Unexpected but Relevant… A New Xerox

By Christa Carone, Xerox CMO

Yesterday, our CEO Ursula Burns spoke at the World Health Care Congress in Washington DC.  Last week, we were a major sponsor of TEDMED.  And, there’s no doubt that people sitting in these audiences were not immediately seeing the connection between Xerox (aren’t they the copier folks?) and their industy.  That’s exactly the point.

Xerox is appearing in unexpected yet highly relevant places to force the discussion on the reinvention of our brand.  It also provides an opportunity to connect the dots between how and why our company started – simplifying the most basic necessity of sharing information – to what we do today – taking very complex business processes and making them appear simple to those who need them.   Take a look at this video to see what we mean.  It’s A World Made Simpler, and it’s brought to you by the Xerox you wouldn’t expect.

I often joke that we have one of the toughest branding challenges in business today.  Actually, I’m not joking.  It is really hard. I’m also not complaining.  I wouldn’t trade our global brand awareness for anything in the world.  But, I wouldn’t mind a little bit of magic to speed up the process of convincing people that Xerox today means so much more than printing and copying.  I’m impatient yet any good marketer knows that it’s also important to be practical.

So, we know we’re on a journey – and it will take time, investment, consistency and smart strategic moves to shift the perception and the belief in the new Xerox.  A step along the way is this “unexpected yet relevant” approach.  Why are we at the World Health Care Congress?  Because through our services business (the fastest growing segment of our company and the one that now represents the largest piece of our revenue pie), we’re behind the scenes managing the business aspects of health care – helping providers get faster and more accurate access to patient data, managing health information exchanges for state governments, setting up electronic medical records for large provider networks, and handling the massive amount of processing required for insurance claims. Easy to say; here’s what it looks like by the numbers:

• We serve the ten largest Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations… as well as 19 of the top 20 managed health care plans. 
• Our services support two-thirds of all U.S. insured patients.
• We administer health-related programs for 31 states and the District of Columbia.
• Last year, we processed 570 million claims for 36 million people.

So, while your mind may struggle associating Xerox with healthcare, we can get you there real quick when you have the facts and when you see the connection with simplifying the ways work gets done.   

Look for us to continue popping up in places that give you pause – then give us a few minutes of your time to convince you why we’re there. It’s that simple. 

(And, here’s a tease: Ursula is also speaking at the Intelligent Transportation Society’s annual meeting. Watch the video to start connecting the dots!)

Curious marketer & communicator on the hunt for cut through creative… Road warrior and marathon runner, follow me on Twitter @ChristaCarone