Most Brands Speak to Women As If They Are Men: Learning from Hidden Women, Health Marketing Insights from 8th Day
Are women “seen?” And how do they see themselves compared with how companies see them — marketers, leaders, and any enterprise that’s trying to message and persuade women to calls-to-action? If you are working to inspire, influence, or engage that portion of the world’s population who are women, then a new study from 8th-Day brand consultancy can inform your strategies. It’s titled Hidden Women: Unlocking brand growth by seeing the unseen, and it’s chock full of insights and lightbulb moments from which you can benefit. In full and delightful disclosure, the 8th-Day team are
“Trust is the #1 Public Health Issue” and Health Citizens Live in an “Information Abundant” World That, Counterintuitively, Underpins Divisiveness – the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer
It would sound like good news that more health citizens, globally, are engaged with more information about health – a health information “abundance,” by the look at the data. But it’s not such great news when we learn that said information abundance also underpins health citizens’ confidence in finding answers and making informed health decisions, we learn in the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer’s Trust and Health edition. In the U.S., the percent of people who felt confidence in their ability to find answers and make informed health decisions “plummeted,” in the words of the
“The #1 longevity hack is ‘don’t be poor’” — Kara Swisher is a health economist
In full transparency, I’ve been a fangirl of Kara Swisher since I first read her work with Walt Mossberg and Recode, coinciding with my own work on the early adoption of the Internet in health care. Today, Swisher is everywhere all-at-once, covering technology, politics, and now, seeking truths about the so-called longevity economy. Swisher appeared with Nicolle Wallace on her podcast, The Best People, on 13th April, so I was keen to tune in. The conversation covered a lot of ground, and it was Swisher’s take on science and health that I was most
The New Era of DIY Healthcare – The State of Consumer Healthcare is Buoyant, Empowering, and Holistic, from Head to Gut to Wallet
Consumers’ spending on healthcare, beyond a health insurance premium and hospital bills, is among the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. — with spending increasing faster than overall retail, Circana’s tracking data has quantified. In 2019, I published one of the early books on health care consumerism, HealthConsuming, my spidey-senses perceiving an expanding retail health landscape where patients-as-consumers, caregivers, Quantified Self’ers, and wellness aficionados were engaging with a variety of touchpoints based on their personal values and sense of value to co-create personal and family health: in grocery stores, Big
Americans Are Health Information Seekers — Far Above All, Valuing Info from Providers and Medically-Trained Sources (and lessons for AI in health)
A commentary in Nature Medicine this week asserts that, “Quality health infomration for all is a fundamental determinant of health.” Lawrence Gostin, a learned health care legal expert at Georgetown, and colleagues, note that, “Society is at a turning point, faced with misleading guidance and ubiquitous, fast-spreading digital and social media…Amplified by generative AI, poor quality information corrodes trust in science and drives social and political polarization.” With the context in mind that health information is a social determinant of health, we turn to a report from the Pew Research Group which asks and answers the question, Where do Americans
Past is Prologue as CVS Returns to Its “CVS Pharmacy” Roots – What it Means for Health Consumers and Retail Health (with a nod to Colruyt Group in Belgium)
Going back to its roots, CVS Health announced plans to open 20 “apothecary-style” pharmacies around the U.S., the first of which was sited in Chicago’s West End. The new brick-and-mortar stores will average 3,000 square feet, providing full-service pharmacies staffed by licensed pharmacists. “Pharmacists are among the most accessible and most trusted health care providers,” Len Shankman, EVP and President of Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness for CVS Health is quoted in the press release for the plans. This new footprint is meant to enable “pharmacy teams to continue to build relationships with patients
Doctors and Consumers in America Agree: Health Care Access and Affordability Rank Top of Mind in March 2026 (surveys from Athenahealth and Gallup)
In uncannily-timed releases of two surveys in March 2026, we see that U.S. physicians and consumers both rank health care access and affordability as the top issue they face — for medical practices among doctors, and for everyday life worries among U.S. health citizens. On the physician front, The 2026 Physician Sentiment Survey was published by Athenahealth, gauging U.S. doctors’ views on the state of medical practice and healthcare in America. “Over the past three years,” Athenahealth observes, “access to affordable healthcare has risen sharply to become
Thank you Aaron Strout for hosting our conversation on the Reaching Higher Podcast, now live on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. We covered a lot of ground addressing health care and health citizenship, the growing prospects for our homes as our health hubs, and how our humanity is a key ingredient in health-making for all.
I'm grateful to be part of the Duke Corporate Education faculty, sharing perspectives on the future of health care with health and life science companies. Once again, I'll be brainstorming the future of health care with a cohort of executives working in a global pharmaceutical company.
Jane joined host Dr. Geeta "Dr. G" Nayyar and colleagues to brainstorm the value of vaccines for public and individual health in this challenging environment for health literacy, health politics, and health citizen grievance. Click onto the Pfizer Value of Vaccines site and you can watch four episodes covering the challenges with adult vaccination, the employer and health plan member's journey to vaccination, reimbursement, and collaborating for proactive prevention.