How Do You Do It? PR Case Study
Though this blog is healthcare IT issue oriented, I'm frequently asked for tips and tactics on the practical execution of public relations for healthcare IT companies. So I thought I'd share a case study to illustrate some best practices. Launched in 2003/2004, Med-InfoChip was a progenitor of today's much hyped personal health record (PHR) technology. Read on to learn how we scored major ink and airtime for Med-InfoChip in such outlets as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Forbes, USA Today, Reader's Digest, major TV networks and affiliates, Bloomberg Radio, Travel & Leisure, and more.
Med-InfoChip LLC was a small company founded by Dr. Carl Franzblau and Jay Kaplan. These semi-retired, longtime friends had become frustrated by the repeated hassle of trying to remember and fill out their personal medical history on endless forms during visits to their various doctors. If this was a hassle, Franzblau and Kaplan realized, there were sure to be many more critical situations where easy access to medical information was even more critical. For example:
- Business and leisure travelers who need medical attention on the road
- Anybody incapacitated during a medical emergency
- Campers and students who are away from home
- Elderly trying to manage multiple prescriptions with their pharmacist
With start-up funds pooled from their personal bank accounts as well as friends and family, Franzblau and Kaplan conceptualized a device that could address all of these needs. The device, called Med-InfoChip, employs tried-and-true Filemaker Pro software, but in a refreshingly novel way defined by its simplicity.
Med-InfoChip enables a person to organize, carry and maintain their personal medical profile at all times. Designed to be worn around the neck, attached to a keychain or carried in a wallet, this lightweight, affordable "plug ‘n' play" device inserts into a USB port on any computer for easy access by a patient, physician or emergency responder. For more information, visit www.med-infochip.com.
Industry
From downloading thousands of tunes to tiny iPods to web surfing for wedding gowns, the digital revolution and power of the Internet have permeated just about every facet of everyday life. Yet for people who need their personal medical information in an emergency, technology has yet to address this most basic and urgent need.
Business Challenge
With funds almost completely spent to develop the product, Med-InfoChip needed to generate sales to manufacture the product and fulfill orders. As a virtual company, Med-InfoChip didn't have the human or financial resources for promotion.
Med-InfoChip tapped Schwartz to address these challenges:
- Med-InfoChip was virtually unknown
- Med-InfoChip product uses "old" technology and lacked competitive barrier to entry
- Med-InfoChip could only be purchased at the company's web site
- Med-InfoChip lacked product users other than friends of the company co-founders
- Med-InfoChip lacked sales collateral and a professional looking web site
- Med-InfoChip lacked budget for consumer-friendly PR techniques like a VNR
- Med-InfoChip lacked offices and its founders were in two different part of the country
- Med-InfoChip stories had to name the URL in order to facilitate product orders
Schwartz PR Strategy
Minimalist Approach for Supporting Materials
There was neither time nor need to develop an elaborate press kit and there was no budget for a video news release or media tour. Instead, Schwartz developed an introductory press release, product fact overview and frequently-asked-questions document.
"Seeing is Believing"
Schwartz determined that the small size but enormous utility of Med-InfoChip would appeal to some reporters and encourage them to try the product and write about it. Med-InfoChip only had a very limited number of sample products to distribute, so Schwartz only sent them to top tier media who expressed initial interest.
Pin-Point Media Targeting
Schwartz targeted national media that could reach the broadest potential customer base. These are also the most ambitious opportunities to secure. We initially focused on daily and weekly print media with the greatest opportunity for rapid turn-around of coverage.
Tailored Story Pitches
Schwartz sub-divided outlets by section and beat that matched with our story angles to increase chances of coverage in a limited number of media. Themes included (a) obtaining medical information while you travel (b) simplifying a doctor's office visit (c) securing medical information in an emergency and (d) introducing a short-term practical answer to the government's call to create a national electronic medical record system.
Cultivating Spokespeople
Med-InfoChip didn't emerge from clinical trials beta testing, so Schwartz identified users and doctors who were willing to try the product and provide comment on their experience.
Establishing Credibility
As a tiny, virtually unknown entity exclusively selling product on the Internet, Med-InfoChip needed an infusion of credibility to secure the confidence of reporters. To establish this, Schwartz leveraged the professional credentials of co-founder Dr. Carl Franzblau, chairman of biochemistry at the Boston University School of Medicine.
Results
The three-month media relations campaign for Med-InfoChip LLC and its product delivered a broad swath of product-specific publicity in many of the top tier national media that were the exclusive focus of this brief campaign, including the content required to facilitate purchase. Media highlights included New York Times (two stories), Wall Street Journal (two stories), Newsweek, Forbes, USA Today, Reader's Digest, CBSNews.com, Bloomberg Radio, Travel & Leisure, and Modern Mom, among others.
In addition, Schwartz penetrated important regional print and broadcast media such as Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Denver Post, KRGV-TV (San Antonio, TX), KTUL-TV (Tulsa, OK), News 14 Carolina (Raleigh-Durham, NC), Palm Beach Pos, Orlando Sentinel, Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, Richmond Times-Dispatch, WFXT-TV (Boston), WHAS-TV (Louisville, KY), WISH-TV (Indianapolis, IN), WPBF-TV (Palm Beach, FL), WROC-TV Rochester, NY, and WSBT-TV (South Bend, IN), among others.
The Med-InfoChip campaign reached a combined audience of more than 25 million people.News coverage for Med-Info Chip generated countless hits to the Company's Web site and resulted in the purchase of several hundred products. This helped to sustain the Company viability for the short term.
According to Carl Franzblau, president of Med-InfoChip, LLC, "Schwartz Communications was an asset with regard to our launch of the product. Within weeks of the press release, a flood of opportunities in the press and media appeared. They were relentless in their pursuit of trying to get coverage for our product and because of their perseverance were quite successful."
Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 23, 2007 at 12:27 PM
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