I gave presentations on both U.S. coasts this week, and if my experience is any indication, measuring marketing results is top of mind as this economically troubling year draws to a close.
Brand and Beyond
Keeping up with the new reality
Last March, at the annual meeting of the American Assn. of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), our agency introduced an interactive communication concept called augmented reality. Much easier to do than to describe, augmented reality creates a virtual display of a physical environment on your computer screen that you can alter (or augment) by shifting a cue card-type graphic image in front of your webcam. You’re able to guide movement and sounds, kind of like pretending to be Steven Spielberg. It’s fun. We used the technology to let surgeons view new devices and implants three-dimensionally right on their smartphones—an innovative way of displaying innovative products.
Is your MOA video DOA?
I’ve recently become a huge fan of the medical drama House. If you’ve never seen this long-running Fox show starring Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, turn it on — the reruns are everywhere. He’s a brilliant, curmudgeonly doctor who leads a team of diagnosticians. In one memorable episode, House is trying to save the life of a renowned physician who insists he’s got tuberculosis—and nothing else. But numerous treatments fail to work, and time is running out.
Zen and the art of product maintenance
Taking a break during a recent business trip in Japan, we were sitting in the rock garden of Ryoanji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto. Created in the 15th century, Ryoanji boasts one of the world’s most famous Zen gardens; its 15 stones are positioned so that two or three are always hidden from view. The lesson is that no one is ever able to see everything all at once. There is always more than — literally — meets the eye.
Hirooka-san, our guide and a self-described Buddhist, explained this to us and then asked me, "So … are you enlightened?"
"I understand now why this garden is so special," I offered.
2010: A work space odyssey
In honor of Labor Day, what better topic to write about than physician-robots roaming the halls of hospitals? Perhaps you saw the article in last Sunday’s New York Times. The headline immediately caught my eye: "The Boss Is Robotic, and Rolling Up Behind You." There was a photograph of a tall, thin machine with a TV monitor for a head. On the screen was a smiling face, looking right at me.
Is following up your downfall?
The otolaryngologist had completed his short examination of my nasal cavities. It had been 10 days since he had surgically altered my deviated septum so I could breathe and taste and sleep like a normal-nosed person. Routine work for him, big deal for me. Things were looking good, my surgeon told me, and we discussed how the surgical site would heal over time — for, barring any complications, we would never see each other again.
"Any other questions?" he asked as he began to gather his things: My index-card-sized medical file as well as something I’d never seen in a doctor’s office — an iPad.
"How do you like the iPad?" I nodded toward it.
Who’s you?
"Ellen" from Cambridge Who’s Who was delighted that I had finally called back after leaving me seven polite and identical voice messages the past few weeks. And, after a three-minute interview during which she established that I’ve been doing what I do professionally since the second Reagan administration, Ellen had wonderful news for me.
The day before tomorrow
One morning, my daughter Lucy, who was six at the time, asked me a question out of the blue. "Daddy?" she asked with a thoughtful look on her face, "When’s the day before tomorrow?" I hadn’t had my first cup of coffee yet, so it took me a moment to process the question. "That’s today," I said. And then it hit me. I smiled. "Lucy, you just invented a whole new way to say the word today."
The good, the bad and the ugly truth
This week’s announcement that Merck is closing its research lab here in Cambridge, Mass., is a close-to-home reminder that hard times are still very much upon us. In the device world, budgets have been trimmed and head counts reduced. Customers are delaying or scaling back new purchases, especially for capital equipment. Physician interaction guidelines have been tightened. So … are you still having fun? Before you grab a life preserver and head for the ocean, here are seven reasons to stay with medical device marketing, despite the heady allure of, say, the oil industry.
Conquering your inner brand demons
Rocky Mountain lows and highs
My 16-year-old son and I were driving through the Utah desert last week, embarking on the last leg of eight days in the Southwest to see canyons and other attractions we New Englanders get out of Dodge once in a while to see. We’d been on the road for several hours.
"Dad, where are we staying tonight?"
"Don’t know, Grasshopper. I’m sure we’ll find someone happy to take our money for a room between here and the airport, which is a good 300 miles away."