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AngioVac Patient Story

The brief: Tell a series of compelling stories introducing a new, less invasive treatment for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) to drive regional patient referrals to qualified centers.

The stories were produced with a purpose: significant editorial placement in the targeted region; working region by region to increase patient access to the medical breakthrough.

The patient story series was preceded by more than a year of product launch activity that included crafting a complete brand identity and market position. This regional campaign drove referrals to qualified practices in the targeted broadcast area.

Baby William Story

The brief: Profile a customer success story in one of the company’s strongest vertical segments; generate local press coverage with a marketing campaign and use the results as a case study.
Several versions of the project were edited for a variety of audiences and distribution channels: a long-form version featured hospital administrators and company spokespersons; thirty-second and one-minute versions were created for social media use.
At the company’s annual industry forum the program was profiled for dozens of customers. Local press drove reputational awareness of the hospital system and the obstetrics service line.

Katie Klaus Story

The brief: Tell Katie’s story from her rise to Broadway stardom to her diagnosis of a rare genetic disorder, and her successful return to the stage after a new and novel treatment makes it possible. Through Katie’s story give hope to thousands of patients with the same rare condition.

Video is essential in a peer to peer campaign – it engages the audience directly, offering them a compelling connection to the subject, issue or brand.

Katie’s story headlined a campaign that included included B2C and B2B components. She performed at the annual conference of the Society of Interventional Radiology and the gala celebration, and her story was the talk of the conference that year. The program resulted in increased clinical awareness in the radiology specialty and national publicity for patients; a ‘find a physician’ online locator helped patients find physicians offering the new treatment.

World’s First Telesurgery

The brief: Lead marketing and PR for the world’s first telesurgery as surgeons in NYC remove the gall bladder of a patient in an operating room in Strasbourg, France.

The project spanned more than a year and had a host of partners and vendors who were all eager to be recognized for the achievement; France Telecom, AT&T, several academic institutions and even DARPA all played a role. Managing partner expectations became as challenging as creating the PR campaign.

Months of negotiations resulted in embargoed news exclusives for several partners: NBC Nightly News, Dateline, The Today Show, Time magazine, USA Today, and others. The surgery was performed successfully on Sept. 7, 2001, and all press events were to be preceded by a live global press conference scheduled for the morning of September 13 originating from the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel.

Billie Jean King Story

The brief: As part of a two-year endorsement program, produce a series of media projects with Billie Jean King encouraging patients to learn about their joint replacement options.

Time with Ms. King was limited to one full day of filming and several on-location personal appearances. Our access was enough to create more than a year’s worth of digital and broadcast content to support the campaign. Billie Jean and her team could not have been more professional or charming.

Anecdotally, I’m certain the campaign was a determining factor in the division posting category outperforming annual results and likely returned more than 10X investment. It’s surprising more healthcare companies aren’t more laser-focused on finding and telling great patient stories like this.