Press Coverage

Press Releases

Marketing, 7 July 2004

Marketing Research Awards

Healthcare & Pharmaceutical

Commended

Client: Entific Medical Systems

Agency: Through the Loop Consulting

The BAHA is an implant that can help patients who are single-sided deaf to hear with the affected ear (TTL: This is incorrect; it allows them to hear on the deaf side). A patient perspective on the device, developed by Entific, was needed, and Through the Loop set about providing consumer insight on the attractiveness and effectiveness of the BAHA.

With a £33,000 strategic research budget, this project was split into four stages. Initial focus groups were carried out in the UK and Germany followed by a large-scale quantitative study, with follow-up focus groups and finally in-depth interviews.

Applying standard consumer research techniques, the study provided an original angle that has helped Entific develop a strong case for identifying those in need of BAHA. The broad patient base and wide range of questions in the market research , coupled with data from clinical studies, gave Entific a solid base to build credibility for this device.

The research showed that the promises made by BAHA were seen to be highly attractive of they could improve the quality of daily life for single-sided deaf patients. Many respondents wanted to proceed and contacted their audiologist to find out how they could obtain BAHA.

Today, BAHA is broadly accepted as an effective treatment by the medical community.

The clinical trials took a more scientific view of the effectiveness of the implant, while consumer research provided a human evaluation of whether patients actually liked the idea of BAHA and gave some indication of the impact it could have on their lives.