The One Resolution Healthcare Marketing Actually Needs: Courage
Every January, the gyms pack with hopeful fitness buffs, newbie chefs try their hand at cooking, and people everywhere try to stick to a New Year’s resolution they’ll probably give up on by February anyway (but, hey, it was worth a shot).
In healthcare marketing, the buzz is about new strategies, new platforms, and new user journeys — all of which are important but aren’t the key to changing the game. In fact, none of it matters without one thing: courage.
Our industry’s default is cautious, overly safe, and even fear-driven, thanks to things like MLR worries, legal scrutiny, and consensus-by-committee. On top of being plain boring, this results in watered-down creative, generic and forgettable messaging, and campaigns designed not to offend rather than to connect.
But fear-based marketing has a cost — low engagement, low trust, and low differentiation.
This year, our industry doesn’t need another checklist or safe-but-forgettable idea. It needs a spine.
Less tiptoeing. More trailblazing.
Courage isn’t only for skydiving, public speaking, and opening your camera on Teams when you’re not “meeting ready.” It’s also for marketing, where it takes memorable messaging and purposeful teams to make a big impact.
Creative bravery
Marketing campaigns that feature a couple holding hands walking on a beach or laughing over a perfectly staged salad should be left in 2025. It’s time for work that actually connects — campaigns that say something real instead of recycling the same glossy clichés.
We’re talking copy that speaks like a human, not a committee, and isn’t afraid to use personality and clarity. And we need visuals that break the template, push past the predictable, and give audiences something worth paying attention to.
Strategic bravery
Courageous strategy means making choices most brands avoid — not because they’re risky, but because they require more discipline. In 2026, we want to see brands choosing a tighter audience instead of trying to speak to literally everyone, because relevance beats reach every time.
We also want to see prioritization of long-term brand trust over short-term metrics, even when the quick wins are tempting (but won’t mean a thing in six months). True strategic bravery isn’t loud or flashy. It’s intentional, focused, and built to last.
Operational bravery
The foundation of it all is marketing agencies and their operations. Operational bravery is what keeps great ideas from dying before they see the light of day. It means empowering teams to make decisions without 17 layers of approvals, pushing back on saying, “We’ve always done it this way,” and creating space for smarter, faster, and more modern ways of working.
Operational bravery isn’t reckless. It’s courageous enough to clear the path so work can actually get done.
The future belongs to the brands willing to go first
In an industry filled with sameness, bravery isn’t optional — it’s the only real differentiator left. Creative bravery sparks ideas that feel alive. Strategic bravery guides decisions that move the brand forward. And operational bravery clears the clutter so teams can execute without suffocating ideas in the process.
When all three show up in one place, you don’t just get better marketing. You also get work that people remember, trust, and act on.
If 2026 has a mandate, it’s to stop playing it safe.
Start choosing the kind of brave that builds brands worth believing in.
seriously