· Situation
A start up surgical products group within a well established polymer materials developer sought to effectively position a novel material designed for surgical hernia repair. The product has unique physical properties that offer superior results during and post surgery.
· Challenges
As a start-up, the company had new (non-surgical experienced) marketing personal, a compressed timeline to make go-to-market decisions, and a tight budget. Management was very high on the product based on limited validation from a few practicing surgeons. Given the novelty of the product’s physical characteristics there was a critical question as to receptivity and acceptability of this product. Adding to the issue of acceptability was the history of several highly promising hernia repair products introduced by other companies in the past that turned out to be either economically unattractive or produced longer term patient complications.
· Assistance Provided
The priority for this client was a clear understanding of practicing surgeons’ attitudes toward a novel specialty material. Additionally, the client needed to identify surgeons’ requirements for trialing and adopting such a material in the “real world” environment of more critical examinations for new product clinical and economic outcomes. Based on our experience with surgeon audiences and the hospital economic decision maker environment, qualitative, hands-on interviews were conducted with a national sample of hernia repair specialists and buying decision makers. Prepared with this in-depth input, a focused market assessment and a recommended marketing strategy were developed, presented to the company’s leadership and enthusiastically accepted. Key to the acceptance of the findings and marketing recommendations was both content and perspective provided by the founders’ granular familiarity with the market and the category.
· Outcome/Client Assessment
The CEO, CMO and Head of Sales immediately and unanimously embraced the project’s conclusions and recommended plan of action.