Consumerism

By Craig Thomas, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, GuideWell

By Kate Warnock, Social Media Manager at GuideWell

My interview with Arden Buchanan, GuideWell Connect’s director of database marketing, took a left turn about ten minutes into the podcast recording. Our topic was supposed to focus on hyperpersonalization, or the ability to use data models to help drive the right offer to the right audience at the right time. In this age when consumers expect a Brand to remember past visits and customize their current experience (without being creepy – too much familiarity is as bad as not enough), hyperpersonalization is an essential marketing tool. Yet what I found most fascinating when talking with Arden is how he optimizes his database marketing team to be able to create such marketing magic.

An Interview with Mark Stryker by Kate Warnock

According to Mark Stryker, GuideWell Connect’s Chief Business Development Officer, the worst marketing approach a Brand can deploy is to try to be all things to all people. Not only is it “physically impossible,” Stryker suggests it could be the fastest way for your Brand to lose its competitive edge – and for consumers to smell a fake. The smarter way to connect with consumers begins with knowing the audience segment that is the best fit for your products, then personalizing that segment’s experience with your Brand through the entire sales funnel and beyond. In our “How to Consumer” podcast episode, Mark takes a strategic look at personalization, and how Brands can clear the legacy-system hurdle with pin-point investments for a 360 degree view of their members.

With Mark Stryker, GuideWell Connect Chief Financial and Business Development Officer

In year two of the health insurance marketplace, consumers realize they have more options as more carriers enter the market. Yet our own Mark Stryker observed that most were reluctant to rush in and make a selection at the start of 2015’s Open Enrollment. In our second installment of “How to Consumer,” Mark divulges what any marketing executive needs to know to make the right offer to the right consumer target in this highly competitive environment.

Start with your Value Proposition

Thanks to health care reform, a market that is increasingly consumer-focused, and technology that is drastically changing how care will be delivered, the health care industry is in a state of flux. Yet flux can represent the right time to optimize your organization and ensure your value proposition delivers what is needed tomorrow, not yesterday. We were able to get some behind-the-scenes insights from our own CEO and Chairman, Patrick Geraghty, into how GuideWell has taken an entrepreneurial approach to these industry stresses. Our interview is the inaugural podcast for our new podcasting channel, GuideWell Insights.

How Will the Consumer of 2014 Shop for Health Insurance?

by Mark Stryker, Chief Financial and Business Development Officer, GuideWell Connect.

Have you noticed how the health insurance industry has evolved to being very similar to the retail environment in terms of seasonality? With the overlapping open enrollment periods for the IU65 and Medicare markets, as well as for many employer groups, the fourth quarter of the year has become incredibly important for the health insurance segment.

The media talks often about the health industry moving towards a consumer model. The question that often follows this is “What does a ‘consumer model’ mean for the industry, or for the company, or for me?” There is good news and bad news here.