6 Questions for: Charlie Baase

Sometimes we’re so proud of our clients, we could burst. We get very close to them and their brands during the brand development process, and when we see them doing great work and achieving great things, it’s very personal to us.

This post is part of a series of one-on-one interviews with people we work with who’ve made us proud. They’re rocking their brands in exciting and innovative ways, taking the ideas we developed together and using them to grow their organizations. We find how a brand works out in the “real world” fascinating and hope you will, too.

This week, I’m interviewing Charlie Baase from the American Osteopathic Association. We’ve had the pleasure of working with Charlie for the last several years, first on work for the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and more recently for the AOA. Charlie’s friendly demeanor and positive attitude help us get excited and eager to create fresh, innovative designs for him—but don’t let that big smile fool you, he’s also a seriously savvy marketer. We’ve watched Charlie breathe life into each project he tackles, and we’ve marveled at the pleasure it is to work with his entire team.

We talked to Charlie to find out how he felt BatesMeron helped on our last collaboration—and what on earth they put in the coffee over there to keep everyone so productive and cheerful.

1. The American Osteopathic Association is very large, and BatesMeron can’t take credit for the brand. Tell us about your position at the AOA and your goals.

I am the Director of the Division of Marketing Communications. This means that my team and I work on all marketing projects for the organization. Whether it is a video that needs to get posted on the website, a brochure to members highlighting a new project or a comprehensive campaign promoting our annual meeting to members, we are the ones who step in and get the job done.

In terms of goals, it is my hope that we can convey messages clearly to our members and cut through the clutter of all the information they receive out there. We also work closely with our department to ensure they are delivering materials that stick to our branding guidelines and convey consistent messages.

2. What should everyone know about osteopathic physicians (DOs)?

I get a lot of confusion from friends and family about what osteopathic physicians are.

Many people aren’t even aware that they have already been seeing a DO or that there are two types of complete physicians in the United States—DOs and MDs.

DOs are licensed to prescribe medication and practice in any specialty from family medicine to pediatrics.

3. The AOA is an association for DOs, but don’t you also work to help patients?

Yes, we do. We work hard to educate the public about not just our profession but about health topics. Our media relations team spends time reaching out to the media on health topics that our members are experts in, from long-term pain treatment to obesity issues.

We also have a public area on our site that gives information on various health topics, gives tips in choosing a physician and provides patients with a Find a DO tool. They can visit our site, Osteopathic.org, and search for a qualified physician in their area.

4. Most recently, we worked with you and your team on the 2012 Member Benefits initiative. How do you feel the project turned out? How did BatesMeron assist in determining and delivering the message?

BatesMeron was a big help! We wanted to take a new, fresh look at our Member Benefit Guide. Instead of a booklet featuring a listing of all the great membership benefits we offer, we wanted to switch it up and focus on telling interesting stories about our members.

BatesMeron came up with awesome concepts that make it hard to pick what direction to go in, but ultimately we ended up with a piece called Why We Belong that featured 10 osteopathic physicians with photos and captivating stories about how they utilized our benefits. It turned out really great, and we ended up with some money left in the budget in the end to do a really fun teaser video, so BatesMeron was budget-conscious as well.

Our members and leaders loved the piece and continue to turn to it as an excellent communication piece for showing the value in membership.

5. What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

The ability to be creative on a daily basis is what I love. I work for an organization and a boss who value new ideas and want to see our marketing team come up with innovative ways to reach our members.

Our members are out there doing great work for their patients, and it is our job to help make them aware of ways the AOA can make their jobs easier. I try to not lose sight of that and get creative on each project so we can come up with new ways to deliver the message effectively.

Any chance we get to brainstorm and work as a cohesive creative team is a thrill for me, and this job lets that creative side of me roam free!

6. BatesMeron has been really impressed with your entire team while working on projects. Everyone is positive, professional and happy. What makes your team so successful?

I think they are pretty great too!

I think you touch on it in the question. I lucked out in getting a team that values optimism. We all like the work we are doing and I think we all feel valued. That makes coming to work easy most days. Letting people who know what they are doing “run with it” on projects is important, but we still stress the need for collaboration and input from each other.

Us getting our jobs done is my number one priority every day, but checking in often that those who report to me are happy and feeling challenged is a pretty close second.

Oh, and never underestimate the power of cookies and other sweets to keep a team going!

Click the image below to view the Why We Belong teaser video!