To dispel a common misunderstanding: Marketing is NOT selling, and it is NOT advertising per se. Rather, Marketing can be best described as: The process by which companies/organizations engage customers, build strong customer relationships, and create customer value in order to capture value from customers in return. In other words, Marketing does not revolve around "selling" the product or service to a customer but rather causing the customer to "buy" that product or service, thus benefitting both the marketer and the customer.

Every single product/service we choose to buy or use involves the marketing process. We evaluate choices and make our decision based on the best fit possible of the benefits offered.

Now we must explore why Health Services offerings are unique from the perspective of Marketing. Rather than singular customer points of decision, we have multiple stakeholders to the purchase or usage decision — the patient, their family, the physician, the place of service delivery and in the publicly funded sector, the government. All these stakeholders must be carefully considered and uniquely marketed to. Overlay upon this, the evolving nature of health care consumers in Canada — they are wiser, more discerning, better educated about their health issues, and far more demanding than ever before. More and more, they are recognizing that they do in fact have choice in terms of health resolution, point of delivery, and physician delivery.

The harsh reality, as well, is the ever increasing financial burden being placed upon The Canada Health Act, which bears out within provincial budgets and product/service choices. The answer is not so easily stated that more publicly funded services should be privatized, but rather that health care in Canada must be delivered in the future better, more efficiently and safer — with the backbone of this being innovation, engagement, research, sound strategy, positioning, positive mutual impact — i.e., HEALTH SERVICES MARKETING.

Learner objectives: upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1) Understand and create a Marketing Roadmap. 2) Company Vision/Mission/Values. 3) Current product/service portfolio analysis and assessment. 4) New product/service assessment and introduction stages. 5) Market research, segmentation, targeting, product/service differentiation, value proposition; product/service market positioning. 6) Marketing Plan (build, execute, measure, and adjust). 7) Build a detailed marketing plan based on a real-world new product or service.

Learner competencies (competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model): Relationship and Network Development; Achievement Orientation; Communication Skills; Analytical Thinking; Initiative; Collaboration; Impact and Influence; Interpersonal Understanding; Innovation; Information Seeking.