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Striking Digital Marketing Gold in San Francisco | Vodori Blog

Written by Annalise Ludtke | Apr 13, 2018 5:00:00 AM

Conferences present a unique opportunity to learn from peers, compare approaches and best practices, and identify tools and processes to help us all work better within our industry. For the Vodori team, conferences also provide facetime with our customers. There is no more valuable input to our product, the Pepper® Cloud Product Suite, than the direct voice of customer—and when dozens of our users are in one place—it’s a great time to engage.

Conference Sessions on Our List

Our team is looking forward to the ExL Digital Marketing for Med Devices conference in San Francisco, on April 23-25. Vodori is a title sponsor of the conference, which features several great presentations. Kristie Burns’s session topic, “Examine the Complexities of Marketing a Product That is First in a Category,” should be particularly interesting. Organizations must define their positioning before being defined by competitors (a struggle not unique to med device companies). In fact, one of Vodori’s customers is in this exact situation. The organization’s innovative R&D is enabling it to approach an existing marketplace in a completely different way, but as they establish their brand, they’ll be challenged with how consumers compare them to industry peers.

Also on our list is Elaine McGhee’s session topic, “Use Humor to Build Your Brand.” I find it challenging to reflect personality in our products and brand, particularly as we work within such compliance constraints in the life science industry. Michael Krachon’s, “Blend Consumer and Physician Outreach for Consistent Messaging” and Taylor Pearson’s, “Engage the Healthcare Professional and Consumer by Reframing “Before and After” Into a Digital Experience” also look intriguing.

Why We Hit the Conference Circuit

At Vodori, we’ve found that we gain a lot of industry knowledge at conferences (read what we learned last year). At last month’s DIA Advertising and Promotional Regulatory Affairs Conference, we enjoyed the discussion led by Dale Cooke on ‘Addressing the Multi-Screen World: Promotional Challenges of New and Emerging Technologies’. Particularly, Geoff McCleary’s point that, “The MLR process is going to add a few more letters in the years ahead: D for data and P for privacy”—a sentiment that rings true as marketing materials and consumer targeting gets more focused. As campaigns are assembled and targets identified, there’s particular sensitivity needed to ensure marketing to prospective customers doesn’t unintentionally reveal any medical conditions. For example, a consumer researching mental health issues at home shouldn’t have to face the embarrassment of seeing ads for treatment options on their work computer. The data organizations collect is vast (and increasing rapidly), but consumers are becoming astute in regards to what information companies gather and how it’s being used, particularly in light of recent news events with Facebook and the upcoming GDPR regulations in the EU.

Use our Discount Code and Join Us

If you’re interested in joining us at ExL Digital Marketing for Med Devices, there’s an entire slate of speakers lined up covering an array of topics—check out the full schedule. We encourage you to attend and to use Vodori’s discount code to save 15%—feel free to contact me directly for the code. I’ll be there, along with leaders from both our products and services groups, so please come by the Vodori & Pepper Flow booth and say hello.