To strategize for an innovative product, Boyden & Youngblutt devised an innovative approach by utilizing their understanding of the purchase decision in the healthcare space.
Boyden & Youngblutt has decades of marketing experience and brand development in the healthcare industry with an understanding of the orthopedics device market. So, when Zimmer Biomet was looking for a partner to assist them in positioning and selling their upcoming offering, Signature Solutions, B&Y was a perfect fit.
At the time, Zimmer Biomet was primarily a medical device provider, producing & selling knees, hips, and related items to hospitals nationwide. However, the industry was beginning to change and Zimmer Biomet saw an opportunity to become partners with their clients by helping them meet their patient goals—that’s when Signature Solutions was born.
Zimmer Biomet knew Signature Solutions is a paradigm-shifting & cost-efficient offering in the healthcare industry & would be an invaluable asset to hospitals. Decreased hospital returns would mean increased patient outcomes, allowing for immediate follow-up from surgeons, enabling patients to follow through with recovery programs, while enhancing the hospital’s efficiency & control of their bottom line.
The product engages with the patients & connects the hospital to them through an app integrated into workers’ & patients’ Apple Watches. This technology empowers surgeons & other personnel to easily engage with patients before, during, and up to 90 days after surgeries or confinement.
At the same time, however, such digital integration was unheard of in the healthcare industry making gaining interest & understanding a challenge. Not to mention, an offering like this would need sign-off from multiple decision-makers within the health system, with each having their own set of specific metrics & patient goals.
Another challenge was Signature Solutions being a complex product with multiple benefits & variables to discuss. Zimmer Biomet knew getting all the decision-makers in one place at the same time was all but impossible.
This is when they discerned B&Y’s strategic problem-solving & creative digital solutions were predestined to be paired with Zimmer Biomet’s digital products. Despite a challenging budget & timeline, they’re excited to work with Zimmer Biomet to market and position Signature Solutions, determine how to improve the offering and come up with solutions surrounding the target audiences.
So, where do we start?
B&Y sat down with the Zimmer Biomet team to get the full scope of Signature Solutions’ benefits for healthcare workers & hospital management, how it worked, and how it would enhance patient experience.
It soon became clear that a “full explanation” infographic video would be the best way to communicate this new & unfamiliar digital product. The video is self-accessible anytime & easily shareable with the key hospital stakeholders for them to be attuned roughly at the same time.
As the project’s Creative Director, Ian Mosher, puts it, “We had to navigate selling Zimmer Biomet as an all-encompassing hospital partner through Signature Solutions. This requires communicating the product effectively through the presentation to maintain Zimmer Biomet’s reputation & equity.”
The B&Y team reviewed who would be at the presentation, and decided to make six infographics—one for each of the CEO, COO, CFO, CCO, Head of Surgery, and Director of Innovation. These targeted infographics appeared within the main infographic. Each key determiner was presented with information on how Signature Solutions would directly benefit their department, focus, or operation.
The infographic was a success. Kourtney Frieburger, an Accountant & Director of Strategy at B&Y, says “We were able to reposition Zimmer Biomet to speak to a new target group—techies—without losing their traditional healthcare audience. The infographic video was a unique solution vehicle with maximum impact & flexibility. It also helped, given the budget & timeline, that much of the infographic could be constructed within the agency.”
Harnessing the Power of Virtual Reality to Explain & Communicate Zimmer Biomet’s Innovative Signature Solutions Product
Once finalized, B&Y took Signature Solutions to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons convention in San Diego. Their marketing & product communication strategy centered around the use of Virtual Reality.
Shardi Carroll, a B&Y Copy Director, helped devise the presentation. “We had to blend the existing Zimmer Biomet voice with this exciting offering requiring tech-savvy expertise with orthopedics. So, we decided a VR presentation reflecting the foresight of Zimmer Biomet, combined with “hands-on” interaction with a new offering, would connect the dots of this shift in service & relationship.”
Signature Solutions was a complex product that required a higher level of engagement to understand. VR was the answer & it fits perfectly within the overall design & traffic flow of the trade show booth. Convention attendees would either walk through the many health & patient steps Signature Solutions would address in a “theatre in the round” within the booth or go directly to the VR station. Having two distinct ways to tell the story of this new offering was critical as they allowed the audience to engage with it how they wanted to.
Needless to say, the introduction of Signature Solutions, the VR, and the well-orchestrated trade show booth was the talk of the AAOS show.
Next Step: Taking Signature Solutions to the Streets
After the AAOS debut of Signature Solutions, the sales team was armed with industrial-strength iPads that were outfitted with some innovative software to allow the salesperson to customize the presentation depending on the meeting attendees. A drag & drop presentation menu made it easy to adjust the presentation to speak directly to who was in the room. Whether it was online or not, the software gathered the information & would automatically update the sales call details when the iPad goes online. The most exciting part of this sales tool was that it gathered metrics on what worked in a sales pitch & what didn’t. This data could then be shared across the entire sales team to aid everyone’s success.
For B&Y, this assignment was a perfect fit. It offered unique challenges strategically but also allowed B&Y to leverage their knowledge of healthcare systems & patients to bring those understandings into focus for one of the world’s leading medical device companies.
Learn more about Boyden & Youngblutt’s innovative marketing & brand-building services by visiting their website here.
