A Fresh Approach, a New PersonalityA Fresh Approach, a New Personality

Originally Published MX September/October 2005

ADVERTISING, DISTRIBUTION, & SALES

It's a common problem. A company pioneers a breakthrough technology, launches the first FDA-approved devices, captures huge market share, and then watches as me-too copycats begin to erode that advantage with cheaper, inferior offerings. Such was the case with R2 Technology Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA).

R2 introduced the world of mammography to a technology called computer-aided detection that assists radiologists to detect in mammograms suspicious, possibly cancerous breast lesions at an early stage. But that was more than 10 years ago, and the company's brand image and corporate message had gone untended during much of that time. R2 Technology had fallen victim to playing the comparison game with its mammography competition. What's more, the company was about to strike out into the specialty of chest computed tomography (CT)—a field in which it had little exposure.