We’ve posted the complete list of winners online, and in coming weeks we’ll be featuring some of the winning campaigns in our e-newsletter’s “Spotlight” feature, in HealthLeaders magazine, and in the Healthcare Marketing Advisor newsletter—so stay tuned.

In the meantime, you can get a sneak peek with some highlights from the three campaigns our judges chose as best in show in Wednesday’s marketing column.

In the soon-to-be-released HealthLeaders Media survey of top healthcare
executives, 88% ranked patient experience as one of their top priorities.

View the 2009 Marketing Experience brochure here.

Attend the HealthLeaders Media Marketing Experience 09 on October 14, 2009 in Chicago to learn how to transform your organization by creating the very best healthcare experience-no matter your resources, no matter the economy.

During this transformational, collaborative event, marketing professionals from healthcare organizations of all sizes will learn ways to create loyalty, increase market share, and improve their facilities’ bottom line.

Through interactive discussions, group sessions, and solution-focused activities, attendees of this unique event will walk away with strategies to:

• Align brand promise with brand experience
• Move the brand experience beyond good customer service
• Demonstrate to senior leadership how the “experience” is critical to organizational survival and future success
• Improve your patient satisfaction and experience scores as measured by HCAHPS
• Produce better quality outcomes
• Create a radical market distinction that promotes patient loyalty
• Retain your best employees and physicians

The HealthLeaders Media Marketing Experience 09 moves beyond the traditional conference into an attendee experience like no other including:

• Case Studies—discuss how other organizations have driven the decisions that have transformed their organization.
• Scale-able strategies and actions ready for implementation–every organization, regardless of size or resources, will learn ways to make a difference in the patient experience, improve satisfaction, and increase your market share.
• Peer-to-peer learning—interactive exercises, and group activities provide an intimate opportunity to have your most pressing question answered.
• Activities and learning based on your needs–after you register, we’ll send you a short survey and the answers you give us will help shape the content of the program. So you can focus on particular experiences in the hospital that you want to transform.
• Competitive research—see what your peers—and your competition—have been up to over the past year when we present the winning campaigns from the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards Program.

To register for the event, click the red button on the right.

“Experiences are not the latest and greatest improvement in customer service,” says Gary Adamson, Starizon CEO and facilitator of the Marketing Experience. “Where goods are made and services are delivered, experiences are staged. This requires new methods. Staging experiences is not just another marketing thing to do, it is a new way of doing all marketing.”

To learn more about the attendee Experience visit the About the Event page. If you have a suggestion about what you’d like to see at the event, or any other question or feedback, post a comment below! To register for the event, click the red button on the right.

Winners for each category will be revealed at the HealthLeaders Media Marketing Experience event in Chicago on Oct. 14, 2009 at The Palmer House.

But you don’t have to be a finalist—or even an entrant—to attend the event! Participants of the day-long Marketing Experience 09 will dig deep into the patient experience, apply the concepts they learn during hand-on activities to design experiences, and they will have their toughest marketing questions answered by all attendees. Register for the Marketing Experience now!

Check out the Category page for more definitions. If you still have questions, send us a message or publish your question as a comment on this post.

These “people of interest,” from left to right, are Brooke Tyson Hynes, Marty Campanello, Susan Dubuque, Bob Konold, and Elizabeth Scott. Check out their impressive bios (and non-cartoon photos) on the Judges page. You can view the full ad at the bottom of the homepage.

As the Marketing Awards deadline draws near (May 29—mark your calendars) it’s time to start thinking about which category to choose for your campaign—and with 22 categories this year it could get tricky.

Say you’re entering an integrated campaign promoting your organization’s new heart center. Do you enter it in the cardiology service line category or the integrated category? What if the campaign had some online elements—should it be entered into the new media category?

When you’re making this decision, consider:

• In which category your campaign would be most competitive
• Which crystal award would you be most proud to exhibit in your display case
• Which designation would you be most eager to share with your organization’s leadership

Visit the Awards Categories page to view all the options. And remember, each campaign may only be entered into one category—but enter as many campaigns as you’d like!

The entry deadline is May 29, but you can get a jump on the competition by starting on your submission early. You can download the entry submission form here and read a press release about this year’s contest here.

To read some tips and tricks for the entry submission process, visit the Submit Your Entry page. Good luck!

Choose the correct category
You are only allowed to enter each separate marketing campaign once, so choose the category wisely. You can view descriptions for all categories on the Award Categories page.

Start gathering campaign collateral
To be considered complete, each entry needs to contain two hard copies of all printable collateral. Include any TV or radio spots on two CDs. DVDs cannot be accepted.

Prepare for the submission write-up
Each entry must contain answers to several questions about the campaign regardi ng what prompted the campaign, its target audience, the return on investment it achieved, and more. The submission write-up is a crucial part of the judging process, so start t hinking about who on your team can best answer those types of questions.

Think about presentation
We don’t expect you to splurge on expensive binders, but neat and organized award submissions are greatly appreciated!

Health plans and physician practices will also be eligible to enter this year and will be judged separately.

Keep checking in to read the full list of categories. And remember, it’s never too early to start preparing your entry!