Wait. Before you go on, follow our LinkedIn page to be the first who knows about new case studies and marketing hacks:
About Ibex Medical Analytics
Ibex Medical Analytics is pioneering AI-based cancer diagnostics in digital pathology in order to empower pathologists to make quicker and more accurate diagnosis with state-of-the-art decision-support tools.
Background
Ibex Medical Analytics was conceived when its two founders were looking for ways to apply their skills to contribute to human well-being. They were captivated with the opportunity presented by applying artificial intelligence (AI) to medicine and, in particular, the potential it holds for advancing cancer care. They decided to combine their accumulated knowledge of AI, data science, image analysis and machine learning, and apply it to cancer diagnostics in digital pathology.
The challenge
When we met the Ibex team, they had already achieved some impressive tech advancements and were gearing up for round A funding, yet they had very few marketing assets; not in final stage, not even the logo or color palette. Like any other startup that wishes to attract potential investors, they had to package their many achievements into marketing materials that demonstrated a strong brand and a great story that communicated all their great technological achievements, business potential and the expected impact on patients’ lives.
G2M Team, which is highly experienced with marketing medical devices and technologies was contracted to build the entire marketing infrastructure and DNA from scratch.
As Ibex’s product continued to develop, getting more and more traction in the target market, the company closed round A to continue to grow it’s scientific capabilities, product, sales and marketing operations. Less than a year later, the company secured its B funding round and geared up towards expanding even further: new markets, new tissues, new applications.
As such, marketing focus and activities had to shift as well, from building the initial infrastructure to more out-facing activities, getting in front of our target audience with materials and proof points that will drive the understanding of how Ibex can transform the way they work.
What did we do?
A marketing-oriented competitive analysis was the first step. We needed to get a clear image of the marketing and messaging standards in the industry and the ecosystem. We needed to look at other relevant companies and their marketing activities in order to identify me-too activities, as well as opportunities to do something different. Armed with our knowledge and conclusions we got to work.
Logo and visual identity
We first had to deal with the company’s logo and visual identity as the building block for all future work. The company founders had started work on the company logo, but had not finished it. We took over to improve and finalize the logo. We contracted danielvenir studio to work with us on the brand identity.
Company messages and story
In parallel, we started working on the company story and its messages. We did extensive keywords research and conducted an intensive messaging workshop with the Ibex team to discuss the bits and bytes of their story and what they wanted potential business partners and investors to know about the company and its technology and business. We then compiled everything into a set of messages that we are using in all marketing materials for the company.
Website
When we started, IBEX had a very basic website – a one page achieved over a sleepless night of one of the founders. Now that we had a visual identity and a story to tell, we could start working on the website. We defined the website structure in accordance with the company goals and created the specification document. Then we wrote the website texts while danielvenir , the design and development studio, worked on the website design.
We also completed some additional content work for the website, such as team photos (we worked with Sharon Derhy for that), special illustration for the technology section and more.
We defined and oversaw the implementation of the technical infrastructure for the website (Google and Facebook pixels, Google Analytics, forms, link to predefined MailChimp lists, etc.).
The result: www.ibex-ai.com
Social media channels
While the website was built, we opened the company social pages (Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn). We started an ongoing, monthly social plan, decided on the content, wrote the posts and scheduled them. We do that on an ongoing basis, monitor mentions and questions that come through these channels, and work on increasing the community in relevant channels.
Marketing collateral
As mentioned above, the first, and most important KPI for the company to begin with, was completing their round A funding. As such the Ibex leadership team calendar was packed with meetings with VCs and potential partners, industry trade shows, and more. They had to show up to all these places with professional, clear, well-phrased and beautiful marketing collateral. We created the company’s business cards, brochure, one pager and company presentation decks. I say decks as it was quite clear that we needed a separate set of decks, one for potential investors, and one for pathologists and industry players. As such, we created several versions of the company presentation in accordance with the interests of the target audiences.
Industry events
Attending industry events with great marketing materials is great, but the team also needed our support with scheduling meetings with the right people at industry trade shows. As this is a young company, many times we didn’t even have a booth to direct traffic to, just Ibex people walking the floors. So, a few weeks before an important event, we launched micro-targeting LinkedIn and Facebook campaigns. The campaigns led to a dedicated landing page that we build ahead of time, as we wanted to have full visibility and control of the incoming leads and meeting requests. We also sent a newsletter to the growing Ibex mailing list, to keep everyone informed on company updates and invite them to meet at the upcoming trade show.
PR and media relations
We were busy building the Ibex marketing infrastructure and DNA and the Ibex team was busy doing business. When Ibex Medical Analytics deployed the first ever AI-based digital pathology cancer diagnosis system in a live clinical setting with immediate impact on patient care, it was time to issue our first PR and claim the fame.
We wrote the press release and created a user-friendly press room to provide reporters with easy access to all the required materials. Then we pitched selected reporters and writers in relevant US media outlets (medical blogs, associations, publications, news sites, etc.), based on comprehensive media research we conducted. We also put out the press release on the newswires.
While all of the above took place during the initial building of the marketing infrastructure (we have included screenshots from different phases of our work with Ibex over time) and continues to run on an ongoing basis since the close of both round A and round B, with the additional resources as well as the additional goals marketing had to meet, we have added a lot of activities into the mix, to support the goal of connecting more closely with our target audience.
This included a series of webinars, more pathology-focused materials that were submitted (medical posters) and presented (workshops) at industry events (as opposed to just booth presentations before), ongoing newsletter program, paid campaigns, including remarketing to stay top of mind for our target audience and more.
Summary
The G2M Team fast-paced multitasking work combined with the rich set of in-house marketing knowledge and expertise allowed for a highly successful onboarding process. In a relatively short time, Ibex could proudly demonstrate that they are a company with a clear brand, company story, marketing assets and online presence.
As mentioned above, Ibex continues to growth, added a lot of activities to the mix once round A and round B were completed and still, our work is not done, and we are now moving, together with the company, to the next level, planning to expand our activities to support the new set of company goals, towards their significant commercial expansion and future rounds.
