It's time to set the record straight on another viral TikTok myth. You might remember a few months ago when I debunked the "cold as hell" debate. This time, TikTok has turned its aim on everyone's favorite mustachioed plumber: Super Mario.
A recent TikTok video claims we've all been mishearing his iconic catchphrase. According to the video, Mario isn’t actually saying "It's-a-me, Mario," but rather "Itsumi, Mario." "Itsumi" supposedly being the Japanese word for "Super."
Snopes did some digging and found multiple confirmations from both Nintendo and Mario's voice actor: the phrase is, in fact, "It's-a-me." And, "Itsumi" doesn’t mean "Super" in Japanese.
Don't believe everything you see on the internet. But you can believe everything you read in this newsletter.
A question before I move on with the rest of this newsletter: Are you going to HMPS25 in Orlando?
If so, we're hosting candid, off-the-record conversations with healthcare marketers. No sales pitch, no prep needed. Just a chance to reflect, recharge, and talk honestly about what it’s actually like doing this work.
Want in? Just reply to this email and let me know.
On to the rest of the newsletter, here’s what I've got for you:
Expert input needed
Freshpaint LIVE in Chicago & Orlando!
Unlocking ROI in healthcare
4.7 million consumers caught up in a data breach
(P.S. Super Mario 64 is still the best Mario videogame. I'll stand by that statement until my last breath.)
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Product Update
This week, we're flipping the script...
Instead of a typical product update, we want your input, especially if you're running awareness campaigns across CTV, podcasts, display, influencers, or programmatic platforms.
We're launching a super quick survey (5 - 7 min) to better understand how healthcare marketers are investing in brand campaigns:
What channels are actually working?
Which platforms are you using (MNTN? Spotify? YouTube?)
How are you buying (in-house, through an agency, direct, programmatic)
Join us for at Toro by Chef Richard Sandoval for a unique opportunity to engage with industry peers and explore innovative approaches to patient engagement and data privacy. Sign up here!
Join us for a private dinner at Trevi’s Terrazza at Omni Orlando, where good food and genuine conversation bring the healthcare marketing community together. This intimate gathering offers the chance to connect with industry peers, exchange ideas, and build relationships in a relaxed, open setting. Enjoy a thoughtfully crafted meal, engage in meaningful discussions, and be part of a night that’s as rewarding as it is memorable. Save your seat now.
Discover how compliance-driven strategies can enhance healthcare marketing performance, reduce costs, and boost retention in this joint “Data Done Right” webinar. Sign up here!
Join us for a unique virtual experience designed exclusively for urgent care marketing leaders. This interactive event blends marketing strategy with hands-on lockpicking to help you crack the code to accelerated patient growth. Sign up now!
On-Demand Webinar In this on-demand webinar, we’ll show you how to enhance ROI by linking appointment data to your campaigns, supercharge your Google Ads performance with accurate data for better bidding, and gain end-to-end insights into the patient journey. You'll also get a chance to explore how to optimize your marketing budgets with privacy-compliant ROI insights to help secure growth.
Join marketing and healthcare strategy leaders as they explore the results of an insightful survey on payer marketing, shedding light on how payers are allocating budgets, implementing funnel strategies and tackling privacy challenges to drive growth and compliance in an evolving landscape. Watch the webinar here.
Freshpaint's Compliant Corner
In most industries, marketers can tell you, down to the dollar, how much it costs to acquire a customer. In healthcare? Not so much.
Thanks to HIPAA and fragmented tech stacks, healthcare marketers often operate in the dark, unable to tie marketing spend to actual patient actions, such as appointment bookings or visits. That makes optimizing performance and proving ROI nearly impossible.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Our eBook, Unlocking ROI in Healthcare, explores how leading organizations are building privacy-first bridges between marketing platforms and EHR data, finally unlocking metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime Value (LTV).
If you're looking to make your awareness campaigns truly data-driven, this one’s worth a read.
Last week, we covered the Blue Shield of California data breach. This week, the scale of that breach is coming into focus: 4.7 million people had their private health information compromised.
For comparison, mental health platform Cerebral was fined $7 million last year for a similar violation that impacted 3.2 million consumers. It's safe to say Blue Shield could be facing an even steeper penalty.