|
: With more women working, marrying late and the baby count falling, healthcare marketers have found a new, niche segment for a maternity product; a 360-degree package, aimed at “celebrating motherhood”. The attractively packaged programme comes with a promise of an experience “to remember and cherish.”
So out goes the drab, erstwhile Labour, Delivery and Recovery (LDR) rooms for a more plush facility with fine, upholstered beds, hidden medical equipment that swirls into focus only when needed, TV, DVD players and unlimited visiting hours.
And when the new mom is ready to leave the facility with her “bundle of joy”, she is not unceremoniously discharged. She is lovingly “seen off” by the friendly hospital staff with a bouquet of fresh flowers and a box of chocolates; and if she is lucky, she is bundled off in a hospital provided, chauffer-driven car, as befits a new mom.
Although still an urban phenomenon, the package, branded differently at hospitals is targeted mainly at working, affluent moms-to-be, 60% of whom end up choosing deliveries by appointment, that is, Cesarean sections (CS), according to a senior obstetrician, requesting anonymity.
For this section of women, the Apollo Group, for instance, has a service called “cradle”, offered at all its group hospitals with a single-room maternity package. “We have tried to convert what is perceived as a ‘hospital experience’ into a happy experience, ” says Ratan Jalan, CEO, Apollo Health and Lifestyle, adding, “for the couple.”
Bearing testimony to this, Cradle features vibrant pre-labor rooms for the mom-to-be, candle-lit dinner with champagne for both parents, father’s participation in the birthing and delivery process, besides flexible visiting hours for an unending stream of visitors.
“Globally, from America Online to Walt Disney,” says Jalan, “Successful companies build their brands around personal experiences. Pizza Hut offers more than a meal—it also hosts your child’s birthday party, complete with a candle lit cake and amusements. One of the hippest companies, Starbucks, is admired for its ability to connect emotionally with the consumer. In my experience people willingly pay a premium for good service. That’s what we have attempted to do at Cradle.”Incidentally Apollo is not alone in making the most of this market demand for motherhood. Others, such as Sitaram Bhartiya Institute of Science & Research runs, a nine- month “birthing programme” priced at Rs 11,000 for five classroom sessions—featuring guest lecturers by a senior obstetrician, pediatrician, dietician, fitness expert and child psychologist—each one hour session...
More from BrandWagon
| Single Page Format | 1 - 2 - 3 - Next |
Discuss this story on expressindia forums
|
|
 |
 |
 |
About Us | Contact Us | Advertisers | Site Map | Make us your homepage | Work for Us | RSS | Subscribe | Electronic Edition | Privacy Policy© 2009: The Indian Express Limited. All rights reserved throughout the world
