Whether marketing a specific division of your hospital - like the cardiac division - or branding your hospital as a whole, creating "the brand" or personality of your organization has a huge effect on both your advertising and public relations efforts.

A colleague recently shared an experience with me. Her hospital had a strategy meeting with some of the executives. A marketing executive asked the question, "What makes our hospital different from all the other hospitals in the area?" One of the doctors kept saying "We care. That's what makes us special. We care." She tried in vain to explain her point to the doctor, saying, "We're a hospital. All hospitals care about patients. That's the nature of working in a healing environment - we all care. That doesn't make us different." His reply was, "But we really care. We REALLY mean it."

I'm sure situations like this are more than common in healthcare marketing departments across the U.S. But my colleague brings up a good point. How do you brand your hospital or clinic? What persona do you portray to the public?

Developing a brand or persona is difficult for many many companies, especially those perceived as a commodity. If there really is nothing that differentiates you from everyone else, what do you do? Why should people choose you over your competitors?

Here's what many marketing experts recommend. Pick ONE of the things you do really well (even if the others do it well, too) and claim it as yours. If your organization is the first one to say it, then you've claimed it and no one can take it away from you. Let me give you an example I used to give my marketing students.

There are three toothpaste companies that control about 80% of the $1.3 billion U.S. toothpaste market: Colgate, Crest and Aquafresh. For most of us toothpaste is toothpaste. But think for a minute about how each of the companies (and the tons of spin-off brands they have) market themselves. Colgate gives you "fresh breath." Crest "fights plaque and is endorsed by the American Dental Association." Aquafresh offers "triple protection." What these companies have done is take a commodity - toothpaste - and created their own unique identity.

There is a large group of people that care about having fresh breath, and Colgate targeted this group. There is another segment of the population that really worries about cavities and health; hence, Crest jumped on that bandwagon and became the first to receive a recommendation from the American Dental Association.

Does brushing your teeth with anything give you fresher breath? I think so. But Colgate jumped on that claim first, marketed it to consumers first, and became THE toothpaste for people worried about bad breath. Think about the other worries toothpaste companies address ... white teeth, sensitive teeth, gum disease. Are you a smoker? If so, there's even a special toothpaste just for you.

Taking this example from the toothpaste industry, how can you take the perceived strengths of your hospital and use it to your advantage? What strength can you claim as your own before your competition does?