"Running head: SLP 3Health Care Organisation - MarketingName of the Student:Name of the University:Author’s Note: Module: SLP 3 1Branding & Online MarketingThe essay focuses on formulating a plan to brand a product or service associated with“The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry” and its online marketing, but first,let us takes a briefing on the concept of branding. As ATSDR is a non-regulatory body, itmay choose to brand its advisory services. Branding a product or service is a long term planfor success to achieve the product’s objectives. Brand is a term, name, symbol or designwhich helps in distinguishing the products or services from the others existing in the market.Branding is a set of methods combining the identification and features of the product orservice which helps the company to distinguish its products and services from its competitorsand eventually creating a long lasting positive image for the customers (Keller, 2016). The key components of a brand include its identity, awareness, loyalty, variousstrategies and also the brand’s communication. Effective branding helps in pushing its otherproducts and services too. If a potential customer likes a product of that brand, he/she is morelikely to trust the newly introduced product or service. It is the agency’s role to capitalise thebrand’s worth from the market and attract customers as much as possible for the growth andsuccess of the organisation. Today, the healthcare agencies face tough competition and a strategic planning tobuild a brand plays a vital role in the organisation’s success. For branding the advisoryservices, ATSDR needs to gather intelligence for developing the brand. This includesestablishing the vision of the product and its future. ATSDR needs to decide the patient mixand compare it with the preferred target audience. The patient mix can be decided on thebasis of age, gender, location and other similar factors. Further, the agency needs tounderstand its competitive market and their advantages. A comparison must be made forassessing if the agency do not possess those advantages and work on the weaknesses while Module: SLP 3 2capitalising on the strengths. Finally they need to identify its operational imperatives and thendevelop a strategy for the brand (Aaker, 2012). ATSDR needs to define their advisory services in such a way that it expresses thecore essence and shows its uniqueness. Let the potential customers or the target mix be thedriving factor and use the related data to frame your strategies. Promoting advisory servicesthat provides all the key insights of the agency for because that will help in developing acompetitive position among its fellow competitors. Branding a product of service of thehealthcare agencies takes a lot of factors in consideration. They have been discussedhereunder:? Current Brand evaluation or forming a new brand – The target consumers’attitude and their reactions shows the positioning of the brand. Studying thecurrent stakeholder’s reaction helps in channelizing the feedbacks. The agencyneeds to figure out the factors that drive the decision making of these consumersand develop strategies for branding according to the information gathered (Huang& Sarigöllü, 2012).? Defining the market segments – The agency needs to find out the marketsegment that is the most relevant mix for advisory services. Promote the product’sbenefits and make the customer base stronger than before. The value of feedbacksand responses of the concerned parties such as patients, doctors, agencies of thesame field and different communities helps in development of the products andservices.? Opportunities of growth and improvement – ATSDR needs to discover what isimportant for these consumers and make that the base of their product or service.Take a survey for knowing the unfulfilled needs and desires of the key Module: SLP 3 3stakeholders and develop what they want currently or over the period of time.They need to find the gap in the market matching the agency’s purpose and workfor filling the gap.? Creation of brand and working on the changes – ATSDR finally needs tocreate a brand that conveys the benefits of this product to the target consumers andhelping in the improvement of the effected parties and implementing the changesfrom time to time. The agency needs to develop a brand that is appealing and conveys the points that willattract the target segments. If there is an existing branding strategy and it is not workingproperly for the agency. They need to consider the above factors and re-do their brandingprocedures considering the same factors. If there is a brand which is already doing well in the market and the trust if hasdeveloped among the consumer is immense, ATSDR needs to capitalise on the existing brandand launch its advisory services using the goodwill of the existing brand.Nowadays, the focus of all the big companies has shifted towards online marketingand that is for all the right reasons. The traditional methods of reaching out to the targetsegments are now almost obsolete and ineffective as compared to the online trends thesedays. The focus, if shifted towards online marketing, will help the organization for a longerperiod of time. The speed and reach of online marketing, if done right, is remarkablyastonishing and the agency needs to capitalize on the same. The competitors would onlybecome ineffective when the online marketing’s grip is stronger. Online marketing needs to be done by targeting the platforms where the currentpopulation visits the most. Apart from the newspaper, television and radio, the agency needsto move towards the online marketing field because that’s where the generation moved and Module: SLP 3 4the agency needs to follow their lead. The strategies for online marketing involve differentpoints to be considered (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 2011).These are the different ways by which an online marketing can be done and achieveits objectives:? Using the correct web design and utilizing search engine marketing.? By using a consultant with better marketing skills on the internet.? Use the trending social media platforms for advertising the brand name.? Using the e-mails and publishing articles recommending the benefits of theproducts and services and how it will improve the health of the target segments.? Writing blogs and press release online with accurate contents.? Doing product endorsements and video marketing.The online marketing strategies help in increasing the reach of the products andservices. The benefits of online marketing are cost saving, measurability, easy targeting, andbetter coverage with faster reach. Hence, ATSDR needs to make online marketing a majorpart of their organisation and take help of the experts in conveying the benefits so as toachieve the objectives more effectively and efficiently over a shorter period of time (Aaker,2012). Hence, development of a brand is a critical factor for the organization’s success andATSDR needs to follow the guidelines provided by the experts on branding strategies andalso use online marketing as helps in pushing the organization in the same direction withmore opportunities and success. "