Helping people manage diabetes more easily (CGM)

Brand problem

Introduced to the Middle East by Abbott, Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system is a revolutionary product that markedly simplifies the reading of glucose levels for diabetes patients. Painless and easy to use, the self-applied CGM device tracks glucose levels in real-time and displays the readings on the patient’s mobile phone. No more drawing blood, no more finger pricks – CGM is a true innovation in diabetes management and a significant relief for patients.

When Abbott expanded into the Middle East, the brand had no regional online presence, except a landing page where CGM devices were mentioned among other products.

The market entry point for Abbott was via government contracts. Selected diabetes patients were provided with free monitors through the social welfare system, making health practitioners key drivers of product adoption. Abbott then started exploring B2C avenues with new distribution channels and new audiences. This is when the company faced several challenges: an innovative medical product with low awareness, limited distribution, and no regional online presence.

Customers wanted to know about the product benefits and where to buy it, and preferably in their own language. Intuitively, they would expect to find that information online. However, when Abbott expanded into the Middle East, the brand had no regional online presence, except a landing page where CGM devices were mentioned among other products. But given what CGM could do for diabetes patients, it certainly deserved a presence of its own. The path to purchase was further complicated by limited distribution due to the short shelf life of the product.

Lemon thinking

First and foremost, we created a targeted online presence for the product across the whole region: https://www.freestyle.abbott/ae-en. The regional website could then be localised to individual markets to reflect variations in legislation for medical products.

 

Solution

We then used the brand’s online presence to raise product awareness, create engagement and build a seamless path to purchase:

• A content hub was added to the website as one of the key instruments in the customer acquisition and retention strategy. Articles, tips and stories helped us to link the product to the patients’ lifestyle, paving the way to a lasting relationship with the brand.
• The content was then used to connect with audiences through newsletters, online activations and CRM systems, driving traffic to the website in an engaging way.
  As we observed customers’ behaviour, we could link various types of content to different stages of the sales funnel and started building it piece by piece. We knew which types of content would create awareness, or drive conversion, or generate leads. So, we segregated content in such a way that it was mapped to our campaigns and the purchase cycle, helping customers advance through the sales funnel.
• To complete path to purchase, we implemented tools to convert leads into sales and included purchase locations per market. Since a full e-commerce solution would not be allowed by health protocols, we scaled it to a “request for delivery” option.

Results

While the product revolutionised the experience of measuring blood sugar, our solutions revolutionised the experience of getting to know, finding and trying the product.

Finally, the opportunity of a diabetes management culture shift became real for Abbott. Reaching a critical mass in product adoption, will allow them to lead all patients away from invasive and painful ways of measuring glucose to innovative and effortless practices that increase the quality of life.