Maybe you magazines types can shed more info on the process, but I found the story on the Best Doctors last night on Channel 8 very interesting and in one case unfair.
While I always read between the lines and understood the Best of List was something closer to a mechanism for advertising, what got me was the fact they let any doctor advertise in the issue alongside those doctors chosen as "Best Of"- I actually did not realize this. The fact a normal reader cannot differentiate between the ads make the advertising scheme "creative" but I guess smart in some business sense.
The other part of the story which was intriguing was the fact the D Magazine "Blue Ribbon Panel’ could shift the "voted on" list around and add people they see fit. I guess that leads to my suspicions that if you buy a big enough ad, then you might be added to the list as an add-on. I wish the story did a better job explaining why they would add a doctor to the list that was not voted in by their peers.
I did think the story was a bit unfair to the doctor(s) who have lost a malpractice suit. In today’s lawsuit happy society, it is all too easy for a doctor to be sued and all too easy for a doctor to lose or need to settle a case. That should not be a sole factor in deciding whether a doctor is Best Of or not….along those lines, I guess a doctor’s advertising budget with a magazine should also not be the factor in at all whether they make the Best Of List. I agree with the D Magazine guy who said he really did not care whether a doctor had lost a malpractice suit. I would still see a doctor if he had lost a suit.
I realize these magazines shown on Channel 8 (and all magazines) exist to make money, but the Best Of process used by them seems ripe to insert some creative advertising strategies all the while trying to make the process seem 100% scientific.
I occasionally read both D and Texas Monthly. I find the Best Burger issue in D very very entertaining and use it to help my quest for the perfect burger. I also loved the Best Tacos issue in Texas Monthly. The problem is if I eat too many burgers and tacos, I might need a really good doctor and now I do not know where to look!
Is there not a way to do these lists in a 100% scientific way, keep the advertising focused AND still make money? I have no idea since this is not my area, but if there is, that would seem to appear more credible.
