DEVELOPING BRAND INTEGRITY KEY FOR DEVICE FIRMS, EXPERT SAYS
The "art and science" of branding -- developing name and image recognition for a particular product and company -- is still in the developmental stages in the device industry, according to Nancy Turett, president of the health division at Edelman, a public relations and strategic communications consulting firm.
Yet in terms of marketability, "medical devices and diagnostics are some of the 'sexiest' technologies right now," Turett said.
Device marketers need to understand that a brand is made up of three parts, Turett said. These are:
The device itself (single product or brand franchise);
The company that the brand comes from ("the brand behind the brand"); and
The firm's personnel, who act as "ambassadors" for the brand.
Because the device industry often deals with high-end technologies for serious, sometimes invasive operations, "your brand has to have a certain amount of solemnity," she said. But "there's a difference between being serious and being boring."