Communicate in an accessible and modern way also in the medical sector.

The idea that some sectors have no reason to be present on social networks or in any case to concentrate resources and efforts on the development of marketing and branding campaigns is still very rooted.

As well as that certain products or services can only be communicated using certain tones and doing what, good or bad, everyone has already done.

Therefore, when speaking of computer or technological products the language becomes technical and impersonal, when speaking of financial or insurance services the tone takes on serious and professional hues and when one tries to communicate anything medical or medical the chosen words, such as even the images become prescriptive and aseptic .

In this article we will focus on the latter sector, i.e. the medical one, and we will try to tell you how even those who promote medical services or products can find their place on social networks and can develop successful and up-to-date communication campaigns .

Talking to people, not users is the real challenge of today's digital communication

The need for consumers to have reliable and comprehensive services capable of providing transparent, welcoming and accessible medical solutions is increasingly urgent.

Today's consumer has a decidedly different profile compared to that of about ten or fifteen years ago: brands find themselves in dialogue with people who are increasingly capable of juggling the ocean of proposals and products to which they are subjected, searching for more convenient and customizable options.

On the other hand, they necessarily have to deal with a marked attention from the general public for everything that is body or neutral positive, inclusive, LGBTQ+ friendly, eco-sustainable and natural.

When the big issues that are important to society change, brands and companies must also adapt, putting their hand back both to their internal constitution and to the marketing and branding strategies that support the sale of products.

This happens today, as it happened yesterday: there is nothing new under the sun!

To better interface with the public's sensitivity, it is normal that brands need to be informed about which themes and languages are dearest to people.

The levers that successful brands and companies currently use, therefore, are the ability to be digital-friendly , to communicate with a contemporary aesthetic and voice and to offer flexible solutions suitable for multiple situations.

A digital-friendly brand manages all the digital tools most used by contemporary consumers with competence and awareness:

• Mobile-friendly, contemporary, complete and welcoming website;
• social channels populated, active and able to provide differentiating content and insights.

A contemporary aesthetic and voice not only embrace current trends (e.g. memes, collaborations with influencers), but take into account, as we said, today's sensibility :

• Body positivity / neutrality;
• no prescription, yes welcome ;
• accessible solutions, without terrorism on health ;
• talking about sustainability is important, but without doing green-washing (ie when an organization spends more time and money to advertise itself as respectful of the environment rather than to minimize its environmental impact);
• disengage from social and gender stereotypes.

Contemporary needs are of various types and require flexible and personalized solutions , from the possibility of composing, for example, product boxes in total autonomy, to the availability of complete and easy-to-manage subscriptions , capable of assisting the customer and removing a managerial burden from his shoulders.

The medical no longer as an aseptic prescription, but as a human accompaniment towards well-being

What we have just talked about concerns all brands in general and can also be successfully applied by companies operating in the pharmaceutical, medical and nutraceutical sectors.

Indeed, since we are dealing with products and services that concern the well-being and health of people in a vertical and specific way, medical brands are perhaps the first, of all, to be able to benefit in an incredible way from this change of social and cultural register that shifts the communicative focus on digital, on the contemporaneity of the topics covered and on personalisation.

However, let's try to put all these words and theories into practical examples to follow, drawing on the excellent work of some companies in the sector who have already put this change of pace into practice.

Vitamina: the Italian startup that helps people improve their routine, with customized boxes of vitamins and supplements

Takevitamina.com was born in 2017 and achieved success as a startup in 2019. The purpose of the brand is very clear and is made explicit by their own slogans and payoffs:

Vitamin: Unique, like you.

We customize your food supplements.

The products that Vitamina submits to the public are not new, since they are vitamins and supplements, but it is the way and the tone with which it proposes them that are undoubtedly innovative.

Vitamina is in fact the first Italian platform for the customization and shipment of food supplements. This means that customers can buy individual products, as well as receive complete boxes and customize the packages according to the time of year and specific needs.

And already here, in combination with a highly performing and aesthetically contemporary and welcoming website, we notice an excellent realization of the need for today's medical brands to be digital-friendly and capable of offering flexible solutions.

But most of all what catches the eye is the tone and content strategy adopted by Vitamina. This company completely abandons the prescriptive or medical register to embrace a young, fresh, inclusive and light language.

The contents present on Vitamina's social networks do not prescribe the dosage of the products or their composition in a didactic way, but tell the benefits and possibilities of customizing the boxes through contemporary and playful photographs and graphics.

Speaking of the boxes: the brand's commitment to developing a friendly and welcoming communication strategy can also be seen in the packaging, all extremely colourful, eco-sustainable and friendly.

Another example, still relevant to the medical supplements sector? Cuure.com , the French version of Vitamina, which in addition to the customization possibilities boasts an excellent job in terms of subscriptions, a team of experts available to customers and a mobile app for monitoring well-being : in short, a brand that puts the person at the center and sews the product around it.

Unobravo: the Italian platform that helps to approach therapy and break taboos on psychologists

Unobravo.com is another case of inspiration and very Italian. It is a digital platform that allows people to meet the right psychologist for their needs and activate an online therapeutic path.

It was founded by the very young Danila De Stefano and achieved real success during the Covid-19 pandemic, for obvious reasons.

In Italy, the topic of psychological support is still a taboo, despite the fact that about 1 in 3 people suffer from a mental disorder and a survey carried out by Ipsos in more than 30 countries reports that 54% of the Italians interviewed say that the pandemic has significantly worsened their their mental health.

Furthermore, the world of psychologists and psychotherapists has never shone for communication skills on social media or through digital tools: it is a sector that has always kept its distance from marketing, operating mainly offline and through word of mouth.

Unobravo, with its punctual and welcoming online questionnaires , its agile and contemporary website , its informal and inclusive tone of voice and its informative, light and engaging social content overturns this trend and does everything to break down the taboos on the subject.

With the remarkable result of making your communication human, genuine, non-prescriptive or medical.

There are also other cases similar to UnoBravo: for example Hedepy.it , a portal born in the Czech Republic, is another example to refer to when it comes to social-friendly and contemporary communication of everything related to the world of psychotherapy.

In conclusion, the medical can be social

The communication switch, which is affecting both society and companies, also concerns the medical sector, which can derive from this change the opportunity to modernize its tone , its brand identity and its marketing strategies .

This change of gear takes place through a profound revision of the communication levers especially through social channels , with the aim of bringing the focus on the person, inclusion and flexibility.

We reiterate it: natural, spontaneous, modern and non-artificial communication is successful because it speaks with registers and styles understood by people.

It can bring with it positive visibility and potentially business results.

The reason is simple: in doing so we speak to the "gut of people", directly to their needs, making a foreign and usually frightening world more accessible.