The case companies have tried various marketing channels and tools ranging from to different Internet marketing tools to various PR activities like hosting Russian journalists in their premises and providing articles to Russian magazines and newspapers. Some of the companies have also tried television advertising in Russia, radio advertising in Russian radio channels in Finland and direct mail advertising in Russia. However, the case companies have noticed that using traditional marketing channels is problematic in a huge country like Russia.
“Traditional marketing in Russia can get very expensive, as Russia is a very big and fragmented country. That‟s why we focus on guerrilla marketing and Internet. -- Besides, currently one bottleneck in marketing our services in Russia is that some countries, like Germany and Israel, have a long history providing medical services to Russian medical tourists. So people don‟t know about Finland…” (Project Director, Hospital Neo)
“If you have very limited marketing resources, like we do, you can‟t even „break the surface‟ in Russia.” (Medical Director, Hospital Neo)
However, although all the companies have engaged in various marketing channels in Russia, all interviewees were unanimous which are the most effective tools in reaching Russian
Pull factors:
-The most modern treatments and technologies available
-Competitive price level
-Good image of Finland as a clean and safe country -Geographical location to Russia
-Services available in Russian in many health care companies
Push factors:
-Variable quality of health care in Russia -Russian patients' lack of trust in their domestic health care system
-Lack of methodologies and technologies in Russia -Limited access to health care services in Russia, long waiting lists
-Prevalence of dishonesty, like face medicines, in the Russian health care sector
medical tourists: referrals from previous patients (word of mouth) and digital marketing in Internet. Almost all interviewees mentioned the power of word of mouth in reaching Russian patients:
“We have two main marketing channels. -- First of all, all the very satisfied patients who are here for treatment or diagnostics and who tell their family and friends and recommend us. The second channel is definitely Internet.” (Manager, Docrates)
“Marketing through the grapevine works surprisingly well in Russia. We have noticed that when we have been treating a Russian patient with a certain ailment, we often get more Russian patients with the same ailments.” (CEO, Orton)
“Definitely references. People tell other people about their good experiences and the word spreads.” (CEO, Coxa)
“Basically, the people who come here, if they are satisfied, they tell their friends and relatives or whoever. In other words, positive feedback about us brings us a lot of patients.”
(Nurse, Docrates)
“When somebody says „I had very good hospital care there‟, that is always the best advertisement your hospital can get.” (Doctor, Coxa)
Some case companies also mentioned the personal networks of their doctors which have brought them patients from other countries.
“One of our doctors is originally from Russia and from her home town we have received many patients during the last couple of years. -- Partly because of her and her networks in Russia, we have been able to attract Russian patients here.” (Nurse, Coxa)
“Our doctors have contacts to sports clubs and through those contacts we have received a lot of patients.” (Project Director, Hospital Neo)
important marketing channel by almost all interviewees and many interviewees mentioned that their company focuses mainly on it. All the four case companies have their webpage available in Finnish, English and Russian and they also engage in various digital channels. Different Internet marketing tools include having webpage in Russian, search engine optimization and marketing in Google, Yandex3 and other search engines in Russia as well as social media activities in Russia mainly in Vkontakte4, Facebook and YouTube. Some case companies, like Coxa, have their webpage on the Russian server (with the .ru –ending), which helps their webpage to position higher on Google and Yandex searches. Case companies also noticed that it is important that the Russian webpage is not just a copy of the Finnish one, but it includes information that is important for Russian patients, like résumés of doctors as well as information about prices and available service languages.
“We have tried so many marketing channels, but nothing works like a proper webpage in Russian and the word spread by previous satisfied patients.” (Patient Coordinator, Orton)
“Everything digital on the web. Russian patients are searching in the Internet for suitable clinics, so search engine optimization is very useful. -- Also proper webpage in Russian and everything else like that.” (Project Director, Hospital Neo)
“We already tried all those old school marketing channels, like advertisements in magazines, newspapers and TV, but realized quite soon that only digital marketing works in Russia. You can put a lot of money on those traditional channels, but get nothing back. -- Digital marketing is also important because about 80-90% of medical tourists are searching on the web for services abroad. -- Also in digital channels we are focused on the St. Petersburg and Moscow area. ” (CEO, Orton)
Typically Russian patients find the companies on Internet and contact the companies themselves; thus, there are not any intermediaries. However, some of the companies, like Hospital Neo, have also used brokers and partner companies in Russia, and these partners have directed Russian patients to them. In general, there are basically two kinds of broker companies in medial tourism: 1) private health care companies that offer their patients
3 Search engine; Russian counterpart to Google https://www.yandex.com 4 Social media channel; Russian counterpart to Facebook http://vk.com/
possibility to leave abroad for treatments as well as 2) companies that are mainly travel agencies that offer medical tourism packages that include not only the accommodation and tickets but also the medical operations. However, the case companies had mainly rather negative experiences in using brokers to bring patients to them.
“So we have tried this business-to-business marketing in Russia by having some cooperation clinics there. But it didn‟t work out as we wished, as to be honest, the brokers expected some kind of „brown envelopes‟ and other forms of corruption from us, and that wasn‟t in line with our values and integrity.” (CEO, Coxa)
“This is a bit surprising, but there is some evidence that broker companies are expecting „extra payments‟ and other dishonest behavior for supplying patients to health care