The Marriage of Content & Medicine

Medical SmartphoneA few weeks ago I penned an article “The Marriage of Content & Technology in 2013 & Beyond” discussing the wonders and advancements of technology and content available through mobile devices.  While watching Rock Center with Brian Williams the other night, I was amazed at how medical innovation and digital content are becoming espoused.  The episode featured Dr. Eric Topol, a leading cardiologist and geneticist, who has made major headlines on the medical frontier and for the future of wireless medicine.  Let’s take a closer look at how digital content and innovative medicine are walking down the aisle for your health’s sake.

Dr. Topol, the revered Director of the Scripps Translational Institute is leveraging our content consumption with technology in one of the most innovative ways seen in this decade.  The esteemed author of “The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care” believes that we don’t need to go to a physicians office quite as much as we do by integrating important health monitoring through our appendages – our wireless devices!  Thanks to Dr. Topol, we now have:

  • real-time EKG’s with continuous heart rhythm monitoring;
  • wireless heart failure monitoring;
  • genetic sequencing, wireless biosensors;
  • high-resolution mobile ultrasound imaging; as well as
  • the first continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring device (which also captures all vital signs).

Digital Mobile Vitals MonitorWhile this level of medical technology is intriguing enough, what’s I noticed off the bat is how medical content is both utilized and displayed on these devices. Thanks to the partnership between Dr. Topol and Sotera Wireless, the Visi Mobile device pictured right, has revolutionized modern medicine and with patient-t0-physician communication. A patients real-time health status is translated into digital content and is then conveyed wirelessly to their physician. Visually, this cutting-edge device reflects patients vital signs with great vibrancy of color and in an easy-to-read, large font and column format.  As such, you can tell these innovators are clearly targeting exactly who their consuming audience would be:

  • those with serious health conditions,
  • probably age 65 & over,
  • those who live alone, or
  • may be visually impaired.

Sotera also wanted the device’s interface to allow for easy setup, controlled data management and an uncomplicated user experience.  This is reflected in the short, direct commands making the content data easy to comprehend while simple to control and navigate screen-to-screen regardless of age.

Global Bright IdeaThanks to Dr. Topol, his passion for medicine and undying love of technology, the wireless future of innovative medicine is looking brighter every day.  It continues to reflect that content is indeed king, boundless in evolution and utilization. And based on this amazing wireless invention, we can count on continued wedded bliss between content and medicine for years to come.

 

Content Olympiads-Coke Gets the Gold!

We know that Content is King…yes, yes, yes – we’ve heard that over & over again.  But let’s talk about the content strategies being implemented by brands and media leveraging this great sporting event taking place right now.  I’m confident it was a full on sprinting event for various brands & powerhouse marketing firms to get their client products or just their in-house writing talent to be considered for this years’ event.  Whether submitting product designs or being a head content writer for the television promos or print campaigns, all were gunning for the gold.

Leading the pack of those trailing close behind, Coca-Cola (Coke) has certainly won the coveted spot.  I have read that Coke created more than 120 pieces of content for this years’ Olympic Event. But the company’s most brilliant move was capturing Mark Ronson, an English DJ, Grammy award-winning producer, musician and co-founder of Allido Records, to blow away the competition with its “Move to the Beat” campaign for the London 2012 Olympic Games. http://bit.ly/QZoW7L  Using the video platform of YouTube, Coca-Cola created an entire series of videos to extend the value of their brand for the Olympics and reach customers in an interactive way.  While some companies may still be hesitant to embrace video due to budget or ROI concerns, the forward-thinking marketers of Coca-Cola are diving headfirst.

This campaign has broken the ribbon with their concept of recording the sounds of Olympic sports events and transforming them into music. http://bit.ly/NQMDvF The motivation behind Move to the Beat is to bring teens closer to the Olympic Games while drawing inspiration from London’s musical heritage and connecting the two in a very tangible way. http://bit.ly/MOzd68. Doing so resulted in a cool, interactive corporate sister-website solely dedicated to this Olympic campaign at http://bit.ly/QLBOKf.

Knowing that Social Media would play a key component in their ability to gain worldwide access & participation, they coupled with Facebook on this venture allowing the brand to blast worldwide and engage the masses to create their own music beat! http://on.fb.me/OxDuau
Wow, talk about leveraging Social Media elements with written & video content!  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at that team meeting!  Just when you realize the enormity of this project & campaign, scrolling through the website you realize that this concept allows all of us NOT IN LONDON to engage outside the normal screaming from the couch or bar stool at the TV, to tap our fingers, dance while cooking or wield our musical talents (novice or expert) TO BE A PART of this historical event.  That’s right YOU can create your own beats and let the whole world know you are part of the London 2012 Olympics.  Sweet right?

So kudos to the marketeers and content creators at Coca-Cola for taking content creation to another interactive level.  And based on the numbers of those Moving to the Beat on this venture, I’d say it’s proven that this campaign was destined for the podium and the #1 spot at that!

Headlines and Imagery – William Levy & the Queen of England?

See even the title causes a little stir & I’ve got a hunch that I’ve succeeded at the initial point of this blog.  Since everyone these days has a blog about something or another, in order for your blog to get real traffic, you need to create some really compelling headlines and content. And that’s what allows your blog to flourish and your analytic report to make you smile-creating eye-catching headlines and “you’ve got my full attention” content.  You know how people say you only get 10 seconds to make a first impression?  Well you get even less to entice a reader with your headlines according to my research.  Users often leave web pages in 10–20 seconds if there’s not compelling content to read and that’s some real pressure if you’re a blogger.  I have also read that the average page visit lasts a little less than a minute. “As users rush through Web pages, they have time to read only a quarter of the text on the pages they actually visit (let alone all those they don’t).”  Whew-tough crowd to please!

Aside from pleasing the reader, we want eye pleasing analytics capturing the success (or lack of) with our blogs.  But how do we know that we’ve achieved our goals and keep those analytical reports looking like mountain tops instead of valleys?

~ Content may be king but headlines are indeed the crown.  The bottom of the leading line is that if
your blog title/headline is unnoticeable, it gets passed over in a few short seconds and no one reads further.  DOA before the first paragraph. But, if you’ve got something that’s contemporary, media talked about, news worthy headline, you can hook even the quickest page glancer. Here’s a good example: Dare I say WILLIAM LEVY…I can almost bet that someone who knows who he is has raised an eyebrow, let out a sigh and with anticipation,  is clicking to see what I might say about him or hoping to see a picture of him.  Ladies, your wish is my command…

On the flip side, someone who doesn’t know who he is, might Google him because the curiosity bug has nibbled and you’re wondering why I’m blogging about him.  The point is that I’ve struck a chord and since we are curious creatures by nature, a tantalizing headline is all we need to capture ones attention before getting our content hooks in them.  What’s even better from a business standpoint is that if you continue to put out “headlining” blogs, you develop a faithful following.  Increased traffic = increased business. Increased business = $$$.

~ Is your image worth 1,000 words so your blog doesn’t have to be?  Say you go to the Yahoo homepage and see an image of the Queen of England and she has on an African Head wrap? 2 things would probably occur:
(1) you do a double take, shake your head in disbelief and click on another page
OR what’s more likely is that…
(2) you do a double take, become amused and want to read what supports that picture.  And even though I don’t have an image to represent this theory you can almost SEE my point.  Images play as much a significant role in the content of blogs as do the words written.  They bring color and vitality to the black & white copy that lies on the page and enhances the experience your content brings to the reader.  That’s what blogging is all about-enhancing the quality of the readers experience in order to gain a faithful following.  That’s what measures the success of your blog and puts you in the “air up there” on the analytics peak.

And if you chuckled at the title of this blog or you’re still looking at William Levy,
the goal has been achieved…lol.