Archive for the ‘Device Marketing’ Category

Device Ad-vice: Marketing Medical Devices

Nancy Beesley, our Chief Marketing Officer, kicks off a blog series that focuses on marketing medical devices with Device ad-vice: dating vs. commitment: pharma vs. devices on Pharmaphorum. Nancy’s blog really inspires excitement about marketing medical devices and why advertising in this space is truly rewarding and has become a passion.

Read the full article here.

You’ll see future entries on marketing medical devices by Nancy and other key team members at HCB Health on Pharmaphorum, so stay tuned!

Brand Research Debate: To Validate or Not to Validate?

A client recently approached us seeking advice on validation research for his brand and the importance of testing. He wanted our opinion on the following:

How important is testing the positioning/messaging and eventual creative concepts among my key targets? What are the risks if I decide not to validate?

As a Senior Account Executive at HCB Health, this is a question I hear fairly often from clients. Some of our clients won’t make a move without testing, while others see it as a luxury if they have the time and budget. This specific client request really got my wheels spinning. Not necessarily about the risks of not testing, but more about the considerations to keep in mind when deciding if validation research is right for your brand. Continue reading »

iPad Apps: Cutting-Edge Sales Tools for Superior Products

Before joining the account team at HCB Health, I spent a number of years as a medical sales field rep. One job specifically required me to sell $275k+ pieces of capital equipment to surgeons. At the time, my only sales tools were paper-based brochures and my winning attitude. While I found success by forming positive surgeon relationships, I often wondered if superior sales tools would make me a more successful salesperson?

Today, developing those superior sales tools is a hefty part of my job at HCB Health. I make it a goal to lead the pack in terms of how our clients market to surgeons. For many of our clients, those superior tools are iPad-based.

iPad apps can be a unique, creative and efficient way to sell your product. The best of these are tailored to a client’s products, goals and sales rep needs. Below are a few different approaches we’ve taken to best accommodate various medical equipment products and sales: Continue reading »

Taking a Broad-Spectrum Approach to Healthcare Marketing

Change is everywhere.

Click the image to read the article in full.

Pharma pipelines are thinner, devices are gaining in sophistication, hospital systems are preparing for healthcare reform and insurers are looking to build their brands before 2014 health exchanges come into effect. What does this mean to us, the brilliant minds who build strategies and brand preferences for healthcare clients? Opportunity.

At HCB Health, we practice broad-spectrum healthcare marketing to gain a fuller understanding of the interconnected parts that contribute to improved health. In fact, we wrote an article about it for the MM&M Viewpoint.

Join the conversation below, if you’re so inclined. Thanks.

A New Spin on Device R&D

An article in Fast Company this month revealed a smart initiative from Stanford, bringing access to affordable medical innovation through collaborative design. It’s an interesting R&D approach, which involves reverse-engineering expensive devices that would be cost-prohibitive for use in developing countries to make affordable alternatives—like bone drills, for example.

While the story’s angle is about offering better technology access in poor regions, there is a nugget of an idea that could benefit the most advanced areas of the world. Think about it, manufacturers/marketers in the U.S., for example, could use Stanford’s India Biodesign principles to compete with other players in their device verticals, offering more affordable alternatives that still give priority to outcomes and safety. It’s worth a read—especially through this different lens.

Insert Your Device Name (Here) with Product Placement

Sales skyrocketed after Reese's Pieces appeared in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Photo credit: Jason at clicker.com)

All in an episode’s work?

Sure, product placement is nothing new. Hate it or love it, it cannot be ignored. But, one thing is for sure, there is no denying its impact.

Remember the yellow, orange and brown candy that made its big appearance during the movie E.T.? Although Reese’s Pieces were introduced in the market in 1979, it was not until 1982, when the blockbuster E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial featured the candy, that it instantly became wildly popular. Sales of the peanut butter-flavored candy shot up 65% in June, the month after the movie’s release. Continue reading »

Our “Manny” Secrets of Winning

Our agency was poppin’ champagne last week after a proud moment in New York — we took home our first ever Manny Award!  In the category of “Best Medical Device Campaign,” our VASER consumer brand campaign secured the hefty trophy — beating out both RosettaWishbone (for a Smith+Nephew campaign) and Beacon Healthcare Communications (for their BreathTek creative). A proud moment indeed.

So what was our secret to taking home the goods? Continue reading »

Medical Device Recalls 101: My Device Was Recalled. Now What? (Part 2 of 2)

Part Two of a two-part series

The FDA’s overarching position (PDF) is not that they expect a company to be “recall free,” but they expect a company’s recalls to be conducted properly. Device marketers have to be on top of their game when responding — because, let’s face it, recalls happen. A locked-and-loaded communication strategy is a must.

Bottom line: you can’t always control the action, but you can control your reaction.

Depending on the class of the recall, you will have varying positions and responses. Here are some rules of thumb to get you over the hurdles:

FOUR-STEP RECALL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

1. Plan Ahead

As a marketer, you should be heeding the Boy Scout motto, “be prepared,” by putting together your crisis communication plan in advance. Make it a part of your annual strategic planning process. Consider various scenarios for potential recalls, and appropriate actions (and point persons), in order to react as swiftly as possible. Continue reading »