Originally Published MX May/June 2004

COVER STORY

Earlier this year, Stryker became a pioneer in the area of direct-to-consumer medical product marketing by launching a television advertising campaign featuring legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus. A major goal of the campaign is to ease joint pain sufferers' possible anxieties about orthopedic implant surgery.

J. Patrick Anderson

"We recognized that there was a real need in the marketplace for people to have a good feeling about that type of major surgery," says J. Patrick Anderson, Stryker vice president of business development and assistant to the chairman. "A lot of the people who have hip or knee surgery are really worried. There is a lot of concern. Part of the message that we wanted to convey was a credible story of successful treatment."

Anderson says the company's message comes through more clearly because it is being delivered by a well-known person who received a life-changing benefit from having major orthopedic surgery. "The message says the implant is really something that has made a world of difference in his life. As Mr. Nicklaus says, it has given him his life back."