Surgical Science develops medical simulation and surgical training solutions for healthcare professionals, educators and training institutions worldwide, including simulators for laparoscopic surgery. Having successfully communicated the benefits of laparoscopic simulation to surgeons, the company turned its attention to a secondary market segment: surgical technologists, specially trained assistants to surgeons.

A 6-month campaign

Up until 2021, Surgical Science had communicated with colleges through sales visits.

This approach was time-consuming and resource-intensive. Our assignment was to create a campaign to run for six months on the Association of Surgical Technologists’ website (ast.org) and in its journal – to create awareness of LapSim ST, while laying the groundwork for future sales visits. Primary target groups were college program managers, instructors and students. Deliverables were advertising, website content incorporating a video.

Insights

The research phase yielded some interesting insights. Firstly, it must be clear to the audience that LapSim has a positive and quantifiable impact on teaching. Secondly, it should also contribute to improving the college’s reputation, a key consideration in a highly competitive education market. Another important demand was increasing the preparedness of students to assist effectively in the operation room. 

Solution

Our insights led to a main message ­– “Fast-track your laparoscopic training” – which not only offered clear value, but also addressed two key target groups at the same time.

However, there was another major obstacle we had to overcome. Neither Surgical Science nor LapSim ST was well-known to our audiences. So we created a supporting message – “A proven system to advance your laparoscopic training” – to dispel doubts and establish confidence. These two messages were alternated in the print advertising over the course of the campaign. To further increase impact, we produced a film that dramatised and distilled the key selling points. 

Outcome

The campaign had a significant impact. Surgical Science’s salesforce was quickly overwhelmed by all the interest in LapSim. “Yes,” says Hans Uddenberg, Marketing Manager at Surgical Science, “we had to quadruple the salesforce in order to meet the rapidly growing interest in LapSim. And traffic to our LapSim ST website increased by 42%. It was our top selling product in the US.”

This awareness campaign for LapSim ST demonstrates how strategic life science marketing can accelerate adoption of medical simulation technology. By combining audience insight, messaging strategy and targeted communication, the campaign helped Surgical Science increase awareness among surgical technology programmes across the US, contributing to strong sales growth.