WVU Marketing Communications Today

Healthcare is one of the largest industries and with so many options (as well as “Dr. Google”) it’s important for marketers to know the strategies to reach patients. Christopher Caserta, Vice President for Strategic Development at United States Medical Management, joins us to discuss how marketers are changing the healthcare industry, as well as how the industry has evolved on the WVU Marketing Communications Today podcast.

About our Guest:

Christopher has over 20 years of executive-level experience within acute- and long-term healthcare, senior living, and consulting. His diverse expertise includes strategic and growth roles within hospital systems, Accountable Care Organizations, care coordination systems, ambulatory centers, senior housing, home and community-based services and skilled nursing rehabilitation. Christopher is a native West Virginian and proud 2010 Master’s graduate of the Integrated Marketing Communications program at West Virginia University.

WVU Marketing Communications Today is presented by the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, which offers renowned online master’s degree programs in Marketing Communications.

Bringing a new product or service to the market can feel like a daunting task to some. If it is not promoted properly, you could miss out on an opportunity or lose money down the line. Join Alex Virden as she discusses what it takes in real life to bring a new product or service to market and how she combines creativity and innovation into her work.

About our Guest:

Alex is an experienced marketing professional currently working in product marketing at EVERFI, an organization driving social impact through education. She runs a side-hustle, Virdical, where she consults on branding, content development, and training. When not at the office or helping clients, Alex mentors several up-and-coming female leaders from industries including food and beverage, energy, healthcare, and personal wellness. She is a fierce customer advocate who is passionately curious about marketing, and she geeks out over all things process and strategy. Outside of the office, Alex loves to travel, box, practice the banjo, explore the outdoors with her Frenchie, Teddy, or spend time with her husband, family, and friends.

WVU Marketing Communications Today is presented by the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, which offers renowned online master’s degree programs in Marketing Communications.

Omnicom Health Group is the largest healthcare marketing and communications network in the world, with more than a dozen companies and over 4,000 talented people specializing in every area of health. Our people come from every corner of science, medicine, marketing, and communications, partnering with clients—and connecting with each other— to achieve meaningful change through better, more innovative communications. We hope this session can help students pick up skills that can help them land a job!

About Susan's Guests: 

Joe Golden has over 15 years in Recruiting with the past 10 on the corporate side. He has spent the last 7 years at Omnicom Health Group recruiting across the whole network.

Sasha Sampedro is part of the recruitment team over at OHG. Previously to joining OHG, Sasha worked on the media and film industry as a Human Resource Manager. She has been part of the Omnicom family for close to 3 years where she is responsible for recruiting for Art, Copy and Finance positions. At OHG, Sasha is also responsible for helping out with the summer internship program as well as entry level recruitment. She loves to travel and a good hot sauce.

WVU Marketing Communications Today is presented by the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, which offers renowned online master’s degree programs in Marketing Communications.

Crisis management expert, consultant, and author Edward Segal talks about the publication of his new book on crisis management — Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies (Nicholas Brealey).

A Crisis is sometimes defined as anything that interrupts normal business operations … something Webster says that brings about a turning point or decisive moment when difficult decisions must be made. Many if not most organizations, companies, and leaders understand the need to put a crisis plan in place before the next crisis hits, no matter how unpredictable the actual event might be.

Marketing and communications during a crisis demand flexibility and adaptability. For the West Virginia University Foundation, that was never more apparent than during the height of COVID-19. The Foundation’s IMC team of 4 had to quickly put together two campaigns in less than a month to help raise emergency funding for students hurt by the pandemic.

Advances in behavioral science have come a long way since the discipline’s inception in the late seventies. Robust studies have shown time and again that long-held theories of top-down information dissemination, particularly when scientific in nature, are not only ineffective but perhaps even counter-effective. Ensuring that communications are received as intended, and ultimately acted upon for the purpose of predicting behavioral outcomes, requires understanding how the brain processes information and its cognitive limitations.

30 years ago the marketing landscape looked much different than it does today. The internet wasn’t around, there were limited media options and data took a while to compile, analyze and act upon. Today, marketing moves at the speed of light. There are thousands of ways to reach your audience. Data is readily available, decisions happen instantly, changes to campaigns can be made immediately. That’s the beauty of marketing, it is always changing.