Home
Andrew Kokas
8315 S. Jackson Road
Clarklake, MI 49234
517-745-9191
akokas@comcast.net
Medtronic
Hill House Productions and Medtronic collaborated on a Public Relations project to enable selected cardiologists to become more comfortable and conversant about the latest treatment for heart failure. Medtronic's physician-customers were not prescribing CRT (cardiac resynchronization therapy) very frequently. The $20,000 device was not selling as fast as it should have.
Typically, it is the responsibility of sales representatives from pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers to consult with physicians and explain why one pill or device is better than another. This was not working for Medtronic. Physicians were not giving enough time to the company's representatives to make a difference in treatment habits.
For our part, we knew that physicians WILL give time to the news media even if they don't give time to sales representatives. That led us to develop a media-oriented plan. We targeted forty cardiologists and scheduled TV interviews through an independent news organization. Our subject: What are the latest treatments for heart failure? The invitation to talk about heart failure (on TV!) caused those cardiologists to read the latest literature to prepare for their TV appearances, including the literature we sent them about CRT. Through this exercise, many gained familiarity with the new Medtronic device. The result was that forty cardiologists became less reluctant to prescribe it.
The interviews accomplished the objective. The news report below--which we were able to broadcast in several markets across the country-- was a bonus to our client.
A subtle, PR campaign can break down barriers to sales success. Read below to see what we did for Medtronic, the largest medical device company in the world.
