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The Pressure’s Rising
W.A. Baum & Co.
Issues Management
After more than 80 years of dominance, W.A. Baum's market share as the world’s leading manufacturer of mercury blood pressure instruments was beginning to erode. Hospitals and private health care practices were starting to embrace newer digital and aneroid devices, and Baum was concerned about the public health danger that would be created by a wholesale conversion to these mechanized blood pressure instruments. A front-page story in The New York Times unexpectedly created a window of opportunity for Baum to elevate the discussion about the extreme importance of accuracy in blood pressure measurement.
HLDPR took immediate action to educate both the medical community and the public about the safety and unparalleled reliability of mercury instruments for accuracy. Our first step was to recruit the director of Preventive Cardiology and Cardiovascular Research at a major New England hospital to help deliver our message.
Working with the cardiologist, we produced both a Satellite Media Tour for television and a Radio Media Tour that were carried in over 30 major markets nationwide. Audio and Video News Releases were also produced for a national broadcast audience, as was a matte press release that appeared in 40 newspapers across the country.
Simultaneously, HLDPR launched a communications program to reach hospitals and physicians, including a national newswire press release, an Op Ed article, a new page on W.A. Baum’s Web site devoted to blood pressure accuracy, and an ad to appear in targeted medical journals.
“The extreme safety and absolute accuracy of mercury instruments in blood pressure measurement were being obscured by public fears about industrial contamination of the environment. HLDPR did a remarkable job of seizing the moment to deliver our message with surgical precision and absolute professionalism,” said Jim Baum, W.A. Baum's Vice President of Sales & Marketing.
While the health care industry continues to debate the pros and cons of mercury vs. mechanization, W.A. Baum and HLD/PR have contributed significantly to ensuring that the debate is well informed.
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