THE CHALLENGE
Vericel Corporation wanted help marketing MACI®, a new procedure to repair damaged knee cartilage, targeted to eight states where UnitedHealthcare had recently expanded coverage to include MACI®. This required a focused campaign to increase traffic to the website and the website’s physician finder, ultimately connecting patients with doctors.
STRATEGY AND TACTICS
To promote MACI®, Russo Partners leveraged its Sports-Health Alliance program to arrange a targeted sports media campaign. Former NFL star and current NFL commentator Solomon Wilcots, alongside two NFL orthopedic surgeons, recorded a MACI® awareness segment on the virtual Radio Row of Superbowl LV.
The segment featured a specific call to action for patients to visit the MACI® website and physician finder, where they could locate nearby doctors performing the MACI® procedure. Russo Partners then mobilized its network of TV and radio journalists to broadcast the segment on selected stations across the country.
OUTPUT AND OUTCOMES
Within one week, Russo Partners was able to broadcast this segment on at least two TV stations in each targeted state, as well as on four radio stations with broad national reach. This resulted in an 109% increase in average direct traffic to the MACI® website per day and a 72% increase in searches for local MACI® surgeons. All eight states were in the top 15 states of website traffic, and four were in the top 5.
Bottom Line: Russo Partners was able to rapidly mobilize its network of athlete and sports medicine spokespeople to record a segment at Superbowl LV’s Radio Row. The segment was broadcast on targeted TV and radio stations, enabling prospective patients to visit Vericel’s MACI® website and find local doctors to treat their injuries.