The merger of healthcare and the digital world has been a growing trend for some time.

Health care companies, especially product manufacturers, have traditionally delayed adopting online marketing tactics due to the strict regulatory environment of the industry and lack of concrete guidelines from government regulatory bodies such as the FDA or federal rules like HIPAA. However, more and more health care companies are engaging in digital strategies because they are able to easily reach and engage their patients where they already are online.

Strategy

Fresenius Renal Therapies partnered with Tunheim to conduct a competitive analysis of current digital messaging, assets available online and the general sentiment of how messages are projected internally and externally in the renal device industry. Tunheim found that Fresenius Renal Therapies should not wait for a formal set of social, digital and marketing guidelines from the FDA but rather determine how it should engage online and through marketing channels. The report detailed how other companies, even with the lack of guidelines from the FDA, are openly promoting and utilizing key messages geared toward consumers and healthcare professionals in media channels. The team examined and compared the spectrum of messaging including content and tone in various communications channels — traditional media, websites, videos and social media.

Results

Tunheim delivered a comprehensive report to Fresenius Renal Therapies. In the report, Tunheim found that the manner in which its competitors engaged with audiences online and through traditional media was unique to that company’s culture, product and demographic. The report made a compelling case for Fresenius Renal Therapies to change its viewpoint on how it goes to market and engages with consumers and healthcare professionals.

Tunheim suggested the company develop a framework to consider entering the digital marketing space, which Tunheim advised should be created in collaboration with legal, compliance and marketing departments to ensure alignment and agreement.