The inside story of Mayo Clinic’s revolutionary, decades-long marketing and branding evolution from a revered mid-western clinic to a globally renowned provider of health care treatment and information–as told by one of the key leaders. Beginning in 1980, Mayo Clinic was transformed from a single clinic in Minnesota to a global brand with a revolutionary digital and social media presence. Brand Aid is the story of how this remarkable evolution occurred. Written in a personal and engaging style, Brand Aid is deep in concepts but a pleasure to read. Unlike other how-to books, John La Forgia’s Brand Aid presents personal stories and real-life examples that bring his concepts to life in a vivid and relatable way. Simultaneously a memoir about La Forgia’s career at Mayo Clinic, a how-to manual for practitioners and leaders in the field, and a higher-level excursion into some of the burning issues of American health care today, this is a uniquely compelling and illuminating read.

La Forgia blends his personal experiences running marketing at the Mayo Clinic with the many lessons and rules he learned along the way. It is an absolute must-read for anyone seriously interested in health care marketing or, more broadly, the marketing of professional services. –Kevin Keller, PhD, Author of Marketing Management and Strategic Brand Management