|
Case History:
R&J Targets Hospital Influencers for Medical Device Launch
When established medical device companies roll out new
products, they are typically backed by large sales force
deployments, media fanfare of the “life-saving” benefit of
the new tool, and a sea of collateral for potential buyers.
But, to generate significant sales buzz for a new operating
room suite, R&J Public Relations developed a program
targeted at an unusual audience for medical devices:
architects.
MAQUET Inc., a subsidiary of the Swedish-based Getinge Group and
one of the oldest and largest surgical equipment companies
in the world, quietly completed North America’s first
installation of its advanced, prefabricated VARIOP operating
room system in Spartanburg, S.C. VARIOP enables hospitals
and surgical centers to reconfigure spaces very quickly with
minimal disruption, versus the chaos hospitals experience
with traditional construction
 
 
VARIOP’s flush wall and ceiling surfaces, futuristic sliding entry
doors, and equipment hook-ups imbedded in the materials
represented a large step forward in the “look” of hospital
rooms, appealing to architects’ sense of design. Through
research, R&J determined architects – primary influencers of
hospitals’ and surgical centers’ renovation capital
purchasing decisions – had an information gap in new medical
device technologies that affected operating room design.
Additionally, architects like to learn by immersing themselves in
their projects, getting the feel, flow and needs of their
clients’ facilities – essentially, envisioning themselves
working in and moving through a project. In the case of
VARIOP, R&J saw an opportunity in letting architects
experience life in the advanced operating suite through the
eyes of doctors and nurses.
By letting architects “kick the tires” in an actual VARIOP setting,
R&Js strategy was to convert them to brand ambassadors,
spreading the news of VARIOP’s creation to the clients,
hospitals and surgery centers, creating an environment for
MAQUET’s sales team to gather leads and sell the product.
MAQUET had recently completed the installation of 12 VARIOP
operating suites at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center,
which was an ideal location for architects to gather and
test out the new tools for their clients. The South
Carolina hospital has earned a reputation for technological
excellence throughout the Southeast, and had become a
showcase for state-of-the-art medical equipment. The VARIOP
suites were being used by the hospital for procedures
ranging from routine procedures to robotic surgeries.
We were convinced that seeing would yield believing, so R&J began
developing an “experiential” tour of VARIOP for architects.
In addition to seeing the VARIOP suites, it would be
important for architects to bounce questions off their
industry peers, and have access to the Spartanburg Regional
Medical Center decisionmakers to ask technical questions.
R&J identified the most influential U.S. architectural firms that
work with hospitals, and invited 15 architects to take part
in this exclusive experience. We handled travel logistics
for the attendees, arranging details from their flights to
lodging to a quiet airport business center to work while
awaiting chartered bus transfer to and from the airport.
Architects were going to arrive from all over the U.S., from
Seattle to San Francisco to Minneapolis to Atlanta.
R&J prepared hospital decisionmakers for their roles in the event,
and worked on setting the scene for the architects to have a
variety of ways to learn about VARIOP. Videos were edited,
messages prepared, tour choreography created, and logistics
set.
As architects stepped off the chartered bus at the front door of
the hospital, they were guided to a presentation room where
key members of the hospital’s decisionmaking team –
including the CEO, lead architect, head of facilities,
surgical services director, and quality control leader –
discussed their perspectives and benefits of working with
VARIOP.
Following these meetings, we simulated the experience medical staff
have when entering the VARIOP suite for the first time.
Called “scrub in,” all tour attendees changed into hospital
scrubs, head bonnets and even medical booties to begin the
tour. Architects were encouraged to touch the materials,
see how the rooms are assembled, and study the environment
over several hours.
The results of these experiential tours were dramatic. Architects
carried the messages back to their clients that the system
can save hospitals large amounts of money in remodeling,
renovations and repairs;
VARIOP offers physicians
and patients the potential to reduce waiting times to
schedule surgery due to quicker hospital room configuration
times; and the suites can provide more functional operating
room time due to fewer being taken out of service for new
construction.
As a direct result of R&J’s campaign, eight direct sales
leads were generated for MAQUET. This unique communications
approach to an influential audience accomplished a tangible
result that impacted MAQUET’s bottom line.
|
