Marilyn Hagerty Teaches Marketing Best Practices

Here is something every healthcare marketer, hospital and doctor can learn: be authtentic. You don’t have to be any more special than the Olive Garden in Grand Forks, ND to be interesting to the world.

For example, take the story of Marilyn Hagerty, an 85-year-old reviewer that wrote a glowing review of the Olive Garden in Grand Forks, ND, and then became an overnight national celebrity.

We discussed in an earlier post that Tim Alloca, the YouTube Trends Manager, identified the elements that make a viral hit:

1. Tastemakers: Shout-outs occur to extend the reach of content
2. A Community of Participation: Actions are taken in response to content
3. Unexpectedness: Something out-of-the ordinary makes the content unique

So let’s look at what happen to our friend Marilyn:

#1 Tastemakers: Who got a hold of the review? First it was posted by Fark, Gawker and BoingBoing. Then lots of people jumped on board and retweeted it, including entertainer Jimmy Fallon, celebrity chefs like Anthony Bourdain, and restaurant reviewers in large-city newspapers.

#2 Participation: People posted parodies of the review, some that were respectful (like celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain), and many others attempting to be funny or down right snarky. This became a springboard for a community of write-your-own-funny-reviews.

#3 Unexpectedness: The authenticity was unexpected and totally the opposite of the usual criticism that an Olive Garden review might receive.

Here is the point of this post: You don’t have to be a world-changer, or amazing, or unusual… you just have to be authentic. The world, and your patients, are looking for something real, and you can always deliver that.

How can healthcare marketers apply this marketing best practice and offer patients authenticity and transparency? Would love to hear your thoughts.