Healthcare Marketing has an

Empathy Problem.

People connect when they feel seen and understood, when a brand reflects their actual life back at them, not just their demographics. I build brands that pass the only test that matters: can you see yourself here?

The
Empathy Gap

People walk into hospitals and insurance companies already assuming the institution’s interest is the bottom line, not them. That assumption did not come from nowhere. It was earned. And then the marketing confirms it. But it doesn’t have to. The goal is to make an organization feel personal to the individual. Let them know they belong with you.

Blue Cross Blue Shield looks like United Healthcare looks like every other healthcare brand.

There is a thin veil over what feels like the same thing: give us your money, here are your benefits, here is what we will and will not cover. Swap the logo. Nothing changes.

48%

Healthcare Provider Trust

Trust in healthcare providers sits at just 48% — and among adults 25 to 34 that number is declining not growing.

That is not just a branding problem. That is an empathy problem.

People do not connect with information. They connect with recognition. They connect when they see themselves, their family, their fears, their actual life, reflected back at them. That is what builds trust. That is what moves people from skeptical to loyal.

1# Driver of Trust

Empathy. Not outcomes. Not technology.

Research shows what actually moves the needle on healthcare trust is empathy, kindness, responsiveness, and transparency.

I know this problem from both sides.
Let’s close the gap.

This is personal for me, and I understand what it can cost.

Services

How I close the gap

Brand Strategy and Creative Direction

Strategy determines what people need to see and how a brand needs to be perceived through that lens. Creative direction draws them in. Together they build the foundation of a brand that feels personal rather than interchangeable.

Email Marketing and Automation

Email is how people are reached thoughtfully. Connecting that with automation makes that reach consistent and timely. Done right it feels like a conversation, not a broadcast.

Creative Operations and Leadership

Creative operations keeps all the moving pieces aligned. Leadership is the glue that holds it together. The result is a creative ecosystem that delivers on the brand promise every time, not just when everything goes perfectly.

A Rare Combination

Most brand strategists understand your audience from research. I also understand them from experience.

Twenty years building brands. Seven years as a caregiver. My own ongoing battle with a chronic illness. That combination is rare.

I lost my mother to cancer when I was young. For seven years I was my father’s primary caregiver, navigating hospitals, insurance systems, and a healthcare landscape that was never designed to be understood by the people who need it most. Then I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis and spent months being told I was stable when I knew I wasn’t. I learned what it feels like to face a system that communicates at you rather than with you.

That experience lives inside everything I build. When I ask, “Can you see yourself here?” It’s not a strategic question. It is a personal one. I know what it costs when the answer is no.

Post

She Called Me a Lioness

Beyond the Flare is my Substack publication about chronic illness, self-advocacy, and the fight for proper treatment. It is where the personal and professional intersect most honestly.

“Being a patient with a chronic illness means you are always at war, and the exhausting injustice is that you have to fight hardest when you have the least left to fight with.”

Credentials

The work behind the words.

20+

Years of Experience

$4.5M+

in Supported Funding

50+

Organizations Served

Alexis Franklin is a brand strategist, creative director, and marketing operations leader with over twenty years of experience building brands and systems for healthcare companies, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations. She has led creative and brand work for some of the world’s most respected institutions, and for the patients and communities they serve.