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You're launching a new medical product... - Mar 26, 2009 10:34AM - By: Joe DuBord

You’ve been asked to lead a marketing initiative on the launch of a new medical product. Now what?

You will need to provide tools for the sales force to educate physicians or medical professionals on the features and benefits of this new product. You are considering an animation, a surgical technique video, a PowerPoint presentation, some sell sheets and you will need to include product information on your company’s website. Ok, that seems easy enough… right?

First let’s step back and consider these "top 10 suggestions"

Start by writing down your primary goal for this initiative, for example - To educate, inform and create interest in ______ product.

Now identify the key objectives to meet your goal. For example, assemble a team to help identify strategies, identify exact materials needed for the product launch, identify timelines and assign individual responsibilities.

Other considerations: what do you want your audience to know about the product? What is the audience current knowledge of the product? What do you want the audience to do after they review these materials? How will the message be delivered? What is your launch date? What is your budget?

You should also have a clear understanding of your target audience. Is your target audience only surgeons? It could be investors, the sales reps themselves, hospital administrators, operating room personnel or other medical professionals, etc.

Write down the features and benefits of this product ie: ease of use, aerodynamic feel, minimally invasive approach, superior results, less recovery time, etc.

Considering a product demonstration animation? Are there CAD files available for the product to help in the creation of the “3D” computer animation? Does the product need to be demonstrated in the body? Put together a step-by-step outline of the animation steps to provide to the production company to achieve an accurate bid.

For the surgical technique video – Is there a product “champion” surgeon available? Is this person local, will this person look good on camera, speak confidently about your product, willing to be videotaped “live” in surgery, or sit down and be interviewed about the product? If so create a list of questions to ask which will draw out the responses you are looking for.

You may want to consider an interactive CD-Rom or DVD, which can hold a variety of media (video, animation, photography, charts and graphs, white papers, etc.). This medium will allow the user to select the portion of the information that is most important to them or their customer.

Think about what could be leveraged from one medium to the other - for example: Stills from the animation could also be used as trade show graphics or used in product brochures or used on the company’s website. The animation or surgical technique video could be converted and used in a playlist on the sales rep’s Blackberry or iPhone.

There are many production companies that provide these types of services. Look for one with experience and knowledge within the medical field. Interview each company and review samples of their work. Inquire what they are able to do in-house and which services they farm out. Ask for references and call each one with a list of questions including how easy they were to work with, did they fully understand your needs without to much handholding and did they meet the identified timeline.

By taking this information into account you will be better prepared and organized as you prepare your media assets for your product launch.