Hello jimstc-ga,
Im sure that your smoking cessation services will be of interest to
the corporate market. Ive collected some information for you on
marketing smoking cessation programs through HR departments. This
service goes by a variety of names in the employee benefits
marketplace. Some of the labels might be:
-- Health education benfits
-- Work/life benefits
-- Employee wellness programs
-- Behavioral health benefits
-- Employee assistance programs
-- Other specialized titles
Ive also gathered some information for you about the smoking
cessation market. I was amazed at the number of providers. It might be
very challenging to stand out from the crowd. The links Ive included
should help you make sense of the competitive landscape.
Depending on the size of the company, employee benefits will be
handled by an HR generalist or someone specializing in Compensation
and Benefits. Many companies, especially mid to large sized companies
(but increasingly even small ones too), have chosen to outsource this
function. This means that it is highly likely that smoking cessation
benefits will be bundled into a comprehensive employee benefit package
that is administered by an outsourcing vendor. It appears that your
target customers may be the HR outsourcing companies instead of the
employers.
As far as marketing to HR, you are on the right track in acknowledging
that it takes specialized knowledge to reach this audience. HR has
been traditionally seen as a cost center and a necessary evil and
frequently had little power to make significant purchasing decisions.
HR has also been fighting this negative image and in some companies
the HR function has assumed greater responsibilities. Regardless of
how HR is viewed, being able to make the business case for your
service is important. Bundling your service with other employee
wellness programs may be the best strategy.
Ive organized the materials Ive collected into information about
marketing smoking cessation programs, marketing to HR departments, HR
outsourcing and general resources. I trust that this will meet your
needs. Please ask for clarification if you need help with sorting
things out.
Wishing you success with your Taperoff services.
czh
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SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMS
==========================
http://www.endsmoking.org/resources/employersguide/pdf/employersguide.pdf
Employers Smoking Cessation Guide: Practical Approaches to a Costly
Workplace Problem
This is a 43 page report that gives you the guidelines for presenting
the business case to a company for being involved in helping
employees stop smoking. Provides tips on how to evaluate smoking
cessation vendors and lots of statistics for justifying smoking
cessation programs. It includes links throughout the text and an
appendix of key resources. Excellent starting place for your project.
http://www.mkt-data-ent.com/smokingtoc2.html
Smoking Cessation Products & Services: A Market Analysis
(November 2000)
Published by: Marketdata Enterprises, Inc., 2807 W. Busch Blvd., Suite
110, Tampa, FL 33618, (813-931-3900)
www.marketdataenterprises.com
Table of Contents Review of the industry
http://www.marketdataenterprises.com/studies.html#SMOKING
http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2000/03/06/focus2.html
More HMOs, insurers offering smoking cessation programs
March 3, 2000,
This is a fairly long article that discusses large company smoking
cessation programs
http://www.opm.gov/ehs/smokgud3.asp
Work-Life Programs -- Smoking Cessation
Guidance on Establishing Programs Designed to Help Employees Stop
Smoking
http://www.opm.gov/ehs/Smoking1.asp
Section I: Funding Smoking Cessation Programs
http://www.lungusa.org/ffs/
American Lung Association
Freedom From SmokingŪ Online
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4731
American Heart Association
Smoking Cessation
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Health/Mental_Health/Addiction_and_Recovery/Smoking_Addiction/
Yahoo! Commercial Directory
Shopping > Smoking Addiction
============================
MARKETING TO HUMAN RESOURCES
============================
http://www.hraspx.com/Pages/Partners.html
HRaspx is an asp solutions vendor.
http://www.hrmarketer.com/home/
HR Marketer is a web-based service for selling products and services
to HR departments.
http://www.fishervista.com/
Fisher Vista is a marketing and public relations firm that specializes
in services aimed at HR.
http://www.hrhub.com/content/homepage/default.asp?VNETCOOKIE=NO
HR Hub -- VertMarkets, Inc.
This is a trade magazine for the Human Resources industry. Its a
portal site that offers many resources for anyone interested in HR.
http://www.hr-esource.com/index.asp?rightframe=hresources/hrMarketplace/hrMarketplace.html
This is another portal site directed at anyone interested in HR.
http://www.shrm.org
Society for Human Resource Management
This is the premier association of HR practitioners.
http://www.ioma.com/
IOMA is a B2B publisher of management topics in Corporate Finance;
Human Resources; Legal, Design & Construction, and CPA Firm
Management; Lab Management; Corporate Services; and Manufacturing.
http://www.ipma-hr.org/index.cfm?navid=202
International Personnel Management Association
HR RESOURCES >> Featured Sections >> Organizational Structures
This overview of the HR field discusses how HR relates to the
organization as a whole and the varied roles in HR.
http://www.workindex.com/hrexecutive/default.asp
Human Resource Executive trade magazine
http://www.workindex.com/hrexecutive/top1002.asp
Top 100 corporate employers (by number of employees)
Table shows Name and Title of top HR officer and also shows Reports
to. This will give you some idea of the importance of the HR function
in the company.
http://www.careerjournal.com/hrcenter/shrm/features/20020801-shrm.html
Role of HR Executive is Undergoing Big Changes
This article discusses the need for HR to broaden its skills and
abilities, especially in the areas of business strategy and finance.
http://www.workforce.com/tools/mediakit/hr.htm
The Human Resources Market: A Current Outlook
HR for all companies. All Economies
This Workforce Magazine article briefly reviews marketing to HR.
===========================
HUMAN RESOURCES OUTSOURCING
===========================
http://was.hewitt.com/hewitt/resource/articleindex/article_index.htm#two
Hewitt Associates -- HR & Benefits Outsourcing
http://www.aon.com/us/busi/hc_consulting/hr_outsourcing/emp_benefits_outsourcing/default.jsp
Aon -- Employee Benefits Outsourcing
http://www.cigna.com/consumer/index.html
Cigna
http://www.worklifesolutions.cc/behavior/index.asp
Behavioral Health and Employee Assistance Programs
===================================
GENERAL HR AND BENEFITS INFORMATION
===================================
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/home.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Office of Compensation and Working Conditions
This is a good place to start. The BLS has wonderful reports and
statistics on the labor market and salaries and benefits.
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebrp0001.pdf
Employee Benefits in Private Industry, 2000 (Tables Only) (PDF) -
providing data from the 2000 survey of all private establishments.
This is a 79 page report that gives a comprehensive overview of
national benefits practices.
http://www.ebri.org/
Employee Benefit Research Institute
EBRI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed exclusively to
data dissemination, policy research, and education on economic
security and employee benefits.
http://www.benefitslink.com/
BenefitsLink provides compliance information and tools for employee
benefits administration.
http://www.benefitsmarketplace.com/cgi-bin/marketq.exe/about/market
BenefitsMarketplace.com is a listing service that makes it possible to
market your products and services directly to buyers for a $39 listing
fee per year.
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SEARCH STRATEGY
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smoking cessation programs
corporate "smoking cessation" industry
benefits purchasing decision makers
HR marketplace benefits
employee benefits |