Florida Chiropractor’s advertising models seek to consolidate fragmented markets
Jan 28, 2011
The following article was published in the South Florida Business Journal on January 28, 2011:
Chiropractor’s advertising model seeks to consolidate fragmented markets
By Jeff Zbar
www.southfloridabusinessjournal.com
In 1995, Robert Lewin was a chiropractor struggling to market his practice amid a fragmented and competitive market.
He soon came up with an idea: What if he created a medical clearinghouse for people injured in car crashes? They could call a number and get a referral to a participating practitioner.
Today, his marketing is nearly ubiquitous to South Florida consumers and commuters who have seen the billboards and heard the radio spots: “After 911, call 411.”
“The catchphrase is the number,” said Lewin, claiming he styled the line after a Wendy’s commercial. “‘Where’s the beef?’ always stuck with me.”
Lewin, now a non-practicing chiropractor, runs Broward Rehab Center and 411-Pain Advertising Group. The medical and legal referral service operates in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Minnesota.
Lewin’s referral-service marketing model is growing. Along with 411-Pain, the Hollywood ad firm runs similar programs for small car dealerships and a line of mixed martial arts apparel under the Cage Hero and 411-Pain fight gear brands. His call centers in Miami and Orlando have 10 employees who field upward of 500 calls a day from across his network of states.
“Every category has its nuances,” he said. “411-Cars helps smaller dealers compete with the Maroones and AutoNation.”
In the case of 411-Pain, callers can be referred to attorneys, chiropractors or clinics. Attorneys – 50 across Florida, he said – pay no fee to be included, though Lewin said he vets them for qualifications. Lewin gets a fee from participating chiropractors and clinics, including four of his own, he said.
Before he joined the 411-Pain network, chiropractor Barry Raxenberg’s offices in Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie drew the bulk of their business from networking and costly advertising. As an affiliate of the 411-Pain network, some 95 percent of his business comes from the service, he said.
“It’s been a tremendous boost to my business,” Raxenberg said. He declined to discuss his costs to participate in the network, except to say that his contribution “has been an invaluable investment. I’d never be able to have the same impact on my own.”
Florida Bar doesn’t regulate ads
The Florida Bar, which is known as a pioneer in restrictive legal services advertising rules, doesn’t regulate Lewin’s advertising. But, it does regulate how his member attorneys advertise. So, for his lawyer advertisers to be in compliance with his advertising program, Lewin must run the phrase “non-attorney spokesperson.”
“I’m looking to be part of their growth process,” Lewin said of how he works with attorneys and doctors.
The service itself has been the target of copycats and litigation. Last year, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a $5 million judgment and a permanent injunction against a competitor that Lewin’s firm claimed was abusing his “distinctive” trademark of 411-PAIN, including use of the word “PAIN” as part of a pneumonic phone number, Lewin said.
In December, his company was profiled in a New Times article about a lawsuit brought by accident victims complaining the $10,000 in personal injury coverage they expected following an accident instead went toward medical care.
Undaunted, Lewin is tapping technology and traditional and social media to grow his business. He wouldn’t disclose his advertising budget. But 411-PAIN has 289,000 fans on Facebook.
Given that many of his prospects are in generations X and Y, Lewin said one in five of all his ads discuss the puzzling issue of typing vanity toll-free numbers – 411-PAIN, (800) MATTRESS or (800) PROGRESSIVE, for example – on smart phones that no longer feature the alphabetical equivalents beneath the number keys. His “All about the Alt key” campaign reveals that holding down the “Alt” key on a phone reveals how to reveal letters from their corresponding numbers.
“You can’t find someone who’s 30 with a house phone,” he said. “It’s their cell phone and computer. If you’re not there, you won’t be successful.”