Further Information on marketing CHIP

Promoting CHIP through Physician

As soon as you have a printed program brochure, send out a very brief cover letter to all area physicians along with a brochure. (See sample in this Section and in Working Documents # 6)   In the letter, promise to send a summary of clinical changes at the close of the program.   Then keep your promise! (See the sample letter in this Section and in Working Documents #22.)

In addition, ask for a brief appointment with a few key physicians whom you know or who have been recommended to you, preferably those in internal medicine or family practice.

1. Give a brief overview of CHIP
2. Share the CHIP article in the American Journal of Cardiology 11/26/98 (Also found in the Lifeline issues entitled “Flying High” available through LMI)
3. Give them brochures and eye-catching flyers in stand-up plastic frames to place in their exam rooms. (See sample exam room flyers in this Section. Adapt as needed)
4. Consider asking them to mail your brochures along with a letter to a targeted patient population with specific lifestyle diseases. (See sample letter in this Section and Working Documents #6).
5. Encourage them to have their patients contact you for more information
6. Never push or try to manipulate for cooperation.   Don’t expect too much at first
7. Dentists:   Dentists spend a great deal of time with each patient. And the patient can only listen with his or her mouth wide open! Dentists are also very interested in prevention.   Consider similar contacts with them as with physicians.
   
Conducting Successful Free Information Sessions

• Free Information Sessions:
• The major focus of all market activity is to persuade people to attend a free Information Session. That is where most decisions are made to join the program. These are advertised in brochures, newspapers, radio spots and flyers. They are usually offered during the last three weeks before the class begins and should be repeated six or eight times. At each of these free one-hour events people are invited to register for CHIP, pay their fee, and sign up for HeartScreen # 1.
  
  Please see “Section 9.1—Information Session”, for a complete description of how to conduct a free Information Session.
  
  Personal Contact:
  
  This remains the single most effective way to win new participants to CHIP. Graduates of the CHIP program are eager to share the CHIP lifestyle. You may help them to be more effective by encouraging them to:
  
• Share the promotional videos
• Share their personal testimony with friends and family
• Share CHIP brochures
• Bring a friend to the free CHIP information session preceding each class


Promoting CHIP with Special guest speakers:   An Inaugural Event:

When funds are available this approach has proven very successful in recruiting participants. Bring in a keynote speaker of renown and advertise the event broadly.   Suggestions include: Hans Diehl, Michael Klapper, Neal Barnard, Howard Lyman, or William Castelli.   However, consider contacting the Lodi or Wichita CHIP leadership before you proceed in this direction. They will have words of counsel and caution!


Church Members may need CHIP:

Begin in the church by fostering an interest in health several months before CHIP begins. Some ideas include:

• Show the CHIP in Your Church video (See ACA Order Form)
• Inform the church about your MicroCHIP team-development program as explained in Section 5—Team Development.
• Begin a health column in your church newsletter
• Obtain bulletin board space and post attractive health displays
• Offer BP checks on Sabbath morning or at potluck time
  
  Hopefully many of your local church members will register for CHIP. In some locations, however, the church members had to be convinced by the non-church member’s testimonials before they showed interest in attending!
  
  A month before CHIP begins:
  
• Encourage the pastor to send out a letter and brochure inviting the church members to pray for CHIP and:
• Volunteer to help with the program in some way
• Invite and accompany a friend or neighbor to a free Information Session
• Join the program themselves
• Provide bulletin inserts.   (See Working Documents #09.1)
• Give a CHIP Brochure to each church member
• Show the CHIP promotional video during a vesper or Sabbath School program
• Share the “Presentation for the Church” (In Working Documents # 09.0)
• Once you have graduates, ask them to share their testimony on a CHIP Sabbath. This has been very effective in the several CHIP programs (Wichita KS, Puyallup WA, Penticton BC, and others.) Call them for details.

Parish Nurses:

Make the program familiar to the parish nurses in your communities of faith.  

• Present the CHIP concept at one of the meetings
• Show the promotional video
• Bring several CHIP graduates to share their testimonials
• Emphasize that this is a non-sectarian program

Clergy Council:

This has been a most fruitful approach in some churches.  

• Hold the Council at your own church if possible
• Bring in a keynote speaker such as Hans Diehl
• Share a meal
• Show the promotional video and explain the details of CHIP
• Share several live testimonials

Service Clubs:


Make appointments to speak at several service clubs such as the Rotary, Lions, and Kiwanis. Share the promotional video and distribute brochures. Invite them to the free Information Sessions.



Utilizing Newspapers

A local CHIP story with testimony and picture is one of the most powerful PR possibilities.   While newspaper advertising may not always be the most effective use of the advertising dollar, it is usually wise to have at least one newspaper ad for general awareness and more if you can afford it.   You might offer free CHIP tuition to a reporter in exchange for good coverage in the health section of a local newspaper. Consider asking the paper to follow and feature the progress a CHIP graduate over a period of time.



Web Site Support


The Adventist CHIP Association (ACA) has an official web site: www.adventistCHIP.org. The site is still developing and within a short time it should be possible to post your program start dates and other information alongside your location listing. So please report your program dates to the ACA as soon as you know them.

www.chiphelath.com is another web site that has many recourses to draw from including:

• This marketing plan
• Video Streaming
• Monthly teleconference calls