Marketing strategy: An essential component of business development for academic health centers

Background: Historically, academic health centers (AHCs) have detached themselves from commercialism and entrepreneurism, viewing these activities as being inconsistent with many of their core academic values. Word-of-mouth promotion was their primary, if not sole, marketing strategy. Less emphasis was placed on preparing, pricing, distributing, and promoting these services to targeted audiences. Understanding customers’ needs was not a top priority. Methods: The marketing strategies and tools currently being developed and utilized by AHCs were reviewed. Results: In an effort to attract customers and win contracts, AHCs are aggressively marketing themselves by designing new services, promoting those services much more intensely, restructuring the entire distribution system that delivers those services, and crafting pricing strategies that build in flexibility. With growing frequency, these marketing tactics are part and parcel of a carefully crafted data-driven strategic plan designed to meet the business-development goals of the institution. Conclusions: In order to carry out their missions, AHCs have recognized that they can no longer rest on their “ivory tower” laurels. They must learn how to market themselves in a market economy.