15 years ago, if you told me that in 2010 I’d be creating a text message pilot program that delivered customized appointment reminders and health tips to dialysis patients I’d probably assume I would be on my second or third career – Maybe in telecom, or the R&D department at a medical device manufacturer. In fact I in interactive marketing.

Even back then the lines were blurring, but text reminders… But text messages, how is that marketing?

The bottom line is that more and more agency services are edging closer to the client’s bottom line. Programs like the text campaign are laser guided missiles aimed directly big problems. For our client that means”missed treatments,” their #1 cause of lost revenue. The idea is simple, if we identify scheduling problems before they happen and reinforce healthy behavior thru lifestyle tips patients will stay healthier longer.

Deep-dive immersion into client products and services is not new to the agency business. Large agencies and industrial design super-boutiques like Smart Design have been doing it for years. But small agencies, like Signature Advertising where I work, are inching closer to true partnership with clients. The best example in our case is the development of the Private Renal Suite in dialysis clinics – an industry first. This program was conceived and designed solely by the agency. Roll-out cost to the client was in the millions, but the results were impressive. In an industry suffering from record declines the Avantus Clinics posted 13% growth.

Measurable does not mean stupid, boring or lazy.

Like pay-per-click and ad-banners, these hyper-measurable programs are often as much about technology as what is commonly thought of as advertising or marketing, which tend to be creative focused first. The delivery channel is secondary. Unfortunately, this can lead to lazy creative, or worse programmers insert “copy” into public facing messages. They are not fault. They seem to have been born that way. For example, when going thru testing on a website with registration features, the thank you email said: Thank you for registering Gender=Male Mr. Mark Stevenson. Now, this would never have made it past testing, but the programmers honestly saw nothing wrong with it.

In the case of the text campaign, we spend a great deal of time considering the tone messages should hit, and continuity of that tone across all patient touch-points. Luckily, the platform is super-flexible, so tinkering is possible (also a source of problems).

Creative for Creative’s Sake? Hells Yea.

Just like any good ad, pay-per-click ads that work are compelling calls to action not want-ads on crank, and the same holds true with Ad banners. Each must balance annoyance, attention and applicability while still adhering to an overall brand strategy. Even text messages need to say more than “remember your appointment”

As new technology opens up opportunities to expand the scope of our services it is important to remember that creativity is our currency. So marketing and advertising professionals must constantly challenge themselves to expand the boundaries of what they think of as “The Creative Space.”