Medsy is the European distributor for
a revolutionary
anti-stammering device, called SpeechEasy™. The
device sits
out of sight in the ear and combines altered auditory
feedback and delayed auditory feedback to create a ‘choral’ effect
where the stammerer hears their voice at a slight pitch and time
delay. This fools the wearer into thinking that someone is speaking
in unison with them. Since its launch in the US in 2001, it has
been proven to work with 80% of users.
Medsy won the contract to distribute the device throughout
Europe and subsequently achieved presence within the Netherlands,
France, Germany and the UK during 2007 through appointing various
speech therapists and hospital-based specialists within each
country to supply the device. Medsy
has seven centres in the
UK.
Stammering is the breakdown of
coordination of all the processes required for speech. The
characteristics vary from person to person, with the most common
characteristics being repetition, prolongation and blocking of
words. One percent of the total population have a stammer, and over
one third of young children have a serious stammer which requires
extensive forms of speech therapy.
For the purposes of the PR campaign, it is important to create
the market by raising national and local awareness with the general
public and the medical community.
The strategy was two-fold, firstly, to
raise national
awareness through use of a successful case study
and
secondly, to launch within the Greater Manchester area
using
a clinical spokesperson from the locally reputed
private BMI The
Alexandra Hospital.
Eleven year old Natalie Riley from Blackburn agreed to take part
as both the national and local case study, having been fitted with
the device at BMI The Alexandra Hospital last September and having
achieved fantastic results. Following an interview with both
Natalie Riley and her mother, Lindsey, a case study was drafted and
a press release written about the availability
of the device in
the Manchester area.
A media event was set for 18th March
2008 at BMI The Alexandra Hospital to draw both national and
regional interest. As the device makes for a very visual story, we
secured broadcast TV coverage with Sky News, who did a live
broadcast from the hospital, ITV Granada and Channel M who all
covered the event. National news including BBC Interactive, The
Daily Mail and The Evening Standard also covered the story, as well
as local newspapers including The Lancashire Telegraph and the
Manchester Evening News.
Following this media event, we coordinated an event at
The
University of Manchester inviting stammerers within the locality
and at the University to attend for a free trial. This event helped
to generate direct sales leads for the SpeechEasy™ device.
The three-month campaign from January
to March 2008,
with a limited PR budget, helped to raise local and
national awareness of the SpeechEasy™ device and build a good
reputation for BMI The Alexandra Hospital as an innovator.
The
press campaign has reached over 6.5 million people
within the
UK.