When account executives at Schwartz Communications were handed the announcement of the FDA's approval of the ForeRunner AED, a medical device by Heartstream, Inc., their first thoughts were to create a VNR.
Seattle-based Heartstream is a medical device company whose sole product is an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) used to treat SCA victims.
"A critical element of our campaign was a VNR that encapsulated the key messages developed for the national launch campaign," said Helen Shik, senior account excutive." The VNR was developed to address and overcome two major obstacles: the first challenge was to significantly differentiate the ForeRunner from existing AED technologies available for many years."
Additionally, the VNR distribution would be triggered by FDA approval - an event that would come with virtually no prior warning, and since Heartstream is a public company, would have to be disclosed to the public within 24 hours of notification from the FDA.
Schwartz executives determined the four key components or message points for the VNR and proceeded to secure a spokesperson for each. The most important of the four components was to interview a survivor of sudden cardiac arrest who could provide testimony that would drive home the message: "I would not be alive today if it weren't for an AED."
"Second, we searched out an expert emergency medicine physician to address the criticality of timely defibrillation to save a victim of [sudden emergency arrest]," said Shik. "Next, Schwartz secured the involvement of a first responder (Emergency Medical Technician) to describe how the new ForeRunner technology was better suited than existing technology for broad deployment and in turn, to save lives."
The Results:
Throughout a 48-hour period starting Sept. 12, 1996 Heartstream's VNR was used in 298 different station airings reaching 56 million viewers across the country. The Heartstream story was seen by viewers in every one of the nation's top 30 media markets. National news coverage include "Good Morning America," "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw," PBS' "Newshour," "CBS This Morning," CNN, CNBC and MSNBC. (Schwartz Comm., 800/567-9001)