MARKETING
My Story/Brand
"RotaCrutch was started by Tulane Student Austin Gillespie. After a knee surgery when he was a teen, he spent multiple months on crutches and with a leg brace, coming to find firsthand just how uncomfortable existing solutions were. He invented the original RotaCrutch device to solve that problem. RotaCrutch is made by patients, for patients, so you can rest assured we know exactly what sucks about modern mobility devices and share the same passion for reducing patient discomfort one RotaCrutch at a time."
- from RotaCrutch's "About" Page
Why this story?
Well for starters, it's the truth! I did undergo a knee replacement surgery after a motorcycle crash when I was 16 and had to hobble about on crutches and a brace for many months both after the initial crash and again after my surgery. I found the crutches to be a colossal pain in the ass, or more accurately, the armpit. Regardless of the cause of the injury, people who undergo leg surgery or injuries are going to either be on crutches, in a wheelchair, or some other type of mobility device, and these all have some level of discomfort associated with their usage. I think the fact that my injury was from an adrenaline sport, the marketing of the story caters to those with extreme lifestyles, perhaps moreso than "I invented the product after I fell down the stairs in my grandmother's house" would as an origin story.
My knee after my surgery. I had to wear this brace locked in that position for months.
Additionally, it is relatable. A company that seems relatable and like it has some things in common with the consumer goes a long way for marketing and consumer comfort/familiarity. As far as I am aware and in all the research I have done, crutches are a multi-thousand year old invention that has not progressed far beyond its origin as a found stick with a forked end for resting the armpit. The sole innovation besides adjustable heights has been a spring mechanism that dampens some of the impact force of walking. However very little of the actual discomfort from crutch usage comes from that vertical impact but rather the lateral motion and subsequent friction of the crutch in the underarm. This will make sense and sound familiar (and conjure some unpleasant memories) in anyone who has used crutches for more than say... a week.
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While not a lifestyle brand (except for those who break leg bones far too frequently or are chronic crutch users), the nature and finish of the brand and its products should combine with the story to create a finished product that feels professionally designed, polished, and clinical, but clearly designed with the end user in mind and their comfort at the top of the list of priorities. I am in a unique position here to perfectly understand the customer pain, "this fuckin stick is hurting my damn armpit," as I have been in that exact position, and was dismayed to hear that the best idea anyone in the entire world and medical community could come up with was "just wrap a hand towel around the pad portion" or "buy the expensive spring crutch" (I did both, the towel sucked and the spring crutch did very little and also started making unholy noises after 3 days of use, and comically enough it started to rust before the one month mark... in sunny southern California.) Having been in the customer pain position, I would have been overjoyed to hear that such a product as mine existed and solved that exact issue.
Marketing Plan
"These RotaCrutches ain't gonna sell themselves"
Inbound Marketing Types for RotaCrutch
Old School: Pamphlets
This product is in a unique field where it could actually very much benefit from physical paper pamphlets as a marketing material. Almost 100% of potential customers will find themselves in a medical waiting room of sorts, due to the nature of the product as well... being for people on crutches.
New School: Social Media
In the current day and age, Social Media is the primary driver of marketing for the younger generation. While RotaCrutch relies heavily on more dated methods of information dissemination, social media presence is key to get as many people aware of the product as possible.
Any School: Ambassadors
This is an old tactic that is having a resurgence in the modern era. Having ambassadors allows you to partner with people for mutual gain. In this case, ambassadors would be doctors, orthopedists, physical therapists, surgeons, etc. so pretty much anyone who interacts with/cares for patients where crutches may be involved.
Pamphlets
These things are dirt cheap and can do a whole lot when put in a consumers hands. The fact that a large amount of potential customers are going to be spending time in medical waiting rooms, introducing my marketing to that environment is a pretty captive market with little wasted in regard to being absorbed by non-potential-customers. These pamphlets can grab attention with a phrase like "Are you sick of uncomfortable crutches?" and then deliver information and images inside. These can be displayed in the office waiting room, and due to the high boredom nature of the space, people are pretty likely to pick them up compared to pamphlets in other locations. Fully educating a number of customers on the product, while getting some level of memory real estate from people who merely see the pamphlet across the room, for the price of some printed paper is hard to beat. As long as someone is aware that they don't have to suffer through using normal crutches, my marketing is 50% complete already as the largest competitor is a dish rag haphazardly duct taped onto a crutch pad.
Social Media
Social media has become an essential tool for marketing in the modern era, allowing businesses to connect with their audience in real time and for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. By leveraging platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, RotaCrutch can promote products, engage with customers, and build brand loyalty. The main goal here is to get new consumers aware of the product, how it works, and how it solves that pain point associated with crutch usage. The ability to share content quickly and widely helps drive and increase visibility, and SEO and other tactics for targeted advertising allow me to narrow my scope. For example, spending ad budget on individuals who have Googled "how to make crutches more comfortable" recently is going to be a lot more effective than marketing to those who have searched something random like "cat shampoo".
Ambassadors
This is mutually beneficial as with every purchase, I get to sell a product and the doctor gets to improve a patient's post op comfort. This also does not cost a whole lot in the grander context of marketing as the ambassadors operate as their own little marketing hubs. This can be paired with the pamphlet and social media strategies. For example a doctor or clinic that is an ambassador can both distribute flyers and shout out the company on their respective social medias. This is an extremely powerful tool as doctors are one of the few professions that (at least with most patients) have a large impact on the habits and potential purchases of a consumer. And similarly to the pamphlets, these people are, by design, in the locations with the highest concentration of potential customers. Furthermore, the product can be sold to the doctor or the clinic directly for subsequent sale to the patient/end user.
