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The Cardiac Surgery division of Guidant Corporation engaged FischerHealth to develop a plan to promote endoscopic vessel harvesting (EVH), a minimally invasive procedure that eliminates the long incision in the leg required to remove the saphenous vein used in coronary artery bypass surgery. Guidant held 80% of the market share for products used during this procedure, but needed to increase procedural volume on a local level. |
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The Guidant customers in each market were busy cardiac surgeons who were very interested in the program and its potential benefits, but had little time to devote to it on a regular basis. |
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Endoscopic vessel harvesting is not a new procedure, meaning reporters, who for the most part only want to hear about the latest and greatest, had to be hooked through carefully crafted pitches that focused on the importance of EVH vs. traditional vessel harvesting surgery. |
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FischerHealth worked with Guidant to develop a local market media relations
program designed to educate two separate audiences – referring doctors
(cardiologists, GP’s, internal medicine specialists) and patients – about the benefits of the procedure, including reduction in postoperative pain, recovery time, infection rates and scarring. Both audiences were targeted through consumer media coverage in each market. Additionally, FischerHealth helped Guidant articulate other components of the campaign, including direct-to-physician marketing efforts, to be conducted in concert with the media outreach activities.
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Guidant identified eight U.S. cities as pilot markets for the program where they had momentum in the marketplace with champion customers. FischerHealth executed the media relations portion of the campaign, leveraging Guidant physicians and patients to generate coverage of the EVH procedure in community specific print, television and radio outlets by personalizing the story to each individual market.
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Target cities included: Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale/Miami/Palm Beach, Indianapolis, Memphis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Wichita. |
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6 new accounts added on average in each market |
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36 media placements = More than 5.5 million impressions |
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Patients asked for EVH by name based on coverage |
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Anecdotal feedback from the sales force was very positive: St. Louis - “… the EVH campaign has allowed the EVH message to be everywhere the surgeons, cardiologists and patients turn.” Pittsburgh – “I’ve had potential customers call me about what they’ve seen on TV and in articles. I’ve also had some doctors reference that they should be doing it because the spokesperson we’re using is recognized as a leader in the field.” |
