Stryker Vertebroplasty

In response to an immediate need to address competitors claims and gain market share, Stryker Interventional Spine (IVS) looked to ddm for expertise in branding and marketing Stryker
Vertebroplasty, a life-changing procedure that restores a vertebrae after a compression fracture (VCF). IVS needed to not only market the medical equipment used in Vertebroplasty, it also needed to educate its audiences on everything from clinical symptoms to actual procedural techniques.

Target audiences:
• Specialists treating patients with VCFs
• Referring physicians on the front line in VCF detection
• Sufferers of VCFs and their caregivers

To reach the desired benchmarks, a push-pull strategy was crafted to:
• Convert specialists to Vertebroplasty and empower them to market their services to referring physicians
• Educate referring physicians and their patients in search of pain relief due to a VCF

Vehicles used in this strategy included:
• Print advertising
• Magazine inserts
• Direct mail
• Physician office tools and displays
• Websites
• Product literature
• Patient referral program
• Patient brochures

The approach centered around a recognizable “spokesperson” for the procedure that quickly came to represent the “Gold Standard” for the treatment of VCFs. By using this character throughout the campaign, ddm was able to standardize the visual components and make Stryker Vertebroplasty immediately recognizable regardless of target market, especially when they overlapped. The message and marketing vehicle were then customized for each unique audience.

As a result of these efforts, Stryker Interventional Spine is seeing the demand for Stryker Vertebroplasty grow. Specialists–both new to Stryker and those reinvigorated by new products and increased focus on the procedure’s benefits–are participating in the patient referral program. And the aggressive direct mail campaign and print ads have resulted in amazing sales buzz, additional traffic to Stryker Vertebroplasty websites, and increased profits.