Content from my recent post GOOD MEDICAL DEVICE MARKETERS ARE SUPERHEROES. A fun way of discovering the basics of marketing. How making choices, persisting in the face of daily challenges and being able to inspire teams are key talents that will make the greatness of a medical device marketer.

1. MARKETERS HEROESmedical
devices
ARE
marketers
healthcare

2. GENESIS
What bug bites the multiple-
bonus-striking salesperson or the
brilliant-design engineer to swap
their -relatively- tranquil life to seek
the slippery, ill-defined feats of a
medical device marketer?
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

3. Is it the tendency to have a smart mouth that
gets one scooped up?
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

4. Is it Is it the call of the greater good that
wakes the mysterious talent?
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

5. Refusing to live by the standards, do they accidentally fall into
the DNA altering pool of marketing know-how, getting infused
with these powers ?
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017
Are marketers simply incorrigible rebels ?

6. The genesis story that brings us to where we
are will surely vary,
but great medical device marketers
demonstrate many of the characteristics
that make a classical superhero.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

7. WE MAKE CHOICES
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017
The defining task of a marketer is
setting direction,
defining strategy,
& MAKING CHOICES.

8. WE MAKE CHOICES
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017
The defining task of a marketer is setting direction, defining strategy,
& MAKING CHOICES.
Choosing a path means
abandoning another,
which is what makes being a hero
-or a marketer-
difficult.

9. WE MAKE CHOICES
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017
The defining task of a marketer is setting direction, defining strategy,
& MAKING CHOICES.
Choosing a path means abandoning another, which
is what makes being a hero or a marketer difficult.
We need to
analyze our environment
and decide where
our technology will
bring the highest value.

10. Just like the superhero that withdraws to his
cave to recharge his powers to make a plan,
we retreat into our offices and segment the
market we play in.
We analyze customer behavior, looking for
cues of the perfect case fit…
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

11. Analyzing the
healthcare market
and dividing it
into well defined
segments that
you can efficiently
act on
with your medical
device solutions
Analyzing the
world crime scene
and dividing it
into well defined
segments that
you can efficiently
act on
with your
superpowers
Superpower : Super-Segmentation

12. We determine our target, the group we will
focus our resources on, where we know the
impact will be greatest because our offer is
most meaningful for them.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

13. Identifying the
super-villain
you will focus on,
on whom your super-
power will have the
highest impact
in order to bring
the super villain or
crime cartel down
and save the world.
Superpower : Targeting Sense
Identifying the
market segment
you will focus on,
where your
technology will bring
the most meaningful
benefit
in order to bring
significant change
and / or save lives.

14. We work on our positioning. Just like the
superhero who uses all his science, magic or
superpower to locate his super-villain
opponent, we need to isolate our “villain”: the
one problem that our device is the perfect
solution by design.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

15. Superpower : Positioning Control
Defining the
identity of your
medical device:
when and why
customers will reach
for your device,
and the reason your
competitors will lose
share.
Defining
your superhero
identity:
when and why
people will call for
you,
and the reason your
opponents will fear
you…

16. WE PERSIST
In almost every superhero story there is
an emotional crisis, a “falling from
grace” moment where our hero,
misunderstood, discouraged,
questions his/her resolve at the
brink of giving up.
This is the true test of a superhero.
Medical device marketers must
frequently face a similar challenge.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

17. WE STAY TRUE TO STRATEGY
Every day, the device
marketer is faced with the
temptation of steering away
from a set strategy, creating
inconsistency in one or
more of the components of
the promotional mix.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

18. WE EXECUTE THROUGH ALIGNMENT
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017
Perhaps the biggest challenge of a superhero is to get
himself/ herself accepted. In almost every superhero story,
whether the protagonist is masked or not, we see the
psychological war that pushes the limits of our hero way more
than the physical one.
We medical device marketers have a similar
challenge.

19. WE INSPIRE
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017
We need to sell and then
propagate our ideas through
others.
We need to be leaders in our
organization and inspire our
team to gather behind the
direction we set.

20. Medical device marketers know, just like any
superhero, that they will get one shot at
bringing the house down and becoming
legend.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

21. o-stranger-that-walks-my-path:
Whether you are the verbose vigilante
fighting to eliminate outdated technology
or the furious scientist that set off to save lives,
may my favorite quote of
the forceful master Yoda
inspire you…
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017

22. Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try.
Diane Demet Tangun, Jan 2017