The Side Note

The Swedish fashion giant, H&M was recently attacked in the media for the release of their latest swimwear campaign revealing an incredibly and unnaturally tan model. A message to the public being: you need to be very tan look great in a bathing suit.

With Sweden experiencing more people dying of skin cancer every year than in traffic accidents, it is no surprise that the Swedish Cancer Society is outraged.  

The model, Isabeli Fonatana, has a beautiful natural golden skin tone that would have easily complemented the bathing suit, so why did H&M take her color to such extremes? We may never know the actual reasoning behind this decision, but we do know it was the wrong decision.

While the ultimate goal of advertisers and advertising agencies is to sell product, it is still important to maintain integrity in the message conveyed. Advertisers and marketers need to understand that when we do marketing well, we do it very well. Our consumers listen to what we tell them overtly and subtly. Be sure you evaluate your whole advertising message, not just a part of it.

Swimwear campaigns already put enough pressure on the average woman to “look like a supermodel” which contributes to excessive dieting and very often eating disorders. Now we can add obsessive tanning…where will the list of beauty requirements stop? H&M is now unintentionally promoting a deadly beauty ideal as the new fashion accessory and increasing the disorder of tanorexia in young women.

H&M released an apology stating it was not their intention to promote excessive tanning.

What do you think about the H&M ad? Do you believe advertisers and advertising agencies need to be more aware of all the messages they send – including the subtle ones of body images and beauty? Tell us what you think here, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The inaugural Franchising in Health Care Conference was held at the law offices of Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis. The purpose of the conference was to bring together franchisors and perspective franchisors in the health care industry to discuss challenges, opportunities and best practices associated with the legal, marketing, technology and service sides of both franchising and health care.

What follows is a list of our top take-aways from the conference.

1. Franchising succeeds because of the ability to replicate a brand experience in a measurable way, but health care is a service-oriented industry. This juxtaposition is what makes franchising in health care a challenge, but also means great success for those who can consistency in the delivery of health care services.
2. Second only to food, health and wellness is the fastest growing franchise sector. While this means competition is coming, the market is far from saturated and there is great opportunity to create brand awareness and become an industry leader with a replicable service model.
3. The growth of franchise models will, without a doubt, have a significant impact on the delivery of health care services in the U.S.
4. Primary health care practices that may be losing money can become profitable through the shared services in a franchise system. As the acceptance grows, physicians are likely to turn to these business opportunities to provide their services.
5. The perception of franchised medical services is evolving as communities embrace the cost effectiveness and delivery efficiency of franchise systems.
6. Layering the legal issues of franchising on top of the legal issues of health care can create management nightmares if the programs and services of both the franchisor and franchisee are not established properly before the sale of the first franchise.

Do you have great take-ways from the conference we missed? Share them here.

Minneapolis, MN.

If you missed the inaugural conference, do not worry. The second Franchising in Health Care Conference is preliminarily scheduled for Fall 2012 in Denver, Colo. If you are interested in receiving additional information, please let us know or visit the office blog at http://www.franchisinghealthcare.com