The total amount of spending on branded content reached more than $1.9 million per company in 2011—an all-time high, according to the 2011 Spending Study conducted by the Custom Content Council. Highlights from the 2011 report include:
- 72% of marketers think branded content is more effective than magazine advertising, compared to 62% who see it as more effective than television advertising.
- 30% of respondents feel their branded content budgets will rise again in 2012.
- 16% of marketers report that their companies are shifting aggressively from traditional marketing into branded content.
- Educating customers is the number one reason for using branded content, followed by customer retention.
For more information on the CCC Spending Study, click here.
Click the video and get to know the people bringing you America's leading healthcare marketing services company and analytics platform.
Powered by True North Custom Media, IRM leverages the power of data analytics and deep market research for a sophisticated approach to targeting and tracking your marketing strategies. IRM illuminates areas of opportunity and growth, eliminates the guesswork from the process of crafting and deploying your strategic messages, and illustrates proof of performance.
Click on this link to learn more about IRM.
True North Custom Media Wins Five Web Health Awards
True North is known for producing award-winning custom media content. We have shown once again that our team’s creativity and talent shine on the national stage, as True North recently garnered five Web Health Awards on behalf of our clients and B2B brands.
Announced on October 31, the list of True North accolades includes:
Introducing VariSmart—the next generation of fully custom, data-driven marketing solutions, brought to you by True North Custom Media. VariSmart is True North’s proprietary platform for Variable Data Personalization or VDP. Designed to strengthen all of your marketing and communication objectives, VariSmart will build brand awareness, drive higher patient volume, influence perceptions, promote key services, strengthen Clinical Relationships, market physicians, educate your community, and increase profits.
Click on this link to learn more about VariSmart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATBGBCPmKxs
Analytically inclined marketers play an integral role within their organizations. This Marketer's Resource from True North Custom Media provides the insight and strategic perspective you need to begin the process of competing on analytics—and securing competitive advantage for your hospital or health system.
HIT Exchange recently sat down with IBM researcher Dr. David Ferrucci to discuss the Watson supercomputer's implications for healthcare.
True North Custom Media recently produced a promotional video that speaks "just the right language at just the right time in just the right way" for the American Bankers Association.
Watch it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4HPZ63OREI
The MD News Network was in Chicago recently to cover the American Medical Association's 2011 Delegates Meeting, where more than 500 AMA delegates gathered to debate and vote on policies and future leadership for the country's largest physician group. Click here for exclusive coverage of the meeting.
2011 GreenCare Award Winners
True North Custom Media, in collaboration with the Strategic Sustainability Consulting and the Arbor Day Foundation, is proud to announce the 2011 GreenCare Award Winners. These hospitals and health networks were selected among more than 125 applicants as America’s most green healthcare organizations. We commend this achievement and applaud their efforts to practice environmentally sustainable care for their communities.
Overall Winner
Overall Honorable Mention
Category Winners and Honorable Mentions
Architecture and Design
- Lehigh Valley Health Network
- Honorable mention: Rockingham Memorial Hospital
Equipment and Supplies
- Elmhurst Hospital Center
- Honorable mention: Sacred Heart Hospital
Housekeeping and Maintenance
- Freeman Health System
- Honorable mention: LifeBridge Health
Organizational Commitment
- LifeBridge Health
- Honorable mention: Reston Hospital Center
Purchasing
- Granville Health System
- Honorable mention: LifeBridge Health and Sacred Heart Hospital
Resource Conservation
- Rockingham Memorial Hospital
- Honorable mention: Lehigh Valley Health Network and Sacred Heart Hospital
HIT Exchange magazine is proud to be the exclusive Major Sponsor in the HIT Publishing Category of the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study. HIT Exchange magazine has partnered with the American Hospital Association (AHA) to sponsor the Most Wired program through 2013.
“We’re excited to join forces with the AHA in sponsoring Most Wired and supporting its mission to advance the practice of healthcare IT,” says Eric Hibbs, Executive Editor for HIT Exchange. “The Most Wired program recognizes hospitals at the forefront of innovation, and this partnership aligns perfectly with our mission of connecting healthcare executives setting the course for their organizations and the IT and clinical leaders implementing these strategies.”
The partnership between the AHA and HIT Exchange represents a tremendous synergy of health IT resources and support. The AHA provides critical thought leadership to its member organizations, and HIT Exchange similarly informs healthcare leaders on the most critical topics of interest while recognizing excellence in technology adoption and advancement.
The MDNews Network talked with presidential candidate Newt Gingrich about health care reform, physician best practices, and other salient issues at the American Hospital Association Health Forum Leadership Summit.
New Study: Consumers Value Custom Content
As a companion piece to the CMO study released last month, Roper Public Affairs and the Custom Content Council have announced a new study on consumers' attitudes toward custom content. The findings reinforce the engagement and efficacy of custom content:
- Awareness of custom media is high: 8 in 10 consumers say they are aware of custom media, either in print or electronically.
- Consumers appreciate companies’ efforts to provide custom media: More than three-quarters say they understand that these companies are selling something, but feel it is okay since the information provided is valuable. In fact, 7 in 10 consumers say they prefer to learn about a company through a collection of articles rather than in an ad.
- Custom media positively impacts purchase decisions: Two-thirds of consumers say the information provided by custom media helps them make better purchase decisions. More than half say they are more willing to buy another product from a company that provides them with custom media.
- Custom media strengthens consumers’ perception of company: 6 in 10 say that after reading a custom publication, they feel like they know more, and feel better, about the company.
- Consumers are familiar with a broad range of custom media: 8 in 10 consumers say they have seen custom content in the form of print magazines or newsletters. Almost half have seen digital magazines; one-third have seen custom content in white papers and in social media. One-quarter have seen webcasts/podcasts.
To receive a copy of the full report, contact True North Chief Marketing Officer Jason Skinner at 800.624.7496 or jskinner@truenorthcustom.com.
We Are True North Custom Media
True North Custom Media, formerly True North Custom Publishing, BlueCanoe Dynamic Media, Sunshine Media, and Sunshine Printing, is proud to announce our rebranding and refined mission statement to reflect our capabilities as a fully integrated media company that is committed to being your best resource.
True North Custom Media: We are your best resource.
Publishers should enter the challenging custom media pool at their own risk.
CCC Study Shows Marketers Spending More on Branded Content Across All Platforms
The 2011 Content Marketing Characteristics report reflects the power of print, and the continued extension of branded content into video, mobile, and other transcendent media channels.
- Print still dominates the market, with $24 billion spent on print production and distribution and $3.6 billion spent producing other forms of content.
- Emerging platforms are surging, with spending on video, mobile, virtual events and educational content hitting an all-time high of $12.5 billion in 2010.
- Custom media makes up a significant percentage of the marketing budget. Of the average overall marketing, advertising and communications budget, 29% of funds are allocated to custom media.
- Video will continue to rise. 57% of marketers say they will produce video, as compared to 54% last year—this is on the heels of a 7% increase in popularity of the format over the past year. The study indicates video use will continue to grow rapidly.
For more information and to receive a copy of the full report, contact True North Chief Marketing Officer Jason Skinner at 800.624.7496, ext. 136 or jskinner@truenorthcustom.com.
New Survey Shows Consumers and Marketers Agree: Custom Content Is King
The Custom Content Council and Roper Affairs recently released preliminary results of the 2011 Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Consumer Attitude study on content marketing. Highlights of the survey, which illustrate the value that both marketers and consumers place on custom content to deliver relevant information and drive action, include the following:
- 73% of consumers prefer to get information from a company in the form of a collection of articles over an advertisement.
- 61% of consumers feel better about a company that delivers custom content and are more likely to buy from that company.
- 35% of CMOs surveyed believe that custom content marketing is the future of marketing, versus 19% in 2006.
- CMOs see an increased value to custom content — 87% feel it's valuable in 2011 versus 72% in 2006.
For more information and to receive a copy of the full report, contact True North Chief Marketing Officer Jason Skinner at 800.624.7496, ext. 136 or jskinner@truenorthcustom.com.
The media is changing. Are today’s colleges and universities keeping up?
CMO Council Study: Magazine Readers Prefer Print
A 2010 CMO Council study shows print is alive and well—and has a strong future. Published in the whitepaper entitled Leveraging Loyalty to Transform Publishing, the CMO Council study of magazine readership was designed to evaluate consumers’ preferences on media platforms. Highlights from the study include:
- 92% of consumers will continue reading hard copies of their magazines.
- 90% of consumers would choose a printed piece when given a choice of online magazines or e-readers.
- 67% said they prefer the tangibility of a publication over the use of a e-reader.
To receive a copy of the study, contact True North Custom Media Chief Marketing Officer Jason Skinner at 800.624.7406, ext. 136 or jskinner@truenorthcustom.com.
GreenCare Awards Deadline Extended
The GreenCare Awards deadline for applications has been extended to March 31, 2011. Created in collaboration with Strategic Sustainability Consulting and co-sponsored by Healthcare Insight and MD News, the GreenCare Awards annually highlight America's healthcare organizations committed to caring for patients…and the planet.
If your practice or organization is taking steps toward practicing green health care-however modest or extensive, apply for a GreenCare Award today. For more information and to apply online, visit greencareawards.com.
FOLIO: Magazine January 2011: Executive Perspective from True North CEO David McDonald
Branded Content and the Internet: Both had humble beginnings, yet were light years ahead of their time.
http://www.foliomag.com/2011/paid-content-2-0
MD News Q&A with David Blumenthal
During the 2010 Medical Group Management Association Conference, the MD News Network sat down with David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, to discuss the latest HIT issues and trends.
http://www.mdnews.com/video?video=14670
HIT Exchange Magazine the First to "Bridge the Gap" between Healthcare Business and Technology
True North Custom Media announces the launch of HIT Exchange, a new national-footprint magazine that covers the healthcare information technology (HIT) industry from both business and technology perspectives. The magazine, which will reach more than 70,000 healthcare executives and IT professionals around the country, will feature an array of articles on topics from electronic health records (EHR) to practice management and career advancement.
"HIT Exchange magazine facilitates a national dialogue among healthcare business and technology leaders, an audience that forms the nucleus of an industry undergoing a transition of historic importance," says Eric Hibbs, Executive Editor for HIT Exchange. "In this complex arena, there are many stakeholders with varying perspectives and vested interests in shaping the evolution of HIT and, in turn, leading the transformation of the entire healthcare system. HIT Exchange sparks an ongoing, inclusive, focused discussion among these thought and solution leaders in a unique, branded content format that is truly a convergence of perspectives that create a revolving 360-degree look at the healthcare IT landscape."
For more information, visit http://hitexchangemedia.com/
Highlights from the 2010 Custom Content Council Spending Study
- 68% of companies are shifting from traditional forms of advertising and marketing to new forms (i.e. branded content, content marketing, custom publishing, or custom media.)
- 66% of marketers believe branded content is superior to direct mail, and 63% believe it is superior to public relations.
- 29% of the average overall marketing, advertising, and communications budget funds were dedicated to branded content in 2009.
- Print represented 43% of the total spending in 2009, while electronic and other accounted for 35% and 12%, respectively.
For more information and to receive a copy of the CCC study, contact True North Chief Marketing Officer Jason Skinner at 800.624.7496, ext. 136 or jskinner@truenorthcustom.com.
FOLIO: Magazine December 2010: Executive Perspective from True North CEO David McDonald
When selling content, how pregnant are you?
http://www.foliomag.com/2010/how-pregnant-are-you
Highlights from the 2010 Custom Content Council Characteristics Study
- Spending on content marketing totaled $47.2 billion in 2009, an increase from $44.1 billion in 2008.
- The average pages per issue for a printed custom publication moved to an all-time high of 25.8 pages per issue, an 87 percent increase in the last decade.
- The average circulation per issue for printed custom publications increased to an all-time high of 48,162 copies per issue.
For more information and to receive a copy of the CCC study, contact True North Chief Marketing Officer Jason Skinner at 800.624.7496, ext. 136 or jskinner@truenorthcustom.com.
