C. L. Chosewood: He Built Our Building. He Built Up Our ‘Hood

Mindpower’s home is a quirky but airtight commercial building in Atlanta’s historic Grant Park neighborhood. During any “dime tour” of our digs, visitors are reminded that our structure was home to the neighborhood’s A&P franchise in the 1920s and 1930s. That’s to say: The same place where Mrs. McGillicutty picked up the day’s provisions back in ’29 is where our boffo creative has taken place since 1994. Kind of cool!

As we advance marketing excellence in the 21st century, all around us we view intriguing connections to our building’s distant past. We walk on original butcher floors. We’re surrounded by exposed brick masonry that dates back to flapper days and Prohibition gin. But perhaps the most intriguing connection is found on our building’s brick exterior. High up on the façade is a rectangular mosaic that reads: C. L. Chosewood.”

Build it, Mr. Chosewood: We will come!

Grant Park Grandee

The name stands for “Charles Lee Chosewood” the building’s original developer. Maybe we’ve always been destined for big ideas. Why? Because the man who built our building was the ultimate “big idea” man, one who changed the face of Grant Park and Atlanta, as well.

Police officer. City council member. Amusement park owner. Intown real estate baron. In early-20th century Atlanta, the name Charles Chosewood was synonymous with Grant Park. In the mid-1880s, the adolescent Chosewood came to Atlanta with his mother and siblings who moved from Newton County. His grandfather and two of his great uncles were killed during Civil War battles while serving in the Confederate army.

Chosewood married in 1890. He and his wife, Dora, had four children. The Chosewood home at 700 Confederate Avenue – at the corner of Confederate and Waldo – became an epicenter for southside social and civic hobnobbing. If something was going on, it likely involved the Chosewoods.

Early on in his career, Chosewood served as a police officer with the Atlanta Police Department. He then progressed to the detective ranks. Turn-of-the-century gumshoe had its appeal but it was no match for the political bug. In 1906, Chosewood ran and was elected to the Atlanta City Council. Naturally, he represented his home Grant Park turf (along with some neighboring environs). He served in the post up to 1938 and his 32-year-long span of service still makes him the longest-serving councilmember in city history.

Walls, Parks & Ferris Wheels

With name recognition and connections a-plenty, Chosewood was able to transition into the business world with seamless aplomb. One successful endeavor of his was an amusement park that was on a large plot of land near his family home. The Grant Park attraction featured rides, a Ferris wheel, a lake (for paddle boats) and enough concessions to transform Chosewood into a noteworthy bigwig, one who acquired an extensive array of real estate holdings.

At one point he owned 130 residential properties in and around Grant Park. He became a developer and played a role in building Atlanta’s Flatiron Building in the city’s downtown Five Points business district. Other Chosewood projects were the boundary wall around Oakland Cemetery and the warden’s house at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. In the 1920s, he built several commercial structures, including a building at 337 Georgia Avenue that was spacious enough for a much-needed neighborhood A&P grocery store. (Some 90 years later the structure would prove über-suitable for a creative shop that’s determined to make its own mark on history.)

Historic Oakland Cemetery: CLC’s eternal stomping grounds.

In the 1920s, Chosewood championed the development of a new city park in his district, at the corner of Grant and Nolan streets. To honor his tireless service, the city council inaugurated the park as “Chosewood Park.” The neighborhood that developed around the park also carried his name (and does so to present time).

Chosewood died in 1954 at age 81. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery. No doubt he rests more easily since the city’s oldest graveyard is conveniently located in Grant Park, Chosewood’s beloved social, political, and entrepreneurial stomping grounds

Around our neighborhood, the name Chosewood doesn’t have quite the cache it once did. So we’re glad to work in a building that honors his memory – and that even bears his name. Don’t believe it? Well, see for yourself. Come to our door, look up, and then read: “C. L. Chosewood.”

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Posted by Jack Stenger on July 30, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Filed under: Ramblings

Madison Avenue Goes Electric: Online Digital Marketing Trends

Okay, Digital Digerati. We’re in the Digital Era, so it just stands to reason that digital advertising platforms have seen exponential growth. Ten years ago, terms like “mobile marketing,” “social media” and “search engine marketing” would have brought mostly quizzical looks. Today digital ad buys are an integral part of any campaign media plan. (And don’t you know it: Mindpower does digital campaigns for our clients all of our livelong days …)

Below is a table from Marketing News, a (fine) publication from American Marketing Association. In 2010, digital marketing will represent 13 percent of all advertising spends. And that impressive figure is expected to climb higher than 20 percent in the span of just four years. The fact that “search marketing” is the largest percentage goes a long way toward explaining why Google is the all-controlling digital Voldemort that it is. (Company 2010 first quarter reported revenues were nearly $6.8 billion).

The Marketing News predictions below came from Forrester Research, a market research firm. Given the amount of new digital devices that continue to come online – Can you say “iPad”? – we’d be surprised if the digital percentage doesn’t go even higher.

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Posted by Jack Stenger on April 20, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Wealth
Tags: Digital marketing, social media

Where Does it Hurt? Hospital ER Trends

For all Americans, a hospital Emergency Room is an important access point for critically – pun intended – important health care. ERs are vital for community health maintenance. And given the sheer volume of visits, any hospital’s ER is an important source of patient volume and possible admissions.

But what, exactly, are ER staffers attending to? In a healthcare-related fact sheet, HealthLeaders magazine listed the top ER diagnosis. The abridged list below – reformatted here as a “Top 10 List” – is a fascinating snapshot of what ails Americans – and what prompts them to seek immediate care. The stats below, from 2006, rank ER diagnoses that led to same-day discharges.

The next five are “other injuries,” urinary tract infections, otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear), upper limb fracture and connective tissue disease. The list points to the important role ERs have for both the medically distressed and for hospitals in need of revenues. To us, the ailments also bring to mind the signature line from “Hill Street Blues,” our favorite 80s-era police TV drama: “Hey, let’s be careful out there!”

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Posted by Jack Stenger on February 16, 2010 at 10:15 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Ramblings

Banking on Facebook: Building a Brand Through Social Networking

Excepting those living in caves and, perhaps, the cryogenically frozen, everyone knows the following Web 2.0 facts:

● Social networking is changing the face of the Internet.
● No site has done more to bring about this change than Facebook.

Smart banks are embracing Facebook as another channel not just for branding, but also in order to transform mere customers into rabid brand advocates.

A recent article in ABA Bank Marketing (“Showing Your Face on Facebook,” September 2009) magazine spelled out how any financial institution can put a best face forward on Facebook.

For banks, a “business page” is the most common way to make a social media debut. Every day more than 8 million Facebook users become business page fans. (A small beverage concern here in our hometown – Coca-Cola – has more than 3.3 million “fans.”)

As with all branding strategies, it’s important to have a strategy:
● Establish content/messaging issues before you start.
● Determine who page administrators will be, and from there commit to freshening your page often, if not daily. (Only Wonder Bread gets stale more quickly than Facebook fan page content.)

Here’s the best part. All of these “become-a-fan” decisions are transmitted across any user’s network. If a new fan is a recent college graduate with more than 1,000 friends – which can be common – your bank achieves some major digital word of mouth.

And CFOs have little to quibble about. After all, this is a low (no?)-cost way to reach a targeted (if not younger) demographic.

What are you waiting for? Create your business page! (And while you’re at it, become a Mindpower fan! We’ve always got something fun to say to our friends …)

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Posted by Jack Stenger on October 28, 2009 at 10:27 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Wealth, Branding
Tags: bank marketing, Facebook, social networking

Hospitals Weather Storm By Positioning For Future

Recent economic figures show the current recession is not letting up. Pain has spread to all sectors, and hospitals have been no exception.

The perfect storm of 2009 has meant less access to credit, softening patient volume, and decreased state funding for distressed Medicaid programs. “Batten down the hatches” might seem like a plausible tack. But In the midst of trouble, there is a better management strategy.

Hospitals should position themselves for better days ahead. And that strategy is plotted out in the cover story of the June H&HN magazine.

Preserve Cash on Hand
A recent AHA survey showed 59 percent of all hospitals are reporting moderate to significant decreases in cash on hand. That means CEOs and CFOs must be even more vigilant in watching income statements. Money out the door means of a buffer against current challenges.

Pare Back Capital Costs
It’s a given that major capital projects have been postponed. But even smaller capital expenditures should be minimized. Cut backs are rarely popular. Officers need to be effective communicators, consistently making the frugality case to medical staff and employees.

View Future Opportunities
Administrators should think about the right way to grow service lines. The key is recruiting clinicians for existing services, thus negating the need for expensive capital outlays. It helps that private physicians are weathering their own crises with their own private practices. In fact, a recent healthcare employment trend has shown a rising doctor preference for hospital employment.

Revisit Strategic Plan
Any plan will have to adjust for the ongoing effects of the nation’s credit crisis. To be sure, tough decisions can’t be avoided. But tough decisions today means some hospitals will emerge from the credit crisis of 2009 in an even stronger position.

Which of these – or other strategies is your organization implementing or considering?

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Posted by Jack Stenger on July 20, 2009 at 10:54 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: healthcare

In Tough Times, Doctors Still in Demand

Across the country, hospitals are suffering. Patient revenues are down. Investment portfolios have tanked. Large capital construction projects are being delayed. Staff is being cut.

But despite recessionary times, hospitals are still hiring doctors. In other high end employment realms, even lawyers are getting pink slips, but docs are still very much in demand. The enduring competition for medical talent is examined in the June issue of Health Leaders magazine.

What’s behind the trend? The article “Help (Still) Wanted” offers one large explanation – the re-emergence of the employed physician model. For many younger physicians, hospital employment is preferred over private practice or work in a small physician group. Hospital employment can mean regular office hours, and greater consistency in fee-payment schedules.

Hospitals also get the nod, the article notes, because of prevailing occupational circumstances. Paperwork associated with the multi-insurer system sometimes can mean private practice physicians spend an inordinate amount of time in non-patient related activities. Also, Washington-led movements toward health payment structures have led more doctors to seek medical staff positions.

For hospitals, then, continuing physician recruitment remains a top priority. Strategic talent hires means growth in critical service lines like orthopedics, along with cardiac and cancer care. Keeping doctors on staff means these bottom-line friendly services are performed “in house.”

Tough times can translate into postponed capital improvements and painful layoffs for non-medical staff. But for hospitals with an eye toward better times ahead, physician hires today means a better positioned tomorrow.

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Posted by Jack Stenger on June 24, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: Health Leaders Media, physician employment

If we get better, will hospitals get sick?

It’s taken as a given that Americans should improve their health. But what if everyone followed doctor’s orders and exercised regularly and stopped smoking, among other good habits?

A recent article HealthLeaders magazine (September 2008) posed that provocative question in an article titled “What if People Actually Start Taking Care of Themselves?”

According to the article, only 3 percent of Americans follow the four basis wellness goals:

● Don’t smoke

● Remain close to ideal body weight

● Exercise three times a week for 20 minutes

● Eat fruits and vegetables regularly

If only 9 percent of Ameicans did the above, there would be radical shifts in our wellness – and economic – landscapes.

First, individuals would benefit from better health. Also, employers would immediately see lower health care costs. (That alone might make our beloved Mastermind, Donna a bit happier!) But hospitals and health care providers might suffer. Healthier Americans would mean fewer facility admissions and fewer sickness-borne appointments.

The above culture-changing shift would mean big changes for hospitals – and hospital marketing.

A more preventative, health-maintenance approach would result in a large drop in admissions for bronchitis, upper respiratory problems, heart attacks and strokes, along with diabetes. Currently, those ailments are common – and profitable to treat.

So, a better health scenario might force hospitals to completely change from the current “episodic” (sickness-focused) model to a “wellness center” model.

It’s a change many say is long overdue. But it can only happen if everyone follows basic health guidelines – and doctor’s orders!

What are you doing to be promote wellness – and profits?

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Posted by Jack Stenger on September 29, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: health care, healthcare, HealthLeaders, hospitals