28 May Edwards Lifesciences teams with the LA Rams to promote latest heart health campaign through successful brand storytelling

In this article, we examine 5 types of stories to tell to promote your brand—and provide examples of successful ones.

A heartfelt story

We recently learned of a new campaign involving our client Edwards Lifesciences. Edwards is the official sponsor of the Los Angeles Rams Legend Community.

And Edwards understands the power of storytelling.

The new campaign – “Get Heart Health Off the Sidelines” – features Los Angeles Rams defensive back Quentin Lake along with his father, NFL Pro Bowl and Super Bowl player Carnell Lake, and Rams mascot Rampage. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of heart valve disease and encourage people 65 and older to take advantage of free screenings in their area.

Neither Quentin nor his dad is a patient or caregiver. But their story helps elevate the campaign.

It’s an excellent example of brand storytelling. But what type of story is it? Let’s look at the 5 main types…

1. Patient stories

We’ve all seen them – ads featuring “a real person, not an actor” talking about their personal experience with a hospital or doctor, a health system, drug therapy, medical device or other medical product or service.

Hearing patients talk about their experience – regardless of how polished they are (or aren’t) – can be quite compelling. If we relate to the person who has experienced something we’re about to experience, we generally want to hear what they have to say.

2. Caregiver stories

When we explored the topic of brand storytelling previously, we shared a bit of our experience working on a landmark program in brand storytelling: the By My Side: Taking Charge of Cancer Treatment multimedia education campaign supporting the drug Neulasta^®.

The campaign featured Rob Lowe with his father, who had developed a serious infection caused by chemotherapy and was forced to halt his cancer treatment. The reason for Rob’s involvement, as announced at the launch of the program: “to educate patients about the risk of infection so they don’t have to go through what my dad did.”

He shared his experience as a caregiver.

3. Celebrity stories

The Rob Lowe case study spans two types of brand storytelling: the caregiver story and, of course, the celebrity story.

We see other celebrity stories that also span the patient story. Think Kim Kardashian promoting pharmaceuticals. Charles Barkley for Ro’s BLP-1. Cyndi Lauper for Cosentyx^®. Kim Kardashian for the morning sickness drug Diclegis^®. Khloe Kardashian for Nurtec^® ODT. These celebrity stories can provide brands with an opportunity to reach new demographics and appeal to a different type of consumer than more traditional marketing tactics.

The Edwards Lifesciences “Get Heart Health Off the Sidelines” campaign is also a celebrity story. Both Quentin and his dad are public figures using their forum to raise the profile of heart valve disease, of screening… and of Edwards Lifesciences.

4. HCP stories

Stories from healthcare professionals can lend credibility to healthcare products and services.

Hearing physicians or nurses (or nutritionists or allied professionals) talk about how a product helps their patients can motivate other HCPs (the power of peer-to-peer marketing) as well as consumers.

Stories from HCPs can also help humanize them by making them seem accessible, knowledgeable, and passionate about patient care.

5. Innovator stories

Sometimes it can be effective to hear a product’s or service’s origin story from the originator.

Hearing an innovator talk about what inspired them to conceive and create a medical breakthrough can be among the most effective brand stories. Generally, a person who perceives an unmet need and then commits to meeting it is someone we want to hear from.

Put yourself in the place of a patient whose doctor tells you, “I pursued this specialty because I saw what your condition did to my mother and decided to dedicate my life to finding a way to treat or prevent it.” Talk about a confidence builder!

We can help with all types of brand storytelling

Patient stories. Caregiver stories. Celebrity stories. HCP stories. Innovator stories. What’s your story?

The medical marketing professionals of Bryant Brown Healthcare can help you craft your brand story and share it with the right audience at the right time in the right place. It’s what we do for clients everywhere in healthcare: hospitals and health systems, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, medical devices, health information technology, and patient and professional advocacy.

Ready to share the right type of story for your brand? Let’s talk.