MedTech Industry Trends: What Medical Device Marketers Need to Know in 2017

We’ve taken a look into the future to bring you our predictions relating to the world of health, medicine, and technology in 2017:


VR/AR will be big at trade shows this year
In our experience doing market research for our clients, one thing is clear: physicians like getting their hands on new tools and new technologies and trying them out. Really, it’s a no-brainer. For cars, it’s easy to let people take a test drive because a safe infrastructure has been built around cars. Now, with VR and AR, a safe environment can be created for any imaginable medical simulation. Want to go in and bust through a calcified lesion inside an artery with the latest device? Now, a physician can try it out while standing in a tradeshow booth. 

More devices will be mobile connected and expect more health apps
If you saw our post on the best MedTech ads of 2016, you might have noticed that it included several app-based solutions. Most experts expect the Smart Health segment to grow by almost 25% by 2020, and with more and more wearable devices being developed, we predict that many more health-related mobile apps are in the pipeline.

Big Data will come to MedTech
With the shift to electronic health records ad the accompanying rules, regulations, and security protocols, we predict that companies will be utilizing the massive data analytics tools out there to gain insights toward innovations and greater efficiency. (By the way, if you’re interested in the intersection of government, health, and information technology, we recommend following @n_brennan the Chief Data Officer for Medicare and Medicaid.)

And speaking of Big Data…

The medical device industry will use need to innovate using Big Data to comply with government UDID regulation
There is so much data involved in the tracking of devices. With the benchmarks that are on the horizon, moving the industry toward having a tracking number on EVERY device by 2020 will require an enormous investment in companies’ analytics capabilties. You can expect to see Big Data making a Big Impact on the medical device industry this year.

What’s in a name?

A few years ago, I became pregnant with my first child. Amidst the joy, anxiety, nesting, and doctor’s appointments lay another task—thinking of a name for this person! At first we made light of the situation, thinking of every silly name we could (I expect that most celebrities stop at this phase of the process). We would have endless fun spouting any ridiculous name that popped into our heads, trying to best each other in feats of whimsy. “Tomato!” “Butterscotch!” “Frank Zappa!” Eventually, we began running out of “silly” ideas, and the good ideas would start to make their way into the game. We knew we wanted something unique, but not weird, something cool, but not embarrassing: “How about Cyrus?” “Percival?” “Tiberius?” The good ideas started to multiply, which was followed by research: “No, we can’t name him that, that was the name of a terrible Roman emperor”! Through the gradual process of narrowing down the pool of possibilities, we finally arrived at the perfect name for our little guy. And then found out we were having a girl.

How do we go about naming things in the advertising world? An article in the New York Times Magazine says that one agency can generate up to 6,500 potential names for a single product. Agencies are now using algorithms and apps to aid in the brainstorming process. One Swiss agency bases its business on making up neologisms for products based purely on the visual and rhythmic appeal of the word. The big business of naming has fostered new technologies and a plethora of different approaches, but at its core, coming up with a novel name for a product is more than a purely creative process.

Our process for medical device naming usually begins with the brand positioning because we strive to make the name as powerful a brand statement as possible. A good example of this is a product that we worked on for Angiotech, now Surgical Specialties. They had to rename and relaunch a medical device that addressed biopsy-related pneumothorax because of a trademark conflict in China. We worked with them on the strategy and positioning for the brand and conducted a series of one-on-one interviews with interventional radiologists.

The key insight uncovered was that no physician wanted to acknowledge that they had an issue with pneumothorax in the first place (this device was originally positioned as something that prevented pneumothorax by sealing the lung tissue). So how could we speak to preventing something that in the target’s mind was an off-limits subject? We pivoted from positioning this device as one that offered prevention to a device that offered protection from pneumothorax. This spoke to the IRs wish to protect their patients from harm without trespassing on issues of physician competency.

We then used that position as ‘protector’ as a cornerstone in our naming development. The product was renamed BioSentry and the relaunch has been an amazing success. 

<<Click here for more on the BioSentry case study>> 

By starting with research, we were able to make the most of our creative process, a bit like starting a race closer to the finish line. Naming my child started with the creative and ended with research, vastly extending the time spent on the project.

So which is harder—naming a medical device or a child? Well, here at The Matchstick Group, we’re glad to assist you in naming your medical device. In fact, you can check out the simple app that we built to help you get started.

As for your children’s names, you’re on your own.

Duplicated: Best MedTech Advertising of 2016 – [#1062]

  1. Start with research. Pharma ads are often researched ad nauseum – but only to ‘pick’ a final concept. Instead turn the sequence around and start with research with the primary target. True voice of customer research looks at the customers needs, their thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs. Make sure that your research focuses both on what they think about the problem you’re trying to solve and your product’s ability to solve it.
  1. Focus on the benefit. If you want to tell a customer about your products, talk to them about the features. But if you really want to sell them on your product, you have to understand their problem – and then sell them the benefits that you can provide. At The Matchstick Group, we work with our customers on this all of the time. Check out one of our case studies on this subject here. In our industry, the R&D teams drive a lot of innovation. And that innovation ends up manifesting itself as a new composite material or a hydrophilic coating or perhaps they’ve developed a proprietary manufacturing technique. And R&D’s enthusiasm can be infectious! But as much as the teams might want to focus on those aspects of the product itself that might make a competitive difference, our job as marketers and strategists and creatives is to elevate that. I like an article that Gregory Ciotti wrote for his blog on Helpscout.net where he reminds us that no one wants to buy a bed. People just want a good nights sleep!
  1. Create a burning platform. A what?! What in the world is a burning platform? At it’s most basic level, a “burning platform” is a term that describes an urgent or compelling business situation that if not addressed could lead to disaster. The burning platform is used to build awareness of the need for change very quickly. And while the burning platform is a term well suited to the field of change management, it works in the creative field too. A need has to be established that the reader can recognize and then take action on.
  1. Think iconically. Brands need to be able to transcend borders. And when your creative hangs on a tagline or a local colloquialism, that just doesn’t translate. One of our favorite creative campaigns in the med tech space was for the Cypher stent (J&J). This brand wanted to communicate the product’s strength but also the benefit of that – keeping arteries open. Prior to the launch of this campaign, Interbrand conducted a brand audit and despite this being a flagship product for the organization, there was little consistency across the globe. By creating a very iconic look that promoted product features (but sold the benefit), J&J was able to roll out a unified campaign across the US, Europe and Asia-Pac regions quickly and consistently.
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  1. Compel an action.

Good advertising compels the reader to do something. What is it that you want your customers to do? Buy a product? Sign up for a demo or a trial? Share something? Click for additional information? And ideally whatever the action is, there should be a way to measure it. Direct Response TV and print advertising measures the number of people who call a 1-800 number, send in a postcard, type in a specific url or snap a QR code. Emails measure open and click through rates. Landing pages measure conversion. Consider your objections and the action that you want the user to take and then craft your call to action accordingly.

Best MedTech Advertising of 2016

As we close in on the end of 2016, we feel so honored to have contributed to the success of so many cutting-edge new devices. We’ll let you in on a little secret about us: we love medical technology. Ok, maybe you knew that already, but the reason we love it so much is that medical technology usually has an immediate beneficial impact on people’s lives. This is our motivation for keeping on the cutting edge of medical device advertising — because at the end of the day, people are being helped, people’s lives are improved. So, we put together a list of the MedTech ads that were awarded Clioawards this year in order to review the best of what our industry has to offer.

DOT. The first Braille Smartwatch
You might think at first that this is just another wearable in the Fitbit/Apple Watch universe. But, keep a box of tissues close as you watch this video — the look on the faces of people with blindess using this product for the first time made us cry. Remember how we said we love this industry? This is why.

Parkinsounds (Powered by Spotify)
The highly advanced, esoteric realm of Parkinson’s research might seem like it’s far removed from the everyday struggles of those suffering with the disease. However, here is the ultimate practical application of science — literally an app! Those in the Parkinson’s community have known about the benefits of music for years, but now with this app, patients have more control than ever over how to deploy the therapeutic properties that can help them live more normal lives.

Medela
First, let us just say that breast pumps have been such an important piece of technology that, for several of us here at The Matchstick Group, has allowed us to continue reaping the benefits of breastfeeding while still being amazing rock stars in our careers. We applaud this campaign from Medela for helping to portray the breastfeeding community in a modern, inclusive, and real-life way. This not only benefits women, but babies everywhere!

And, for sheer amount of medical technology in one piece of promotional material, check out this video for Parkinson’s NSW “The Lucky Ones” which was filmed during an actual, live brain surgery procedure on a Parkinson’s patient.

We hope our review of this year’s best medical technology advertising shows you how inspirational this industry can be. We’re excited to see what innovations 2017 brings!

Pharma Brand Ad Spending Compared to Google Searches

By now, most everyone has seen Coyne College’s map of the most searched-for pharma brands in the US — it has shown up everywhere from Fierce Pharma to r/dataisbeautiful. But, here at The Matchstick Group, we were curious: does this map reflect these brands’ advertising spending? The answer, surprisingly, is no. When comparing the top brands on the map to the top ad spenders in the pharmaceutical space, it’s clear that airwave saturation doesn’t seem to impact state-by-state Google searches. So, if the map shows no apparent correllation between ad spend and search traffic, what does it show?

The top searched pharmaceutical drug in the US is Suboxone, a drug used to treat narcotic addiction. The opiate addiction epidemic has been gaining more and more attention in the news, so this might lead you to wonder: did people start doing more Google searches about Suboxone because of increased news coverage of the opiate addiction epidemic, or did the opiate addiction epidemic itself cause the enormous search volume? Framed another way, is the news coverage a form of “free advertising” for Suboxone, and is that contributing to the search volume? From looking at the trend indicated by our comparison, the answer would favor the opiate addiction epidemic itelf — rather than the news coverage or any other advertising — being the cause of the high search volume.

So what does this mean? How can pharma marketers take advantage of the trend indicated by the map? The simplest answer is to think of search as a place where consumers want to start the conversation. They’re typing questions into Google in order to find answers. As marketers, we have to ask ourselves, are we providing the right answers for them? Are we thinking of them as taking steps on a journey to find a solution to their problem? This is called the buyer’s journey.

Interested in learning more about the buyer’s journey? Click here.

It’s evident that television ads, while they may impact other performance indicators, don’t really translate to an increase in the organic search volumne. TV can be good for other metrics, such as brand awareness scores, physician awareness, patient awareness, refill/compliance rates, etc. However, “awareness” is only helpful if it is part of the solution to the customer’s problem.

If you’re not sure what performance indicators companies should be looking at, check out our “Marketing Metrics That Matter” cheat sheet.

It would be nice to be able to dig deeper into Coyne’s data to find out more, like who are the people who did these searches? Consumers/patients or healthcare professionals? How many were repeat searches? How did these brands rank in prescriptions in these states? What were the top sites served up by Google for these searches and did they vary by state? How does this list compare to the top medical problems that were searched for? There’s clearly more for the industry to analyze here, and opportunities to make the most of their advertising dollars. Stay tuned to this blog for continuing analysis.

Cross Reference Tool for Stealing Competitive Share

When it comes time to steal share from the competition, it’s important for your sales team – and your customers know exactly how to switch to your product. Sometimes that’s simple – swap Heinz for Hunts in the grocery aisle. But when it comes to switching medical device products, things get a little more complicated. Kind of like mattresses, medical device manufacturers name their products differently, everyone uses a different proprietary material blend, etc… So how can you help your sales team more effectively swap your product in and swap the competition out?

With a cross reference tool!

We have seen companies that publish and print massive catalogs of current and competitive products that allow the sales team to look up the information. Unfortunately, most of those catalogs are out of date as soon as they hit the printer’s doorstep.

We’ve also seen massive databases that live on one person’s desk and they end up spending their entire day answering questions from customer service, the sales team, marketing teams etc… about what exactly is in that thing.

And then we’ve seen the effective development and deployment of an online database powered cross-reference tool. Cue the angels singing! Finally something that will shed light on the data that you do have and turn it into a powerful resource for growing your market share. However, how do you go about building one of these dream applications? What are some tips and tricks of the trade?

For starters, you give The Matchstick Group a call as we have some significant experience building these platforms. Second, learn from our best practices!

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Click the above to download your copy of our Medical Device Cross Reference Guide.

This guide will provide you with intel on:

  • Handling competitive codes
  • Ensuring accuracy
  • The power of a ‘non-breaking space’
  • And more

Three Ways Marketers Can Differentiate Themselves

I can’t think of a single product, service or technology that doesn’t have some sort of competition. Even high tech medical devices that might be otherwise be considered first entrants or category creators still have to differentiate themselves from the competition. When marketers are developing their competitive marketing strategy they take these three types of competitors into consideration:

  1. Direct competitors. Direct competitors are those who basically offer the same sort of product with some degree of feature or even benefit related difference. They are the group of products, services, etc… that define your category.
     
  2. Indirect competitors. Indirect competitors are those products that your audience might use in place of your product. For instance, we worked with Surgical Specialties Corporation to introduce their Biosentry tract sealant device. This was a product designed to prevent post-biopsy pneumothorax. It was the first device of its kind. However, interventional radiologists (our target audience) were using some ‘homemade’ plugs out of blood, gel, sponge, etc… Kind of gross if you think about it. The Biosentry system was a much more elegant one!
  3. Finally you can have competitive mindsets. Customer mindsets can become one of the biggest obstacles to address especially for category creators. How do you get someone to change their mind, their technique, their approach to a surgical procedure that is different than what they may have been doing for the last 20 years.

Often when medical device marketers are setting up their product launch strategies, they focus only on the direct competitors, but by not addressing the indirect competitors and any general competitive mindsets, we’re only looking at a piece of the puzzle. When we think about setting our clients brands up for success, we look at what we call the 3 Cs. Namely, the customer (and their mindset), the competition (direct and indirect) and the company’s core competencies. By delving deep into each of these separately, we can identify the white space – or the opportunity – that our brands can try to own through effective positioning.

In general though, when marketers are looking to crush the competition, and create a clear compelling competitive advantage, there are three ways to differentiate their brands:

  1. Be the Best: Apple is one of those companies that sets itself apart by being the best. They are continually setting the bar in terms of innovation and technology and they are constantly iterating on the products that they have to ensure that they are always ahead of the curve. However, they aren’t so incredibly tech oriented that they’ve lost sight of their customers and their needs. Not only do they typically provide the best technology, but they do it in such a way as to simplify the user experience. As an iPhone, Mac, etc… user you know that there’s powerful technology behind the products that you’re using whether you choose to use all of the bells and whistles or not. 
  2. Be the Most Customer Centric: In 1999 after an unsuccessful shoe shopping experience, Nick Swinmurh quit his day job and started one of the greatest online retailers – zappos.com According to Zappos, “The original idea was to create a web site that offered the absolute best selection in shoes in terms of brands, styles, colors, sizes, and widths. Over the past 9 years, the brand and aspirations have evolved, and in addition to offering the best selection, with the goal to be the company that provides the absolute best service online — not just in shoes, but in any category.” Their vision is to be the online store that provides the best customer service and the best selection. They focus on speed and delivery because they know that a customer with product in hand is a happier one!
  3. Be the Cheapest: Walmart is a great example of a company that prides itself on its strategy of cost leadership. It’s not about just discounting the products that they sell, but they actually work directly with their suppliers (sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse) to find efficiencies that enable the type of cost savings that they can pass onto the customers shopping in Walmart stores. The hub-spoke warehouse and delivery model that they’ve developed is directly tied to its cost leadership strategy.

Just like you can’t be all things to all people, nor can you adopt all three of these generic strategies. At most you can be two at once, but the really good companies focus on one and adopt practices and policies that reinforce it. Looking for more ways to crush the competition? Check out this case study report.

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5 Steps for Better Marketing Metrics [Infographic]

“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.” -Yogi Bera

For med device marketers, getting clarity on your marketing metrics is a great step to ensure that you’re achieving your marketing objectives. But how exactly can you ensure that you’re creating truly meaningful metrics? We have put together a 5-step infographic to show you how.

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To access the complete infographic, click here.

For more on Marketing Metrics, sign up for our free download below

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Med Tech Companies Take On International Women’s Day

Yesterday, March 8th was International Women’s Day in case you missed it. It’s a day aimed at inspiring women, celebrating their achievements and advocating for bigger and better things in the future. This year several Med Tech companies supported International Women’s Day in a variety of ways. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Johnson & Johnson is partnering with Michelle Obama to Let Girls Learn

More than 62M girls stayed home from school today across the globe. Unfortunately that’s not by choice.  The Let Girls Learn initiative was started to address the physical, cultural and financial challenges that are preventing girls from attending and completing school. Says the organization, “Educating girls can transform lives, families, communities, and entire countries. When girls are educated, they lead healthier and more productive lives. They gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to break the cycle of poverty and help strengthen their societies.”

General Electric is empowering women in India and beyond

GE is still bringing good things to life – whether that’s still their slogan or not. The company has focused significant efforts in India specifically by supporting skill building and education with a special focus on empowering women. GE has undertaken a series of initiatives in support of the well-being of the community in Chakan, near Pune, Maharashtra, where it has set up the first of its kind multi-modal manufacturing facility. ‘To ease the commute of girl students, we provided them bicycles,’ – Amit Kumar, Director, Global Supply Chain, GE South Asia.

‘GE’s continued focus on diversity, leadership and career broadening opportunities for women is testament to women being celebrated at work every day!’ Rachana Panda, Chief Communications Officer, GE South Asia.

Abbott is investing in the global power of women 

Abbott and the Abbott Fund is working with Nobel Prize nominee Sakena Yacoobi to empower women as healthcare providers in Afghanistan as part of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL). Abbott’s support has helped provide health education and critical care for more than 1.5M women and children. They have enabled the training of more than 75 midwives and continue to support women-staffed clinics which helps provide not only health care, but jobs and economic opportunities for these women and their communities.

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Says Katherine Pickus Divisional Vice President, Global Citizenship and Policy at Abbott, “What we found within a year of their completion of training is that each and every midwife had a job and was making money for her family, investing that money in their girls’ education, and really developing a cycle of empowerment.”

We’ve taken the pledge for parity, have you?

So many companies are doing their part of make a difference for us all. We thank them for their efforts!