Somerset, NJ June 11 – Park City, Utah, the training ground for America’s elite Olympic athletes, proved an ideal backdrop for the 2014 Oticon Advanced Marketing Boot Camp. Now in its sixth year, the two-day boot camp experience immerses participants in a series of drills, exercises and workshops that focus on developing the mindset and skills needed to launch a distinctive practice brand in today’s highly competitive hearing care marketplace. More than 100 hearing care professionals from across the country discovered innovative, actionable marketing strategies to help them “bring home the gold” to their own practices and to the people in their communities who could most benefit from their professional care and services.
Oticon Advanced Marketing Boot Camp participants (l-r) Sheena Oliver, David Meerman-Scott, Patty Greene, Nancy Palmere, Kelly O'Keefe, Stephanie Young, and Karen Post.
“Our goal is to empower Oticon Advanced Marketing Boot Camp recruits to take full advantage of both traditional and new marketing strategies to reach the people in their communities that are most vital to the success of their practice,” said Vice President of Marketing Sheena Oliver, AuD, MBA. “Today, hearing care practices are under siege from competitors -- online, at large retail outlets and more recently, in big box stores -- that attack existing and potential client bases. The most powerful defense is a well-branded practice that communicates each professional’s unique value and benefits.”
This year’s boot camp experience featured a number of nationally recognized marketing experts who shared their insights on shaping a modern hearing care practice to successfully navigate the challenges of a continually evolving marketing environment.
David Meerman Scott, thought leader, viral marketing strategist and author of the best-selling The New Rules of Marketing & PR, emphasized the ways in which the web has profoundly changed the rules of marketing. He brought his singular perspective on new strategies to more effectively reach today’s consumers, providing practical guidance on using content-rich websites, blogs, YouTube videos, twitter and other online media to connect with existing and potential clients.
Internationally recognized consultant and business authority Karen Post, President of Brain Tattoo Branding, provided guidelines on how participants could begin building a memorable practice brand that creates loyalty and adds value to the client experience. She recommended that hearing care professionals infuse their marketing with emotion that motivates action, an experience that is relevant and personalized and engagement that rewards and appreciates.
Throughout the conference, a series of interactive workshops gave participants a closer, hands-on experience of both new and proven marketing tools to help their practice stand out from the competition. The Oticon Marketing Team showed how best practices from top brands could be applied to smarter, more effective practice marketing. Participants also learned how new social media marketing tactics and strategies and time-saving electronic marketing tools could power-up and streamline their marketing activities.
“Advanced Marketing Boot Camp is one of the broad range of business support Oticon provides to our partners throughout the year,” explained Oliver. “With our comprehensive marketing approach, we aim to give practitioners the best chance of success in their markets.”
For more information on Oticon business support, visit www.myoticon.com or the Oticon Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
