2010

12

Apr

The art of persuasion: how to make an ad for HCPs stick

By Dan Hawtrey

The old Araldite billboardA client asked me the other day to provide a cost estimate for some creative work. He wanted a concept that clearly communicates the unique benefit of his product. Something simple, powerful and persuasive. Something like the old Araldite ad with the car stuck to a billboard (ok, we might not come up with something quite as iconic as this but who knows?).

This concept would be used on the website, on newsletters and potentially offline too. Nothing strange in that… but then I realised that this request was actually quite unusual.

The product in question was a medical device to help prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in hospital patients. I thought I’d try and find some other examples of medical devices that use a creative concept to get across their USP. I found very little indeed (there’s a list of the best examples below). Most medical device websites launch straight into the product features, often ignoring the benefits. If you’re lucky, you might get a big photo of the product on the homepage.

Read on…

2010

09

Feb

Say Yes To The Test: the NHS opens up on Facebook

By Geoff Scaplehorn

Healthcare providers are finally opening up to social media – and it’s about time. I wrote recently about the Gardasil campaign, and now we have the UK NHS opening their own Facebook page: Say Yes To The Test.

Say Yes To The Test is a campaign to inform people about chlamydia, supported by the NHS website. At the time of writing, the Facebook page has been live for around two weeks and has over 36,000 fans. Given that the average Facebook user has 130 friends and that every new sign-up displays on all of a user’s friends’ profiles, the page has potentially reached 4.7 million users.

Read on…

2009

02

Oct

Can social media help to improve patient outcomes?

By Vicky Edgerton

Social Media is undeniably a powerful tool in the hands of patients, enabling them to give immediate feedback to doctors, pharmacists and marketers.

Patients are able to exchange vast amounts of information and insight into their conditions through a range of social media tools, providing valuable perspectives. For example, people who suffer from diabetes can engage with online communities and cover areas related to their condition, such as how successful their medication or glucose meters are. Discussions like these provide a support network for patients and allow healthcare providers to listen and engage with their target audiences.

Read on…

2009

01

Sep

Stealth marketing for US Healthcare reform

By Vicky Edgerton

It’s been revealed that the White House hired a social marketing firm to distribute mass emails and unsolicited spam to sell President Obama’s health care plan. Millions of Americans received emails and read blogs, without realising they were reading well crafted marketing messages manipulating them to support the Government’s agendas, programs and legislations.

Read on…