<\/p>\n
In the highly regulated medical scheme environment, a marketer\u2019s work is never done. Few people understand the balance between creativity and compliance better than Lien Potgieter, head of marketing at Medihelp Medical Scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m an endlessly creative person, but I\u2019ve always worked in the strictly regulated financial services environment. I clearly enjoy the challenge of a framework and its structure. But within that structure, I want to be as free, creative, and independent as I possibly can be,\u201d Potgieter says.<\/p>\n
In highly regulated industries, status is often created less by the product itself and more by the meaning attached to the brand.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s certainly not an easy matter balancing creative marketing ideas with the strict compliance requirements that come with operating in such a space.<\/p>\n
Yet Potgieter believes the tension between creativity and compliance can produce better work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn highly regulated industries, creativity cannot rely on exaggeration or shock value. It has to rely on insight, relevance, and emotional connection,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
Indeed, trust is everything in healthcare and financial services, and the marketer\u2019s role is clearly not to \u201csell harder\u201d but to communicate more meaningfully, more clearly, and more responsibly.<\/p>\n
At Medihelp, creativity operates within a very clear framework of compliance, governance, and accuracy. Within that framework, there is still enormous room for creativity through storytelling, brand positioning, emotional relevance, and helping people feel seen and understood.<\/p>\n
Medical scheme products may be regulated, but human experiences are not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where creativity lives,\u201d she adds, \u201cand all the better when legal, compliance, and marketing collaborate from the start, to create work that is both powerful and responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
From monetary status to holistic wellness<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very much a South African trait to derive your status from the job you do, how much you earn, the sport you excel at, and the car you drive. At Medihelp, there\u2019s been a strong push away from monetary status, towards overall health and wellness.<\/p>\n
This is especially relevant in a category where consumers often gravitate towards brands based on perceived prestige, familiarity, or social standing.<\/p>\n
For Potgieter, the opportunity isn\u2019t in imitating traditional prestige, but in redefining what modern success and well-being look like in a way that feels more human, relatable, and sustainable.<\/p>\n
Potgieter often draws on models such as the 8 Dimensions of Wellness, which encompasses physical, occupational, spiritual, social, financial, intellectual, emotional, and environmental well-being.<\/p>\n
She believes these frameworks help members understand the importance of investing in holistic wellness, as studies have shown that neglecting one or more dimensions of wellness can ultimately affect physical health.<\/p>\n
Approaches such as these move away from wellness programmes that focus primarily on ambitious physical goals and rewards attached to them.<\/p>\n
Instead, they emphasise each component of a member\u2019s wellness journey, and how these fit together to create a life well lived.<\/p>\n
Medihelp is currently trialling a wellness app in-house called Fitt, which rewards effort across the financial, mental, emotional, and other dimensions of life. The scheme has also recently brought a new partner, Omnihelp, on board.<\/p>\n
Omnihelp focuses on six elements of well-being \u2013 physical, intellectual, relational, emotional, community, and financial.<\/p>\n
These efforts reflect the scheme\u2019s belief that health is deeply personal and that people define themselves in different ways. Whether someone identifies as a home body, brave body, kind body, fit body, smart body, healthy body, creative body, fun body, or an ambitious body, those qualities and values matter.<\/p>\n
At Medihelp, the aim is to celebrate the whole person, create a sense of belonging, and support overall well-being. It\u2019s a contemporary approach to wellness and a powerful signal that the Medihelp brand is evolving alongside the changing needs and values of its members.<\/p>\n
For Potgieter, this also speaks to a broader cultural shift. Younger generations, in particular, are less interested in status symbols that say \u2018I have arrived\u2019 and more keen on brands that reflect balance, self-knowledge, values, and quality of life.<\/p>\n
Making complexity feel simple<\/p>\n
Medical schemes also carry a reputation for complexity. Benefits, exclusions, pre-authorisation, networks, co-payments, chronic conditions, preventive screenings, and day-to-day claims can quickly become overwhelming for consumers.<\/p>\n
This is where Potgieter believes marketing plays an essential educational role.<\/p>\n
In one Medihelp meeting, staff members shared that their children had been researching medical aid options and found Medihelp\u2019s digital experience easy to understand.<\/p>\n
For Potgieter, that kind of feedback matters because simplicity is not merely a design preference in this category; it can influence decision-making and confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo making it simple and easy is a huge thing,\u201d Potgieter says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinding what consumers are looking for is very important. I think the consumer education aspect of medical aid marketing plays an important role in helping them make those buying decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is also where strategy becomes indispensable. Without strategy, creative work can become disconnected, reactive, or risky. But with a strong strategic foundation, creativity becomes more focused and effective.<\/p>\n
In regulated industries, strategy helps answer critical questions upfront: What can we responsibly say? What do consumers genuinely need to understand? What emotional space do we want to own? How do we differentiate without making misleading claims? And how do we build trust over the long term?<\/p>\n
For Potgieter, strategy is what gives creativity direction and credibility. It creates that all-important bridge between business objectives, consumer needs, regulatory obligations, and brand expression.<\/p>\n
Magic of the creative touch<\/p>\n
The reality is that medical scheme products can look very similar on paper, and benefits can feel quite interchangeable to consumers, which is where brand clout becomes incredibly important.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreativity adds the most value in making that differentiation not just functionally, but also emotionally,\u201d Potgieter says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it means building a distinctive brand personality, creating emotional relevance, simplifying complexity, and helping people connect healthcare to real life.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that people don\u2019t wake up excited about medical scheme terminology or technical benefits. Instead, they care about security, dignity, family, well-being, and peace of mind.<\/p>\n
She says this is where creativity matters, because it helps to transform a highly regulated product into a human experience people can relate to.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Medihelp, we focus strongly on human-centred storytelling and positioning healthcare in a way that feels empowering rather than clinical or intimidating. Creativity helps us move beyond simply talking about cover and claims, and focus more on how people can use healthcare, preventive benefits, wellness tools, and support services to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
This includes the need to help members understand and use what they already have. Preventive benefits, for example, only become meaningful when members know about them and feel encouraged to use them.<\/p>\n
Screenings, check-ups, chronic medication adherence, and early interventions all form part of a wider conversation about health ownership.<\/p>\n
For Medihelp, prevention is not simply a benefits message. It is a way of helping members stay informed, engaged, and proactive. When communicated well, it shifts the conversation from \u2018What am I paying for?\u2019 to \u2018How can this support the life I want to live?\u2019.<\/p>\n
Balancing trust, technology, and the human touch<\/p>\n
The expectations of medical scheme members are also changing. Some want to resolve everything digitally. Others still want to speak to a knowledgeable person, especially when they are navigating something stressful, urgent, or emotionally loaded.<\/p>\n
This is why Potgieter believes modernity and humanity must work together. Medihelp invests in digital accessibility, including platforms such as its Member Zone and communication channels that allow younger members to self-serve, but the human touch remains essential.<\/p>\n
However, if a member wishes to interact with their medical scheme, the experience should feel accessible, helpful, and clear.<\/p>\n
Technology can remove friction, but people still need to feel that there is expertise, empathy, and responsiveness behind the brand.<\/p>\n
This balance matters because medical aid is often viewed as a grudge purchase until the moment a person truly needs it. At that point, the brand promise becomes deeply personal.<\/p>\n
Members want to trust that their scheme knows what it is doing, can pay claims, can answer questions, and can guide them when the stakes feel high.<\/p>\n
Making creativity count<\/p>\n
For those navigating a path similar to Potgieter\u2019s, where creativity and compliance must work hand in hand, her advice offers practical and strategic direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, don\u2019t see compliance as the enemy of creativity. Some of the best brand work happens when there are constraints, because constraints force sharper thinking.<\/p>\n
Secondly, focus on human insight instead of marketing gimmicks. In regulated industries, emotional intelligence and relevance become far more powerful than sensationalism.<\/p>\n
Thirdly, involve compliance teams early and build collaborative relationships with them. The strongest campaigns usually come from partnerships, not conflict, between marketing and governance teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not about being loud, but rather about being bold in the clarity, simplicity, honesty, and consistency a brand can provide.<\/p>\n
In an industry that traditionally communicates in highly technical terms, a human-centred approach can be a powerful differentiator.<\/p>\n
Potgieter believes that consumers are increasingly looking to support brands they can trust, particularly in healthcare and financial services, and that creativity should always strengthen that trust, not undermine it.<\/p>\n
And perhaps that is the real opportunity for medical scheme marketing today: not to push harder, promise more, or shout louder, but to help people feel seen, informed, and supported.<\/p>\n
In a category built on regulation, responsibility, and trust, the most creative thing a brand can do is make the complex feel human.<\/p>\n
Brought to you by Medihelp Medical Scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moneyweb does not endorse any product or service being advertised in sponsored articles on our platform.<\/p>\n
#differentiate #medical #scheme #creatively<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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