It was something no man wanted to talk about.
Mentioning this would change and define his masculinity and purpose as a male species designed to hunt, gather and mate.
Yet when a diamond-shaped, blue pill came to the market. No shame was in any man telling the world they took this magic pill. What was once thought of as an old man’s problem, young and old were happily diagnosing themselves with erectile dysfunction (ED). They got the blue pill – they were ready and got their mojo back.
Viagra turned a taboo and shameful situation into a source of pride possession. Logically, anyone who is associated with Viagra has already given themselves up to the idea that they have ED, but somehow, people no longer feel shame. They no longer hide their problems from doctors, spouses and romantic partners.
Yet, when you look at the hearing care industry and someone experiences the first sign of hearing loss, it’s somewhat shameful, like ED was. They are in denial and fear. They do everything to avoid the cost of being singled out for their hearing problem. They worry about losing their youthful mojo.
The connection between hearing loss and ageism is engrained in our culture, so much so people delay holding off wearing hearing aids for an average of seven years.
If Viagra could take away the shame surrounding ED, then there is hope to make hearing aids attractive and desired.
We should explore the ideas behind the marketing of Viagra to see what we can do to bring more people to buy hearing aids.
1. The brand took the customer’s perspective of the problem
At the time before Viagra’s launch, people internalized their ED as a problem that couldn’t be fixed. The brand took an educational approach and explained to people that their situation was a medical problem.
They needed to get physicians talking to their patients, but to do that, they needed to motivate physicians to talk about the ED. The way they were able to do so successfully was to associate it with something the doctor already cared about, for example, diabetes, emotional well-being or depression.
They use ED as a symptom of other, greater health problems, which doctors need to be on the lookout for.
2. They rebranded the stigmatized terms
One key lesson when dealing with stigma is to avoid using the same vocabulary.
Before, ED was referred to as impotence. That language held a whole lot of negative beliefs. They had to leverage words that sounded more medical and shift preconceived notions and beliefs.
Doctors and patients had a common language to discuss rather than discussing what happened in the bedroom.
3. They use celebrity endorsement
A celebrity who is well-respected and well-liked but not from Hollywood worked well for the brand.
They used a politician who was personally experiencing ED as a spokesperson on the topic. It gave a human touch but a serious tone. Their message was to humanize the condition and allow the brand to highlight the result – the drug’s impact on other lives.
4. ED became part of pop culture
The conversation around ED had to get out of the doctor’s office. It needed to be in the conversations around the dinner tables, featured in popular magazines and other areas where these discussions didn’t appear.
The more places the conversation appeared, the less stigmatized the problem became. However, doctors must be educated in the medical facts first before allowing other sources to influence their conversations with their patients. It is essential that mainstream media were last to the conversation.
The similarities between Viagra and Hearing Care Marketing
The two have many common lessons that can help us better market our services and brand.
The key here is positioning strategies and making different associations to help shift a mindset to bring more awareness and drive action that improves one’s life.