“Alpha Moms,” who dominate consumer decisions in their own households, are transitioning into “Alpha Daughters,” who heavily influence the consumer decision making of their senior parents.

According to research by Peter Kruger of AlphaDaughters.com, this group, who have evolved into primary caregivers for their aging parents, are becoming a key target for companies marketing healthcare devices and services. Their influence often extends into many other facets of their parents’ lives as well, with Alpha Daughters doing everything from arranging their parents travel to making major purchases, such as furniture or electronics, on their behalf.

It’s also a relationship that’s on the rise. “Unlike the Alpha Mom market, the Alpha Daughter market is expanding, with elderly people growing into it rather than growing out of it,” says Kruger.

The Alpha Daughter’s role as a proxy consumer is similar to that of the Alpha Mom, a mother who purchases goods and services on behalf of her children and household. In fact, Alpha Moms are responsible for—or at least heavily influence—up to 70% of household expenditures. Factor in the Alpha Daughter’s higher level of technological proficiency, and it’s easy to see how she can quickly become an indispensible “assistant” to her aging parents.

As marketers, this is a phenomenon that should be on our radar, as it’s another factor that can help to guide us through the complexities of marketing to older adult audiences.

Apps like Epocrates, iChartEMR, and Care360 Mobile in the “medical” category are quickly becoming standard tools for physicians, pharmacists, medical students, and other health care professionals because of their relatively low cost, accessibility, and productivity benefits.

Epocrates is especially notable. It recently added a database of OTC medications to its popular mobile apps so physicians helping patients or making recommendations can cross-reference a large number of medications for potential reactions before sending them to the drugstore.

Beyond just making use of the iPhone’s OS and hardware, there have been proposed apps that work with peripheral devices via the 30-pin dock connector and/or the headphone jack. Last March at an Apple event, Johnson & Johnson’s LifeScan demoed an app that reads and displays data from the OneTouch glucose meter, allowing people living with diabetes to track their blood sugar levels, as well as what foods they are eating over time. This kind of development for use with peripheral devices is where the iPhone (or iPod Touch or iPad) could really shake up the medical device world. Building USB ports into devices such as a glucose meter that would support connections to a smartphone would allow people and their doctors to keep a constant eye on blood sugar levels to help improve overall health for diabetics.

It’s all very fascinating stuff, and we’re looking forward to see where the iPad can take us next.

— Scott Wolf

It doesn’t matter that most Americans haven’t even taken a first aid course. What really matters is the undeniable need to reduce health care costs across the board—from medical manufacturing floors and insurance firms, to physician offices, hospitals, pharmacies, and retail shelves.

While health care organizations are intensifying their efforts to look for ways to address this need—including transitioning to electronic health records and identifying insurance fraud—they shouldn’t lose sight of their primary goal: improving the quality and safety of patient care.

Those who act on this new reality will have a tremendous opportunity to transform their relationship with their customers, from being viewed simply as a health care provider to becoming a valued partner in their overall health.

Organizations can jump-start this perceptual change by building comprehensive platforms for consumer education. According to a 2009 survey done by the Health care Intelligence Network, patient education and outreach have a significant effect on health outcomes. For example, 72 percent of respondents found that patient compliance with treatment improved with proactive education, while 57 percent say disease and self-management education tools deliver a significant return on investment.

Looking at the top health care trends for 2010, we’ve developed several wellness and prevention information-related ideas:

• As insurance companies drive “pay for performance” as a standard practice, hospitals should balance the transparency of their scorecard ratings with information on how their featured programs are improving quality care
• Physician groups joining health systems in order to gain greater stability and connectivity should integrate efforts to provide aligned, consistent patient communications
• Medical device manufacturers should demonstrate how their technologies provide new capabilities in patient data, diagnosis, and treatment
• Pharmaceutical companies and specialist practices should offer education to aid in the fight against chronic diseases, especially diabetes, congestive heart failure, cancer, and obesity
• Retail health clinics, worksites, and home-health services should detail how alternative care delivery models can be used to improve access to medical care from remote locations to save time, resources, and money

As organizations help customers to bridge the gap that exists among complexity, choice, and care, those consumers will thank them with the loyalty that is critical to sustaining success—in both business and quality care.

— Holly Barrett

In anticipation of the New Year, I began making mental notes over the past month about predictions I had for the marketing world in 2010. But chances are that many already have the same ideas as me. So rather than list a host of these, I decided instead to create a compilation of 10 articles and posts—each with its own “top 10” list of 2010 predictions around a particular marketing-related topic.

In other words, I’ve subtly outfitted this post with nearly 100 projections for 2010! Here they are in no particular order (with the exception of the first, of course). Drum roll, please!

1. Public relations
2. Social media (generic)
3. Social media (specific)
4. Online marketing
5. Digital marketing
6. Web design
7. Wireless
8. News media (minus 2)
9. Personal branding
10. Tech terms (out with the old)

Do any of these predictions resonate with you? If not, I’d love to hear yours.

Before we say adieu to 2009, I leave you with a humorous Huffington Post piece on this year’s top 10 PR blunders. (Note: #1 may be a sensitive topic in this joint). Best wishes in the New Year!

- Sharon Harper

During the recent SM2Day conference, Chris Brogan made the statement that people can leave their wallet or keys behind, but will not stray more than 10 yards from their cell phone. Chris was right. That morning, I locked myself out of my house, but at least I had my phone.

I was not always this bad, at least not until I got the new iPhone.  From that point on, this phone has become my lifeline. Whenever I am not working, I am always on my phone. If I’m not looking something up, I am on Twitter. If I am not on Twitter, I am on Facebook. If I am not on Facebook, I am probably playing Tiger Woods Golf.

So as I tried to justify my inability to not go anywhere without my cell phone, I was reminded of a video that I saw in the past of Jamais Cascio talking at one of the TED conferences. Jamais talked about the tools needed to make a better future. The one tool that could have the biggest effect would be the camera phone. Every day we witness things that are both good and bad. Now with camera phones, Jamais argues that we can make the invisible visible;  Thus, allowing us to create a better world for future generations by taking pictures that capture the bad and support the good, all the while having the ability to share the content by uploading it to social sites.

So, logically, having my cell phone available allows me to contribute to global society through the use of the camera in my phone.

At least, that is what I tell myself!  Feel free to use this excuse yourself.

~Miguel Llano

@MiguelALlano

Link http:// www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamais_cascio_looks_ahead.html

It could pull the web off the monitor (or out of the device) and into real life, which is pretty exciting and scary at the same time. As if we aren’t already bombarded by hundreds and hundreds of bits of disjointed information each day in front of our computers and smartphones, imagine being able to see metadata for just about everyone you know—just by wearing a pair of AR sunglasses. You’d never forget a face again.

Or, imagine how it could be used by advertisers. Nothing short of that scene in Minority Report where John Anderton (Tom Cruise) has his cover blown by the Guinness, Lexus, and American Express ads that recognize his eyes. An advertiser could “know” your face based on photos of you on Facebook—pending you opt in to allow it to—and respond when it “sees” you walking by.

You might be thinking, “Yeah right, future boy, that’ll never happen.” But I wouldn’t rule it out. Technology is advancing exponentially, and it’s clear all the pieces are just waiting for someone to put them together.

— Scott Wolf

I ended up having one of the most amazing dinners that I have ever had. But what made it memorable was the level of customer service that we received. This is one of the most important aspects that businesses often ignore, creating an experience.

Consumers are looking for an experience. Not only did I have a great meal, but I also had a great dining experience. Look at your company; do your marketing efforts, products, services, and establishment create an experience? If you don’t understand what I am asking, check out this video from Joseph Pine on mass customization and the value of creating an experience (If you don’t have a lot of time, skip to 12:10).

At Martino Flynn, we try to make your time with us an enjoyable experience. From meeting in the playroom to hitting some golf balls off of our patio, we aim to provide a fun, creative, yet intellectually stimulating event. I want my new business prospects to walk out saying, “Wow, that was a great meeting, but the experience was even better.”

How has your company or business created an experience for your consumers? What was the best experience you have had with a business in the past?

-Miguel Llano

@MiguelALlano

The act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.

And his blog does a solid job explaining “why the power of the crowd is driving business.”

Businesses are engaging online communities, which are increasingly formed out of shared interests and passions.  There are resources available—such as Bing and Aardvark—that enable companies to solicit customer and prospect ideas directly, evaluate their ideas efficiently, and implement the best ideas as they make sense for their businesses. Martino Flynn has also worked with the Buffalo Bills and High Falls Brewing Co. to develop an integrated online campaign with a crowdsourcing component—both of which engaged customers and fans, and ultimately generated leads.

- Sharon Harper

Based on an article published by the Financial Times, “the proportion of British 15- to 24-year-olds with a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace fell for the first time last year from 55 percent to 50 percent.”

It was also discovered that more middle-aged adults are using microblogging sites like twitter than teens as well.

So where are the kids going? Have the middle-aged and baby boomers taken over social networking?

— Kellie Fronk