Industry veteran launches ServingOverSelling movement to encourage health systems to curb promotional marketing

Chris Bevolo, former healthcare marketing agency owner, CEO and author of seven books calls on health systems to redirect money from self-promotion

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, UNITED STATES, September 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- One year after retiring from a 25-year health system marketing career, industry veteran Chris Bevolo has launched ServingOverSelling, a movement that encourages health systems to reallocate their promotional marketing spend and instead put those resources, energy and focus of those institutions back where they belong: on helping the people they exist to serve. The initiative, launched during the 2026 Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development 2026 Connections Annual Conference, already has a number of signatories to the movement’s pledge for health system marketing leaders to reallocate their promotional marketing spend in whatever way possible.

“Healthcare affordability is a crisis in America, and while health systems are certainly not the lone cause of higher costs, these organizations collectively spend roughly $10 billion annually on marketing,” says Bevolo. “Research and experience show that there is a lot of money wasted on ineffective promotional marketing that could be far better used to help patients and communities. That’s what the movement is all about - every dollar spent should matter.”

For an example of how promotional marketing often has a negligible impact, Bevolo points to the common understanding among health systems that market share rarely moves in a meaningful way in a given market year to year, unless from a major event such as a merger or acquisition. He cites the competitive Twin Cities market, where according to his analysis the leading health system in 2005 had a 30% share of the market, and in 2024, it was the same system at the top with a share of 31%.

“Health system reputation matters more than ever to patients when selecting care,” said Matt Gove, partner at Gove Impact and a former health system chief marketing officer. “But brands in this space are built by how clinical care and the care experience are delivered, not by self-promotion. There are far better ways to allocate that spend to serve patients and communities.”

The movement encourages systems to shift promotional marketing spend into areas such as improving the patient experience, access, public health and community engagement. The movement includes a private online community for health system marketers and case studies of how promotional marketing funds could be better spent. Information can be found at www.serveoversell.com.

About the Founder:
The ServingOverSelling movement was founded by Chris Bevolo, a veteran health system marketer who provided leadership and guidance in the areas of strategy, brand, marketing, audience engagement, and change management to healthcare brands across the country over his 25-year career. He has authored seven books focused on healthcare, including the 2011 book, Joe Public Doesn’t Care About Your Hospital, which became a field guide for driving transformation in healthcare marketing. His most recent book, Joe Public 2030 (2022), made five bold predictions about consumer healthcare for this decade (four of which have materialized). Chris has been a frequent keynote speaker and featured presenter at dozens of conferences across the U.S., authored a popular blog and numerous articles and papers, and hosted healthcare marketing podcasts for sixteen years.
Chris founded his Twin Cities agency, Interval, in 1995 before selling the firm to Revive in 2014, where he eventually rose to become CEO in 2023. A year later Revive sold to BPD, where he served as Co-President and Chief Transformation Officer before leaving the field in late 2025 to found Bearing 287, an organization dedicated to making the world a better place for all. Chris received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

Contact
For more information, visit www.serveoversell.com or contact Chris Bevolo at chris@bearing287.com.

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