Paper Example on HCA Healthcare: Crafting a Winning Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix HCA Healthcare

The marketing mix strategy used by the hospital aims at achieving its desired goals within the market that it serves (Samuel, et al., 2010). The broad marketing strategy for the hospital is obtained through developing ideas that address the aspects of every element in the market.

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Product

HCA Healthcare distributes its products under five broad categories, and every category serves as a different product line. All its products are sold under its brand name. The HCA provides a variety of products and services to the customers; hence the customers can select from a range of products and services. Their services are highly differentiated, with numerous features that are provided to the customer according to their expectations (Kleinke, 1998). Other competitors do not provide the services offered by HCA, or they have modified their services in a unique way that cannot be copied by the competitors. Since the HCA hospital has positioned itself as the best in the world in terms of healthcare service provisions, most customers believe that they provide high-quality services than the competitors and are hence more likely to pay highly for the HCA services (Winston, and Vitberg, 2014). The traditional design used by the HCA allows a variety of products that are famous and more practical for the customers to use.

Price

The present strategy for pricing used by HCA involves setting a price level that is competitive based since they can easily use the data on pricing from their competitors. The hospital distributes its services at higher prices than its competitors, and since the customers believe in the quality of their services, they are always willing to offer such high prices. The hospital also uses product-bundle pricing for specific products that they offer (Sun, et al., 2013). Product bundle pricing involves bundling products and services together and selling them out at a reduced cost as compared to the individual terms. HCA also applies an optional strategy of pricing, and it usually charges increased prices for the services and products that they offer online. The final products or services from the hospital have fixed prices, but the retailers and other wholesalers are capable of buying them at lower prices and earn higher profits.

Place

HCA has two different channels for marketing. The first market channel where it sells its products involves the customers through an online website. The second channel is to sell to the wholesalers who ultimately distribute to different retailers in the entire country who eventually distribute to the customers (Kibria, et al., 2013). In America, HCA has its products present in over 500 retailers, and it often observes intensive marketing where it strives to have its products available to as many retailers as possible. The hospital also forms partnerships with other healthcare service providers to tap into various markets and also expanding the market served within the country.

Promotion

For the sake of advertising their services or products to the customers, HCA applies numerous media channels. It uses traditional media through advertisements on the radio and television (Thomas, 2005). The conventional advertisement channel is essential since it can reach a majority of the people in the target markets. It also uses social media and online advertisement that reaches the majority of internet users, and this has proved to be very important in the contemporary world that is dominated through internet use (Jones, et al., 2005). Some of the social media platforms that the company uses for advertisement involve YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook since the people use these sites highly. Sales promotions are performed through trade exhibitions and annual events. The hospital also performs personal selling, where it recruits a large sales force intending to increase its presence in the retail stores.

Selection of Media

HCA healthcare largely depends on social media platforms, and it considers this as one of the most significant marketing activities. Through media, the organization has been able to tap into the entire US HealthCare market in all the states that they have established their hospitals (Krikorian et al., 2010). The baby boomers are a population in the US that comprises of a generation of the people who are technology informed on using then the internet. The population regularly uses the internet; h...