Executive Vice President,
Strategic Planning
Transcend Hospice Marketing Group

Since you were very young, you wanted to be a writer. What attracted you to the writing profession?

Actually, my interest was more specific than just writing. Even as a kid, I wanted to write ads – especially TV commercials. I loved the way TV spots combined words and pictures and music in ways that made me laugh, get excited or even want to cry a little (thanks a lot, Hallmark Cards). I also liked how a great TV commercial or print ad often told a short story. That appealed to me.

You've been writing and producing hospice television ads, newspaper ads, brochures and other print materials for hospices for almost 10 years, tell us about the process you use in creating messages and copy for hospices.

Any writer worth his or her salt – even writers of fiction – begins with research. You need to have your facts straight to be credible and effective. That's why Transcend insists on doing market research of the specific service area that each new hospice client covers.

As a writer of hospice campaigns, I need to understand what the target audience knows – or doesn't know – about hospice services, about the particular hospice organization we're promoting, and what the audience considers important for coping with end-of-life situations.

After getting some insights to the audience's mindset, I can then start crafting key messages to educate them on what they should know about our hospice client and explain how the hospice program is an ideal resource to provide exactly what they need for a fulfilling end-of-life experience.

Lastly, I try to write copy from the audience's perspective. That means highlighting the advantages and benefits that are meaningful to them, not just explaining the services the hospice provides or how great their skills are. It also means remembering the fragile emotions of families who are facing the hospice decision, and writing with a tone that's comforting and reassuring rather than clinical.

You've had the opportunity to write for some major brands like McDonald's and Borders Books, plus you wrote and produced an Owens Corning Pink Panther TV spot which aired during the Super Bowl. You also enjoy writing for hospices. Can you compare/contrast the various assignments? Are there similarities?

I believe there are more similarities to building any brand than there are differences. The keys are identifying the need that the brand will serve in the marketplace, communicating how the brand meets that need in a way that's meaningful to the audience, and then promoting those attributes in a distinctive, memorable style.

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McDonald's was all about promoting "consistent quality" with a sense of fun. Owens Corning offered "comfort and energy savings," as all insulation does, but they distinguished their brand with a flash of brilliance - they dyed their product pink, trademarked the color and developed a unique brand personality around the Pink Panther. Borders Books built a reputation around a sense of "community" in each location by providing the space to gather and read, as well as showcasing many local artists for performances and book signings.

Coincidentally, I feel that quality, comfort and community are cornerstones that could build a memorable hospice brand, too. The challenge is in identifying how your hospice delivers those attributes in ways that are different or better than the competition, then communicating the differences in a memorable way.

As you've worked with many hospices, what is the one recommendation you would have to improve the materials they use?

The marketers of many products and services – including hospice care – are often guilty of the same shortcoming. In fact, I've coined a phrase for it. I call it "The Little Piggy Syndrome" because when you read their copy, it cries, "We, we, we."

So the top recommendation I have ties back to the last part of the answer from the previous question. Look at your marketing materials and see if they're dominated by some form of "We do this" and "We do that." Wherever possible, change "we" statements into "you" statements to feature what you do from the audience's perspective. You'll be amazed at how much more compelling your messages are conveyed with a vital human touch.