Chasing the Mosquito

A few years ago, I set my alarm to make it to the 7 am Minneapolis Farmer's Market on a Saturday morning. When 7 am generally meant awakening from a coma. There were a few highlights on this brisk morning - the fish tacos, and an art stand that called itself, Dream Chimes. I was fresh out of grad school, young and naive, and confident that I could help take any business to the next level that needed branding help.



I was attracted to the artistic theme and consistent look Dream Chimes used by minipulating, molding, and rearranging serving ware to make a larger functional and aesthetically pleasing product. However, I quickly learned Dream Chimes not only had no place to shop or order products online, they had no website or online presence. No book. No mission. And a business card that was printed at home. On a ink jet that you probably had to manually push the paper through.

I saw opportunity... a wedding decor section, incorporate your personal piece, share-with-friends online tool, partnership with Anthropology (ok... I was getting ahead of myself), a brand to identify with. I got the stand owners information and went home to get to work.

To jump ahead, no, nothing came of it. I developed company names, mood boards (which the wise Cabell Harris would say you should start with), and began writing the brand story. The owner was confused that I was eager to help without sneaking him a pen and SOW with X ________ at the bottom. None the less, I learned I could exercise what I was taught and that I had a passion. If you ever want to be your own boss one day, it will all fall back to leaning on that passion. Today Mosquito reminded me of this story when their passion for retail packaging was illustrated in their voice and on screen.

Health Literacy

Health care is complex and confusing and if you were to synchronize or standardize a process within the industry, you could be safe to call it a big idea. 

As health care will begin becoming commercialized and placing more focus on the consumer, the more important it is to speak their language - done through words and design. Wired Magazine shows a true example when redesigning Patient Lab Results Forms.

However, many people learn visually through experience. Awareness is not enough, people must engage to sustain learning. “Tryvertising” is a new marketing trend that focuses on engagement. As opposed to historical marketing campaigns that begin by educating consumers on a new product or service through messaging, Tryvertising takes a fresh approach to education and awareness that actually starts with consumers evaluating the usefulness of a product with trial, and then making a final decision on continued usage.

In the near future I believe you will see many more trial opportunities as a consumer in relation to billing, patient visits, scheduling, testing, and more.

Trending the Future

Space 150 put together a nice presentation that talks about why we should be cautious of QR codes and welcome NFC (Near Field Communication) technology.

Mobile Trends - June 2011 - Trending The Future

View more presentations from space150

It seems on track with a recent presentation I heard from iLoop's VP of Retail and Mobile Officer, Michael Bragg. He mentioned with 235 million people in the U.S. having a phone, in combination with mobile internet usage overtaking the desktop in the next five years, you have a large captive audience. However, when you are quick to develop an ecosystem for a desired outcome with a mobile marketing strategy, you must not forget that an app (in this case a QR code) plays a role but is not a strategy or solution.

'Just Click It'

This ad is an example of why I fell in love with advertising - It tells a story using one word. The maze that reads 'Just Do It,' made me think 'Just Click It,' in that this ad is positioned to turn the maze into a QR Code that can drive consumers to more information or entertainment (maybe a full-sized maze that Nike is putting on).

Working in the healthcare space everyday, it also reminded me of the idea that QR codes could put a stop to the stuggle of understanding medical bills. Where am I at with my deductable? What did my insurance cover? Is this the same bill from the provider and hospital?

As a consumer, I would love to seperate my healthcare expenses from other expenses. I assume others would too, as 62% of bankruptcies are from healthcare debt. BlueCross BlueShield started incorporating QR codes on paper bills to cut down the amount of information that was sent with the bill. Not a bad idea for patients to opt-in for further information, given that the current paper billing system averages $8 per transaction. Did I forget to mention...

- Approximately 15 - 20% of the cost of health care goes towards billing and collections (typical hospital margins are 4%).
- The U.S. healthcare system is a major driver of the overall economy with $1.9 trillion payments processed a year.
- Bad debt from self-pay patients is now close to 40% of total billing.
- In 2005 consumers spent $250 billion on healthcare, a figure that is expected to grow to $420 billion by 2015.

As much as hospitals want to improve patient satisfaction, control costs, and increase collections, patients want a place that will host all there healthcare bills.

I propose a platform is built by a large healthcare corporation that will fulfill this need. QR codes, along with apps, are not a solution, rather a part of the strategy to communicate a larger idea.

The larger idea:
- All healthcare bills are mandated with a QR Code for the consumer to opt-in with their smartphone to set up an account online(+app) where the bill will then be uploaded to the site.
- The site will consolidate all bills, have informational videos explaning each bill, as well as recommended next steps. It will show where the consumer stands against their deductable and will allow hospitals to nuture customer relationships and satisfaction by setting up appointments and follow ups if the consumer chooses to opt-in.
- The corporate sponsor of this site potentially have an opportunity to target consumers with their programs and services that would suit their needs with advertising on the site.
- Consumers would be able to pay with the click of their phone.

My phone is decorated with colorful financial apps including: Currency, ING Direct, Well Fargo and Mint.com. Between financial and healthcare apps such as WebMD and DocGPS, I would love to add this billing facilitation app to the mix as I believe it could transform healthcare.

Peanut Butter Jar Redesign

1 Peanut Butter Jar = 20 sticky knives in the dishwasher.
Plastic knife attached to the top also makes it easier for on the go.