Editors’ Note

Loreen Babcock is an award-winning marketing leader, widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in applying social science and behavior change models to the practice of marketing. In her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Montefiore Einstein, Babcock is responsible for marketing strategy and the development and implementation across all channels. Prior to joining Montefiore Einstein, Babcock built and reinvented brands across the healthcare, technology, financial and energy sectors for blue-chip organizations including Pfizer, Merck, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, JP Morgan, Chase, MasterCard, Reliant Energy, and Lucent Technologies. Babcock founded two marketing agencies – Idevoita in 2012, and LLKFB/Unit7 in 1996. She sold LLKFB/Unit7 to Omnicom in 2000, where she ascended to serve as Chairman and CEO of LLKFB/Unit7 through 2012. Prior to founding LLKFB/Unit7, she held senior leadership roles for advertising agencies including Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and Lowe.

Institution Brief

Montefiore Medicine (montefiore.org) is a leading academic medical organization comprised of Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Together they are pioneering patient-centered research and providing exceptional personalized care with over six million patient interactions a year in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. Montefiore Health System is comprised of 10 member hospitals, including the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, White Plains Hospital, and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites that provide coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, home to nearly 1,000 students in its MD, PhD, and combined MD/PhD programs, is one of the nation’s preeminent centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation.

Will you provide an overview of your role and areas of focus?

In my role as Chief Marketing Officer, I am responsible for marketing strategy and the development and implementation across all channels.

How critical is it for the chief marketing officer role to be engaged in business strategy?

In the constantly changing landscape of healthcare, it is critically important that those who are focused on business development rely on their marketing resources. Chief marketing officers and their teams have a unique lens into the sentiment of the vast communities and audiences we serve and what draws them to our care. Understanding the motivation of market segments is complex because behavior is often driven by deeper emotional sentiment that is best understood by the ongoing research that happens in the marketing division of organizations and industries.

What have been the keys to the strength and power of the Montefiore Einstein brand?

The strength and power of our brand comes from our authenticity and our ability to ensure that our brand always reflects an authentic truth.

Will you provide an overview of Montefiore Einstein’s branding campaigns?

What makes Montefiore Einstein’s branding campaigns uniquely groundbreaking is that they are based on extensive market research with each of our audiences, and we integrate insight with sophisticated analytics to shape our strategy on how we communicate the excellence of Montefiore Einstein through the power of a strong narrative. Our fluid approach is what keeps us pushing the boundaries in what and how to communicate, and it has paid off. Our “I Want to Live” campaign for transplant is a great example. We told that very powerful and thoughtful narrative through the patient’s eyes, their voice, and their dreams. Our strategy was to preserve their world just as they saw it and show how the small things in life take on magnificent meaning.

Our Holiday campaign that launched on Thanksgiving Day is another good example. The campaign reveals what innovative technology like eye tracking can give to someone with a neurological condition that leaves them incapable of speech and voluntary movement. We have seen first-hand how this innovative technology enables people previously perceived as having limited cognitive abilities to express their thoughts and understanding, effectively revealing their hidden potential, and giving them a voice to communicate with the world. We extended the campaign by developing a simple eye tracking technology that gives our Holiday site visitors their own experience created with just their eyes.

As with most of our campaigns, we wanted to remove the “commercialization” out of the feel of the message and give our audience a privileged peek into the minds of people who are going through or on the other side of something medically and emotionally complex. That creates a real connection.

How is technology impacting the way Montefiore Einstein approaches its marketing initiatives?

Technology plays an important role in how we get our message across, drive engagement, and measure success. We use technology throughout all of our marketing initiatives and, most notably, we use technology for our data analytics. Our reporting is underpinned by a data warehouse and data visualization tool which we use to aggregate data from each marketing channel. When an initiative is launched across multiple channels, we have a consolidated view into performance across each channel.

Will you discuss the importance of engaging Montefiore Einstein’s workforce in its marketing efforts?

Marketing is key to stimulating deeper conversations across our organization and I’m fortunate to work with a visionary CEO who understands the value of what marketing brings to an organization, how it builds internal culture and fosters strong relationships.

Our workforce is key to what we showcase in our marketing initiatives. Everyone is working so hard, all of the time, and when they are able to see a notable claim, an incredible patient success story, an advancement or a breakthrough amplified in the market – it rallies everyone.

How critical are metrics to measure the impact of Montefiore Einstein’s marketing initiatives?

Very. I lean heavily into data and analytics and I have, in fact, built a data-driven marketing department. We approach all of our marketing initiatives with a “test and learn” mindset. Then, we dig into what is working and what needs to be further optimized. I push so we are accomplishing our goals and I strive to exceed them. I never want us to be satisfied with the status quo.

What have been the keys to Montefiore Einstein’s industry leadership and how do you define the Montefiore Einstein difference?

Our leaders are future-forward and have an unwavering commitment to our mission: To heal, to teach, to discover, and to advance the health of the communities we serve. We deliver on our mission every day with the most diverse population in the country.

How important is it for Montefiore Einstein to build a diverse and inclusive workforce to mirror the diversity of its patients and the communities it serves?

Our workforce has always reflected the diverse population we serve. They give voice and offer solutions to the unique healthcare challenges faced by our communities. Montefiore Einstein’s leadership has always fostered an environment that is inclusive and welcoming.

Do you feel that there are strong opportunities for women in leadership roles in the industry?

Many of Montefiore Einstein’s leaders are women who have long tenures in their roles, including our Chief Financial Officer and our Chief Operations Officer. At Montefiore Einstein we have a shared commitment to equity and to creating an environment where everyone has ample opportunities for professional development and growth.

What advice do you offer to young people interested in building a career in marketing?

Marketing is core to business building, so you have to know your business goals and objectives. You have to be clear about the claim and key message that will serve as the arch of the story that will deliver on them. You have to build a multi-disciplinary base of skills – digital, social media, traditional media, creative strategy, research and analytics. And, you must know what is going on in culture – all of it. Marketing offers wonderful professional opportunities when you understand how it all comes together and how it all works together.

What are your priorities for Montefiore Einstein’s marketing efforts as you look to the future?

To continue breaking new ground in how we build our brand. Montefiore Einstein is rich with stories and remarkable innovative discoveries. From a marketing perspective, the possibilities of how we communicate these narratives and advancements are endless. I want to continue to challenge myself, my team, and our workforce to discover new ways to present Montefiore Einstein so it always feels like our audience is learning something new about our brand with each and every marketing initiative.