Dallas, specializes in brand development, PR, traditional and interactive advertising, Internet marketing, website development and lead generation.

And, like these events, many of my wedding planning details were the same. I created and maintained a detailed guest list, designed and printed invitations, scouted and secured two different locations (for the ceremony and the reception), hired various vendors (including a caterer, DJ, photographer and florist), selected a menu and signed NUMEROUS contracts. (Oh, and paid the bills associated with said contracts.) Heck, I even designed a website to promote the event!

At Synergy, we do much of the same, and more – from event planning and budgeting to post-event analysis and everything in between. (The only big difference? I don’t get to take a week’s vacation after my clients have an event.)

So if you are looking to plan an event for your organization – whether a VIP facility tour, grand opening, open house, seminar, conference or employee event – let Synergy plan and manage your event from start to finish. I can promise you and your guests won’t be disappointed.
(By the way, if you need a post-event vacation, the hubby and I HIGHLY recommend Aruba.)