Medical Device Link.

Originally Published MX May/June 2004

COVER STORY

Earlier this year, Stryker became a pioneer in the area of direct-to-consumer medical product marketing by launching a television advertising campaign featuring legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus. A major goal of the campaign is to ease joint pain sufferers' possible anxieties about orthopedic implant surgery.

J. Patrick Anderson

"We recognized that there was a real need in the marketplace for people to have a good feeling about that type of major surgery," says J. Patrick Anderson, Stryker vice president of business development and assistant to the chairman. "A lot of the people who have hip or knee surgery are really worried. There is a lot of concern. Part of the message that we wanted to convey was a credible story of successful treatment."

Anderson says the company's message comes through more clearly because it is being delivered by a well-known person who received a life-changing benefit from having major orthopedic surgery. "The message says the implant is really something that has made a world of difference in his life. As Mr. Nicklaus says, it has given him his life back."

Advertising campaign featuring Jack Nicklaus. (click to enlarge)

Device companies can be reluctant to adopt a direct-to-consumer strategy because of the unknown response from physicians. According to Stryker Corp. chairman and CEO John W. Brown, however, Stryker hasn't encountered significant resistance to its campaign. "The clinicians using our product love the campaign," says Brown. "To be honest, in some cases those that are not using Stryker products would probably object. But when surgeons have checked into it, the overall response has been good."

The favorable response from orthopedic surgeons is partly the result of careful crafting, adds Anderson. "The message we try to deliver is not so much that you ought to have your surgeon implant the exact same product that Jack Nicklaus got, but instead, if you have pain in your hip, go talk to your doctor. Again, the intended effect is to reassure people that hip surgery can be a good thing for some people—not to convince them that they have to have the particular product that Jack Nicklaus got."

The result, agrees Brown, is a general increase in the overall number of inquiries from prospective patients. But he admits that the campaign also conveys a certain element of branding in favor of Stryker. "We don't want to kid you," he says. "The campaign has been good for Stryker. There's no question about that."

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