CASE STUDIES

Brand Identity

Ascent, the market leader in medical device reprocessing, offers a much needed solution for today’s dynamically changing healthcare industry in which hospitals are under increased pressure to both lower costs and decrease their environmental footprint while improving the quality of patient care. While Ascent’s reprocessing and remanufacturing programs deliver measurable environmental and economic benefits to hospitals, they have also reduced demand for new devices. As a result, leading original equipment manufacturers (OEM) have mounted anti-reprocessing campaigns in order to protect their bottom-line. To help increase industry awareness and adoption of reprocessing, Ascent enlisted LaBreche to execute an aggressive public relations program that positions the company as a leader in developing responsible medical device strategies for the future, while also protecting its reputation amidst OEM challenges.

LaBreche launched a PR campaign designed to tell the story of reprocessing through frequent and ongoing editorial coverage in leading industry journals. A refined set of key messages were developed to convey reprocessing as a smart business and clinical decision, while Ascent customer testimonials were leveraged as real-life examples to lend industry credibility to the story of reprocessing. Additionally, LaBreche crafted editorial and advertising messaging for Ascent that took the “high road” against OEM attacks and kept the focus on patient care quality initiatives.

A total of 49 media placements were secured for Ascent within the first six months of launching the public relations program. One-third of that coverage was categorized as “ideal” for Ascent, meaning no competitors (OEMs) were sourced, Ascent’s key messages were clearly conveyed, and the target audience was reached. As the market leader, Ascent also benefits significantly from positive press about reprocessing, even when Ascent is not mentioned. In the first half of 2010, 64 positive articles about reprocessing were published in various industry publications and other media outlets.