How many times do you need to see a movie poster, commercial, or advertisement before you are convinced to purchase a ticket for the movie theater? After COVID, streaming services, mass casualties, and Hollywood flops the answer to this question can quickly evolve into a complex discussion. However, the principle remains the same: in order to drive the behavior of someone else, it’ll take some science and math to make sense of marketing!
The concept of the marketing rule of 7 came about in the 1930’s and has become a pillar for strategic design in marketing plans. Seeing a brand 7 times is not exactly the science though, there is both an element of both dosage and frequency that must also be manipulated in order not to exhaust people and push them away from a brand or decision to be made. Geico is the only insurance I could think about when purchasing a new car, and that it might potentially save me $500. I have no idea if it is actually great insurance, but it is the only brand I can actively recall when I buy a car. This is an incredible example of the frequency in which we have all seen the commercials. Dosage on the other hand can be explained well by a company like USAA. While I cannot remember one commercial, everyone that I speak to with USAA has at least 3 personal reasons why they love the company and will not depart from it, especially as it pertains to our veterans.
Tying it all together, the marketing rule of seven is very powerful in healthcare. In a split decision as a patient you may have to make a decision about your life or the life of a loved one, and its a decision you do not want to make or have very little background knowledge of how to navigate. This is the opposite of how most purchases we do on a daily basis, and unlike in stores- if the customer is “right” but unaware or lacking in knowledge or experience on a particular complex medical topic- being “right” can be deadly. A great healthcare professional will guide and educate a patient to the most appropriate choice overall and build a relationship with the patient with medicine. When there is a shortage in the workforce, poor working conditions, lack of access to care, and providers and patients disconnected to the community they share, these relationships cannot flourish and disease and despair will continue to mount.
At Youth Medical Mentorship, we use the marketing rule of seven to help members of the community see a version of medicine where relationships and health literacy drive results. When a student can see themselves as a provider for all sorts of patients, and a provider can remember what it means to be a student or patient in their own community we can generate empathy and drive out despair.
Just like our love for the Geico Gekko or loyalty to USAA, our relationship to medicine will take one positive story at a time to shape how we all take care of each other.