Introduction
Competition has been a factor that has disrupted the Akron Children Hospital. The hospital is seeking to establish new strategies that will make sure it remains to be the hospital most sought by people in the region. The hospital is facing competition from Akron City Hospital, Akron General Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital. The company is seeking new ways to advertise itself to become the best hospital in Akron. The main aim of the advertisement that the hospital is planning to carry out is to increase the inflow of patient in the hospital. Through the marketing strategies, the hospital plans to boost the number of patient cases by 10 percent come the next year. The management is seeking to focus its advertisement on the kids. The hospital believes that by focusing its advertisement on the kids then it will achieve its set goals of increasing the number of patients that the hospital admits.
Case study
The hospital is looking at some plans that will enable it to achieve its goals. Jones suggests that the first plan is to do focus groups. Thomas will conduct four focus groups with each focus group having an average ten people who will participate in the focus group. The second plan or plan B is to conduct a focus group and incorporate it with a field survey that will follow up the results collected in plan A.
Aided and unaided awareness is the primary focus of the survey. The three positioning studies that the hospital plans to put through in the marketing campaigns are; the hospital’s doctors will listen to the needs of all customers; the hospital knows how to meet the unique needs of children and the last being that the hospital uses advanced technology to treat children.
Best positioning strategy
The best positioning strategy would be for the hospital to conduct a thorough research through the survey. This will enable the hospital to collect actual, factual and correct data. With the effective use of the data collected in the survey, the hospital will have a better position to know the best strategy to carry out the marketing campaign. This survey would be a sizeable investment to the hospital. The survey would prove better than a focus group. Research plays a crucial role in producing factual and reliable data outcome. In this case, Powell and Norton are after a way of gaining markets for the Akron Children Hospital. This involves understanding how households select the hospitals for their children.
Getting these facts will help the management to structure ways of tapping into the opportunities that present themselves. Secondly, it would help the hospital to be ahead of its competitors. This is because information is power. Getting information from customers or clients is beneficial, as it would serve the role of enlightening the management. This will make them stay ahead of the competitors in terms of service production. Another role played by research is that future trends can be easily be determined. When the future trends in choosing hospital for children by the respective families become familiar, the hospital can conduct proper preparations effectively to conduct the marketing of the hospital.
Norton will have a number of survey methods at his request if commissioned a survey. The first one could be the use of focus groups. A focus group is a group of individuals who are similar and who serve to provide information during a directed and moderated group discussion. In focus groups, the researcher asks the respondents about their beliefs, perceptions, opinions and attitudes towards a given product or service.
The hospital should use the art of observation effectively when conducting the survey. This is important as the interviewer writes down what they see without influence. A survey is yet another method that is available to help get information about how families choose the hospitals for their children. The survey involves the respondent answering an ordered series of questions administered in a systematic manner. Interviews are another way of getting information about how families choose the hospitals for their children it is a directed conversation between the respondent and the interviewer. The interviewer uses a list of questions designed specifically to gather extended responses. The hospital should use content analysis in the collection of data. This involves the examination of language either in speech, visual or written communication.
Conclusion
According to the situation in which the children’s hospital is in, the best method to employ would be the use of surveys. Surveys provide a way of getting information in a depth way. A survey enables a researcher to be aware of the limited services that make people not to seek services in the hospital. The hospital can use this information to design the effective service as outlined by clients who bring their children to the hospital. According to the situation that faces the Akron Children’s Hospital, the best way to collect information would be interviews because it is a way through which someone can get in depth information that is clear of any ambiguities.
