Corin replaced Steve Boswell’s hips. 12 months later Steve Boswell decided to attempt The North Pole Marathon. Corin agreed sponsor him. Montpellier used its extensive media contacts to maximise exposure of Steve, Corin and its product. The success of the campaign was overwhelming for the client who could not quite believe the sheer size of the coverage they were getting. Corin were so impressed they came back to Montpellier for a second marathon – their launch in the U.S.
North Pole Challenge 2007
JRI’s pioneering design required pioneering Public Relations. JRI used our expertise in PR and the medical sector, to promote their revolutionary achievement in the field of Hip Replacement. We took their product and put it centre stage with interviews and case studies in major newspapers and magazines. JRI has gone from strength to strength as a result.
JRI Ltd was founded by Mr. Ronald Furlong, the former Head of Orthopaedics at St Thomas’s Hospital in London, more than 30 years ago. Its headquarters are in London and manufacturing operations in Sheffield. The client designs and manufacturers hip and knee replacement prostheses. Within the clinical community especially, JRI is best known for its unique total hip implant called the Furlong H-A.C.
Unlike traditional hip implants, which are held in place with special cement, the Furlong H-A.C. is coated with a Hydroxy-Apatite Ceramic – whose unique properties mimic human bone itself and, once implanted, bond with the patient’s own hip to provide a strong flexible and lasting joint without the need for cement.
This technology is a breakthrough because cemented hips invariably need replacing after 10 years when the cement becomes brittle causing the joint to loosen. A second revision operation is much more complex than the initial surgery and tends to only last half as long as the first.
As a result of Montpellier’s credentials and reputation in the healthcare market, the consultancy was brought in to promote the success of the Furlong to the consumer through information about this innovative solution so that they might recommend or request this implant of their surgeons and doctors.
• To raise awareness about the patient benefits of JRI’s Furlong H-AC hip
• To promote the Furlong H-AC hip as the ‘hip for life’
• To educate consumers about the role of patient choice regarding hip replacements
• To demonstrate the success of the Furlong H-AC in clinical trials exceeding 15 years
• To underpin and accentuate JRI as a innovator in hip surgery
Hip replacement surgery is big business in the UK. In 2003, 30,000 operations were completed annually and the market for equipment had topped £140 million - and getting larger with the growing elderly population. At the time JRI had a turnover of only £12 million and was competing with global giants such as Smith & Nephew, Zimmer and Johnson & Johnson, and on the world stage new products can enter the market rapidly to change the landscape of available solutions almost overnight. The imperative to capitalise quickly on JRI’s market leading technology was self-evident.
As a consequence the research and planning of PR activity had to quickly identify JRI’s unique position in the market, then to leverage this to the company’s advantage.
Through detailed discussions with JRI, we identified the key benefit and messages that needed to be communicated; specifically, the overwhelming success of the clinical trials exceeding the traditional 15 year point, the point at which ‘proof’ was clinically substantiated.
For younger patient users of the Furlong, the PR story was potentially an even more compelling proposition. Implants in younger patients who wouldn’t ordinarily be offered hip replacements would be key to the PR messaging and activity; (surgeons are unwilling to operate on patients below the age of 60 because they exert more stress on their growing joints and are more prone to fail). The key message to be imparted here was that the traditional problem had been overcome with the Furlong H-A.C.
With the key benefits identified, the planning and the research for the campaign focused upon Montpellier’s media relations strategy. The plan was to meet the campaign’s objectives by profiling patients, predominantly younger patients, who had been through the operation and lived with their new hips and, in so doing, were able to demonstrate how it had turned their lives around.
To target a variety of media, which could each reach large consumer population groups, we worked with individual surgeons to identify suitable case studies who fitted the age, gender and location profiles of the target media. This in itself was a sensitive process because surgeons are very cautious about being directly linked to commercial equipment manufacturers and it was vital this sensitivity was respected.
Implementing the campaign involved working closely with JRI’s Territory Managers and willing surgeons to identify appropriate case studies. Individuals were then interviewed by Montpellier and given basic media training and specially prepared briefing notes. Following this we ‘sold’ in the case studies to the target media. Montpellier provided all the technical background details to the operation and liaised with surgeons and case studies to co-ordinate interviews.
The campaign has been measured on the number of cuttings generated per month and amount of calls and hits to the website.
Since September 2003 we achieved more than a dozen major (i.e. Whole page or more) features in the national consumer-facing media, plus regionals. Interviews took place for four further titles including The Sun, Woman’s Own, Choice Magazine and Best Magazine.
One example was ‘S’ magazine (the Sunday Express colour magazine) which ran a double page, full colour feature on one of our case studies who had bi-lateral hip implants. In equivalent advertising terms, this would have cost £55,000 in full colour (which it was). The case-study subject, Lisa Copes, had her first hip implant when she was just 28. The article mentioned all the key messages that we had been using throughout the campaign, for example, “likely to last me the rest of my life” and, “doesn’t use cement in the operation” and “quick recovery time” and “no pain”. The website, telephone number and key background information were also included. The editorial resulted in over 100 telephone calls to JRI asking for further information and a surge in hits to the website for the following week.
After only 12 months of investment in PR, the client JRI’s sales were up by a staggering 25%, and moreover the company endorsed the fact that media exposure will continue to play a key role in the marketing process.