Jack Health Blog
September 11th, 2023 By Amy Gattoni and Camryn Schaap
Alright, we finally watched the Barbie movie. The bright pink and satirical energy made it easy to lose ourselves in Barbieland. The only thing pulling us out of the uncanny valley of pink were the subtle vibrations from the Oppenheimer explosions in the theater next door.
We can’t think of many times when “Barbie” and “healthcare” have been used in the same sentence (we’d ask Healthcare Marketing Barbie, but she’s OOO at a conference). So, what does the Barbie movie have to do with our roles as healthcare marketers?
As we watched the film, we realized just how relevant the themes are to our work. We knew we had to share these five Barbie quotes that today’s healthcare marketers can learn from.
1. “Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever.”
When you build an experience, it can live on digitally, physically, and tangibly long after your planned window closes. But when you design an emotion forward experience, you have the chance to inspire your audience. Those inspired will become the inspiration, passing the message down to others far beyond the experience’s walls.
2. “That’s life, it’s all change.”
We are lucky to work in an ever-changing field. But that doesn’t come without its challenges. It comes with many – regulatory approvals, changing timelines, rising costs and frustrated patients – to name a few. When challenge strikes, instead of reverting to what’s expected of your brand, use the moment to show your audience that change is a part of your growth strategy. Sometimes, that change can be positive – a new approval, high patient success rates or a clinical breakthrough. Regardless of the type of change, plow forward and react with enthusiasm.
3. “I want to be a part of the people that make meaning, not the thing that is made.”
What’s an experience without giving consumers the opportunity to be part of it? Everyone likes being included, it’s human nature. Let’s lean into it – allow consumers the opportunity to help shape your brands’ experiences and create meaning for themselves and others. Experiential marketing is our opportunity to stop talking at our consumers and start building something meaningful and impactful together.
4. “Being human is uncomfortable.”
Healthcare is inherently uncomfortable, and most healthcare brands exist to reduce that discomfort. Some of the most successful brand experiences help attendees feel and understand the discomfort of a health condition and how a therapy or device can reduce that discomfort. Consider this in your next brand activation: how can you share your message by creating an empathetic experience that focuses on the shift from discomfort to comfort?
5. “We sell dreams and imagination and sparkle.”
Dreams, imagination, and sparkle are three words widely underrepresented in healthcare. But making the seemingly mundane topics sparkle is what we do. It’s what gets us up in the morning. It may take some extra thought and planning, but our clients and their work make it all worth it.
There’s a reason these quotes relate to our niche world of experiential healthcare marketing. All the themes throughout the film – embracing emotions, facing harsh realities, equality, and balancing leadership — are also common in the healthcare world.
And if we learned anything from Barbie and Ken – if we use our experiences to evoke empathy, we might find our jobs are a bit more than just healthcare (or beach).