Why new ventures should listen first, market second

December 3, 2009 by Rob Kinslow

Several out-of-state companies working with our agency are in a State of New — either relaunching their growing organizations or breathing new life into a flagship product with a six-figure ASP. The reasons vary from positive to negative, from entering new medical markets to a false start for an expensive device. These companies are full of questions: Should we rename our company? Can our product really have a second life? What's different about us?

This brought home to me that despite there being many bright and energetic people in the medical device world (including you, dear reader), there is a dearth of either knowledge or will when it comes to successfully branding a product or company. Perhaps that's because doing it right takes time and money (although in many cases less than you might think), and most medical device marketers have too little of either. Maybe it's also because the critical first step — discerning the market's true needs and wants — is often skipped or truncated because the deliverables, insight and strategic direction, are deemed intangible. ("Where's our stuff?" the CEO keeps asking.)

But it's insight that can make all the difference. Take Hyundai, one of the most visible makeover success stories of recent times. Its Super Bowl ad last January looked like many typical car commercials, the sleek, mid-priced Sonata sailing the coastal highway to soothing music. But the voiceover showed that Hyundai really got it: "Now finance or lease any new Hyundai, and if you lose your income in the next year, you can return it with no impact on your credit."

Hyundai's marketing execs knew that in hard times, automobile innovation takes a back seat to bread-and-butter issues. Last January, consumers weren't worried about which car would improve their image; they were worried about losing their jobs. This insight led to the Hyundai Assurance program and paid off for the Korean carmaker: In September, while auto industry sales dropped 22 percent, Hyundai's rose 27 percent. (It helps that they've come a long way since the early Excel. I owned a 1988 and still have nightmares.)

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