“CoActive’s services go beyond PR - our strategic communications sessions were a catalyst for our company’s overall business focus, from near- to mid- term.  In just one year, the agency’s efforts enabled us to obtain more than 30 articles in trade magazines, several feature stories in business journals and an educational broadcast segment that aired on television stations nationwide.  In addition, CoActive drove our award submission program that resulted in our flagship product winning the prestigious gold Medical Design Excellence Award and R&D 100 award.”

David Mordaunt, Former CEO of OptiMedica

History: Since 1970, ophthalmologists have used conventional laser technologies to treat diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in the working age population. OptiMedica introduced a new laser system (PASCAL) that completes these eye treatments 5 – 7 times faster, offers greater precision for the surgeon and causes less discomfort for the patient. 

Challenge: While the benefits of the PASCAL System were clear, convincing physicians to depart from 40 years of convention to adopt a premium-priced new technology from an unknown company would not be an easy task. 

Solution: CoActive and OptiMedica agreed on a three-pronged approach to achieve the company’s awareness objectives: aggressively promote PASCAL’s clinical and user benefits; develop a strong corporate identity; and, similar to Dell’s early approach, win awards for the laser’s groundbreaking innovations.

Executing on this vision, CoActive worked closely with OptiMedica’s CEO to define core messages that could be used to support all three awareness objectives.  CoActive and OptiMedica then set out on a media tour with the leading industry reporters and analysts to help educate them about the company and PASCAL technology prior to the largest annual industry trade show.  Additional media outreach at the annual meeting included one-on-one media briefings and exclusive invitations to all target publications to attend OptiMedica’s first major educational symposium. 

Results: CoActive launched OptiMedica from stealth mode in April 2006 and within one year OptiMedica achieved more than 30 feature news articles, was highlighted on Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science, a syndicated science and engineering news service for local television newscasts and received the 2007 Gold Medical Device Excellence Award in the surgical category as well as the R&D 100 (R&D Magazine) award. OptiMedica has been steadily increasing sales in the U.S. and abroad and recently signed a partnership agreement with a leading international distributor, TopCon Europe. In addition, CoActive distributed announcements about OptiMedica’s successful funding milestones to solidify news in local business and finance magazines the Bay Area.

CoActive received the Northern California Public Relations Society of America’s 2007 Silver Anvil Award for Overall Public Relations in the category of Business Products or Services for its work with OptiMedica.