Marketing Essay: Castlight Health's Disruptive Health Care Plan

Like other products and services, health care products and services must be marketed to potential consumers. To do this effectively, health care organizations must develop marketing plans. These plans provide organizations and their leaders with common goals for their products and services. Moreover, by relating the marketing plan to the mission, vision, and objectives of the organization, marketing plans become a tool in the strategic decision-making process. For the Final Project, you create a marketing plan for a health care organization.

To prepare:

Select one of the following case studies from the Learning Resources to be the focus of your Final Project:

Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform
Thrive or Revive? The Kaiser Permanente “Thrive” Marketing Programs
Castlight Health: Disrupting the Health Care Industry
Carolinas HealthCare System: Consumer
AIP Healthcare Japan: Investing in Japan’s Retirement Home Market
Access Health CT: Marketing Affordable Care
E-Cigarettes: Marketing Versus Public Health
Review the case study and consider how you might market the health care organization. For guidance on developing a marketing plan, refer to Chapter 15, “Marketing Planning” in this week’s Learning Resources.

Part 1

State assumptions
Gather initial information
Audit the market
Determine the marketing strategy and business communication standards to be used
Assess due diligence (any operational, financial, or human resources requirements needed to implement the plan)
Set marketing goals and objectives
Describe any benchmarks from other competitors or industries
Prioritize marketing objectives
Specify marketing actions
Explain any global marketing issues in the marketing plan
Specify any limitations to implementing the plan

Part 2

Then, create either a slide presentation OR executive summary to present to the facility’s leadership.

State Assumptions

An effective marketing plan is one of the most significant ways of expanding the brands and reputation of a business organization in different geographical boundaries. As per the opinion of several scholars associated with marketing industry, providing superior quality of products and services to the customers is not the only way of gaining profitability of business. In quest of maintaining business profitability, the organization needs to create effective awareness about the brand image and brand identity. Marketing plan is the systematic approach of introducing the brand to the mind of customers for giving them an in-depth overview about the products as well as services.

Castlight Health has started their journey in the year 2008 in the mission of being cost equality tool of health care services. After conducting an effective survey about the current market demand, the company has realized that people prefer online services more effectively than the traditional way of services (Fan, Lau & Zhao, 2015).

As per the current business scenario, Castlight Health has decided to offer web-based consumer comparison tools that tends to show price and quality metrics for tests and other medical procedures which are performed by health care providers. By providing healthcare price transparency and allowing the patience in seeing the price of surgeries and other medical treatments from different providers the organization has gained immense image and reputation. Service users before choosing the healthcare centre can get detailed overview about the price transparency.

However, one issue is identified within the entire business process of Castlight Health. The marketing department of this organization is not very strong to enhance their brand image in the international market. The business glory of Castlight Health has been restricted within the regional boundary of San Francisco. The study has focused to make detailed marketing plan based on which the organization would be able to gain the attention of global customers (Lu et al., 2013). In addition, people would have to face immense challenges in getting proper idea about the price range of various medical treatments. Castlight Health has rendered an effective solution for those people who need an overall idea about price transparency of healthcare.

State assumption is a management planning that helps the companies to deal with uncertainties. Before making a business plan the organization intends to make effective state assumption based on which risk analysis and expected outcome of the implemented strategy is discussed. While implementing the marketing plan the study would focus to highlight detailed analysis about the risk factors that may arise (Kolb, 2013). While dealing with the study it is observed that Castlight Health provides services based on ecommerce method. The tools are completely web-based due to which the viewers need to be very much technologically advanced. Therefore, Castlight Health may have to face immense challenges in getting appropriate target audience for delivering their services (Davis, 2013). State assumption helps in analyzing the risk factors of making this marketing plan effectively.

While evaluating the overall background of the market it is identified that customers who need to take healthcare services often get puzzled before taking a quality services from different healthcare centre (Mintu-Wimsatt & Winston, 2013). This specific problem has been considered as unique selling point for Castlight Health. This organization has decided that service users before receiving the health care services from various centres need to get a clear and in-depth overview about the price transparency. As a result, the customers from various income statuses can utilize the services as per their economic background (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). On the other hand, it is also observed from the current market background that healthcare industry is growing their business wings day by day. In the kind of situation, large number of service providers in order to maintain sustainability and market threat has implemented affordable pricing strategy.

Overall Market Background

However, Castlight Health with the help of different web-based tools would give them effective notion about the service strategy and cost of various health care centres. As a result, the customers would get clear view and knowledge about the various pros and cons of different health care services (Jenkin et al., 2014). By offering various web-based tools through business-to-business subscription, model clients are able to reach the healthcare cost that enables an individual in maintaining their entire healthcare services very effectively. With the emergence of globalization the needs and demands of the customers in market is getting upgraded day by day. As a result, the cloud services in the market are of high demand.

Marketing strategy is one of the most effective long-term and fundamental goals for achieving the business objectives and mission. Providing effective solutions to the health care users are the primary mission of this business organization (Adamopoulos & Todri, 2015). Marketing strategy is of four different kinds that include direct marketing, sales promotion, social media marketing and personal selling. Castlight Health uses B2B subscription model in order to provide effective solutions to the customers.

Direct marketing:

Direct marketing is one of the most effective ways based on which the business experts can get opportunity in directly communicating with the customers (Gangwar, Kumar & Rao, 2013). The service providers can get direct feedback from the customers about the effectiveness of services.

Sales Promotion:

Sales promotion is one of the most significant strategies of direct promotion about the products and services.

Social media marketing:

However, Castlight Health has focused to follow social media strategy, which enables the customers from different geographical backgrounds and attitudes in getting detailed overview about the products and services (Huet et al., 2015). It is observed that Castlight Health provides web-based solution on health care price transparency to the customers. However, the entire business process of this organization is based on cloud computing services. Therefore, the customers can use the service by sitting at their own workplace. Thus, social media marketing is one of the most effective ways of dragging the attention of large number of customers and increase the number of target audience.

Business communication standard implies the way on which the organizational experts intend to communicate with the stakeholders and exchange their views and thoughts (Marich, 2013). Business communication standard can be constituted with five major ways that include meeting, email, letters and memo, social media and online chat.

Internal business communication:

In order to communicate with the internal stakeholders Castlight Health primarily focuses to select email and meeting. While circulating significant information among the employees, the method of email is generally used based on which every employee gets equal information (Laran & Tsiros, 2013). While maintaining collective decision making process the organization like Castlight Health tends to arrange a meeting in quest of forming business strategy and policy.

Business market communication:

However, as a major path of marketing communication Castlight Health uses social media platform in order to grab the attention of people from various geographic boundaries. In addition, the realm of social media is wide and vast that enables the business experts in dealing with the customers from various cultural and psychological backgrounds and attitudes (Thomas et al., 2015). It is very much easier for the business experts in expanding the business for Castlight Health in the global market.

Marketing Strategy and Business Communication Standards

In this very specific part, the study has focused to give detailed analysis about the some of the most important needs to be implemented within human resource division (Pappas, 2016). As per the structure of human resource department within Castlight Health, it is observed that human resource managers have formulated three major managerial departments within the organization. Finance management, human resource management and operational management department within the organization. John C Doyle is the chief financial manager of Castlight Health who keeps a constant control over the entire financial department of this organization. Dena Bravata is the chief medical officer who controls the entire operation process of the organization (Kim et al., 2016). And lastly, the human resource department handles entire recruitment and selection procedure of the organization. While recruiting the employees the human resource managers primarily focus on hiring financial experts. On the other hand, the HR managers have recruited operation executives as well.

• Hiring people for marketing department:

It is however, evaluated that Castlight Health is not very effective in their promotional and marketing activities based on which the organization would be able to create brand image and brand identity very effectively (Laws & Prideaux, 2013). On the other hand, it is undeniable that marketing department is mandatory based on which the organization would be able to make target market segmentation. Effective target market segmentation is highly needed for segregating the target customers and delivers products and services as per their expectation.

• Effective training program:

One major drawback has identified within the human resource department of Castlight Health that the employees are not well trained and professional to resolve the issues coming from the clients (Cairns, 2013). Therefore, human resource managers need to implement effective training and career development program so that the customers tend to show their interest in using services.

• Participative leadership style at the workplace:

The human resource managers of Castlight Health tend to follow autocratic form of leadership style at the workplace. With the help of autocratic leadership style, human resource managers intend to impose their own decision on the employees (Davari & Strutton, 2014). The employees do not get enough scope in sharing their views and thoughts with the managers. However, in order to expand a business of healthcare solution, the organization needs to implement participative form of leadership style to get the best performances from the employees. Participative form of leadership style is very much effective in involving the employees for getting their views and thoughts (Nowak et al., 2015). As a result, employees intend to show their motivated outlook in providing their best endeavour towards services.

The primary goal of this organization is to expand the business in global market by making effective marketing plan for international customers.

Smart objectives:

Specific	To enhance the profit level  in achieving  the need of the target audience within one year
Measurable	To render product diversification to increase profit level
Achievable	To achieve international recognition by increasing  service quality within one year
Realistic	To improve the skills of marketing executives in order to deal with customers’ demand within one year
Time bound	To keep up effective customer rapport within one year

Some of the major competitors of Castlight Health include Philips Healthcare, Thrive or Revive, Carolinas HealthCare System and Access Health CT. Benchmark is the process of comparing the existing company from its major competitors (Duchessi & Lauría, 2013). In quest of setting a benchmark, the study has made comparative analysis for evaluating the market threat and analysis of Castlight Health.

• The promotional content quality of the organization like Castlight Health is not very lucid that can attract the attention of customers from different literacy background
• The competitors have followed effective contents by maintaining a proper lucidity and simplicity of language so that it can be understandable to everyone
• Timing and frequency is a critical competitive benchmark based on which the organizations intends to choose the best time for using social media platform. Carolinas HealthCare System uses effective promotional contents by using audio-visual platforms. With the help of this platform they can draw the attention of large number of customers even if they are not from well educated backgrounds.
• The employees associated with Philips Healthcare are very much advanced in technology. On the other hand, Castlight Health cannot give proper trainingand development session to the employees for being accustomed with the advancement of technology.

In this very specific part, the marketing objectives are reorganized as per their priority level. The priority levels are as follows:

• To achieve international recognition by increasing  service quality within one year
• To render product diversification to increase profit level  
• To enhance the profit level  in achieving  the need of the target audience within one year
• To keep up effective customer rapport within one year
• To improve the skills of marketing executives in order to deal with customers’ demand within one year

In order to create brand awareness Castlight Health has focused to make two specific marketing actions. Making target marketing segmentation is one of the most effective ways of segregating target audience (Garoufallou et al., 2013). As per geographic, demographic and psychographic backgrounds the customers are segregated. While following STP analysis Castlight Health has targeted different zones of Sans Francisco. Both male and female customers would be provided equal respect and dignity.  

As promotional tools, Castlight Health has used social media platform with the help of which people belonging to other geographic backgrounds as well can pay their attention about the products and services.

The primary global marketing issues that are identified within a marketing plan include

• lack of creating strong brand culture
• lack of proper communication with the target audience
• lack of effective promotional plan for grabbing the attention of international customers
• lack of making proper promotional content for drawing the attention of global customers
• lack of implementing appropriate marketing mix strategy and policy for drawing global attention   

While implementing the marketing plan the study is possessed with some of the major limitations, which are as follows:

• The study has not focused on making effective promotional budget plan based on which the entire marketing activities are highly dependent
• The business experts have not focused on implementing marketing mix strategies for evaluating major 4Ps of Castlight Health
• While making the marketing plan it is identified that marketing executives are not very technologically advanced due to which they have to face immense challenges in communicating with the customers with the help of social media marketing.

12. Conclusion: 

The study provided deep insight about the importance of proper marketing plan based on which the organization can grab the attention of international customers. As per the current business scenario, Castlight Health has decided to offer web-based consumer comparison tools that tends to show price and quality metrics for tests and other medical procedures which are performed by health care providers (López & Sicilia, 2013). The study has focused to make detailed marketing plan based on which the organization would be able to gain the attention of global customers. In addition, people would have to face immense challenges in getting proper idea about the price range of various medical treatments. While implementing the marketing plan the study would focus to highlight detailed analysis about the risk factors that may arise. While dealing with the study it is observed that Castlight Health provides services based on ecommerce method.

It is also observed from the current market background that healthcare industry is growing their business wings day by day. In the kind of situation, large number of service providers in order to maintain sustainability and market threat has implemented affordable pricing strategy (Armstrong, Delia & Giardina, 2016). Therefore, the customers can use the service by sitting at their own workplace. Thus, social media marketing is one of the most effective ways of dragging the attention of large number of customers and increase the number of target audience. While circulating significant information among the employees, the method of email is generally used based on which every employee gets equal information. The study has focused to give detailed analysis about the some of the most important needs to be implemented within human resource division.

The primary goal of this organization is to expand the business in global market by making effective marketing plan for international customers (Pizarro Milian, 2017). One major drawback has identified within the human resource department of Castlight Health that the employees are not well trained and professional to resolve the issues coming from the clients. Based on the major limitations identified throughout the study, some of the recommendations have been  provided.

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