Why Branding Matters

There is a retail shopping center near my home that, due to its proximity, gets a lot of my business for a variety of my needs. There are fourteen retail shops; it is in an affluent, high-traffic area and business appears to be good for the tenants. In fact, during the three years that I have been here, only two have gone out of business. One was a salads-only lunch place.

The other did so recently, and it was the one with the least competition, by far, of any of the businesses there. It was the orthodontist’s office.

That’s what the sign over his office said, too: BRACES. Orthodontist.

The other businesses that occupy the shopping center have chosen to present themselves differently than that. The electronics store doesn’t say “GADGETS. Electronics”; it says Radio Shack. The deli doesn’t say “EAT. sandwiches”, it says Jersey Mike’s. The grocery store doesn’t say “FOOD. Groceries”, it says “Piggly Wiggly”. (Yes, that is the name of a real, and successful, grocery store chain).

All of those businesses are thriving, in spite of having dog-eat-dog competition at a level of intensity the orthodontic profession will never experience. I should mention that I live in a quiet coastal enclave and my immediate area, while well-populated with medical offices, is almost devoid of orthodontists; the nearest well-established practice to me is 14 miles from my house.

There is new-patient business to be had here. So this endeavor should have worked for the doctor. Why didn’t it?

I read an article recently written for this profession that encouraged you to refrain from advertising your practice, and to instead work on getting more referrals. In my past life my clients included some of the largest media companies in America, and I know the value of effective advertising. When I see advice like that, it frustrates me, in no small part because the source of this article has no background in advertising. You may not sell submarine sandwiches, groceries or electronics, but you have exactly the same business challenges those businesses do when it comes to attracting new customers. I can assure you that Jersey Mike’s, Piggly Wiggly and Radio Shack would not follow that recommendation.  I suspect that the orthodontist probably did.

Building your brand, which is the sole purpose of advertising, be it on your storefront, in media, in schools, or otherwise, is critical to your ability to plug into the one factor – timing – that drives the decision to look for an orthodontist. People buy from who they “know” – meaning a name with which they are familiar.  If you are not known – if you have no identity (brand) at the time that the need for treatment surfaces, you are assured of missing opportunities and maintaining a position of anonymity within your market. My unfortunate doctor didn’t get that point. He neither understood nor invested in the value of advertising; he ignored the fact that, just like what his neighbors sell, his offerings are elective; he thought that he could hang out his shingle announcing what he offered, and be assured of a steady stream of new patients. And he found out the hard way that he could not.

Being in an elective-procedure specialty is a double-edge sword. On the one hand, because people do not have to have what you provide, you are largely spared the assistance of the federal government in the management of your life and your practice. At the same time, you are also largely on your own when it comes to attracting and starting new prospective patients. And therein lies the problem; the need for those skills has never been greater for your profession than it is now. Unfortunately, you are also on your own when it comes to getting those skills. If you don’t learn to build your brand and market your practice effectively, you are going to pay  consequences when it comes to attracting new patients, irrespective of your skill level in treating them.