Client

Fluo Labs, Inc. is an early-stage consumer medtech company which has spent a number of years developing the concept and technology for an over-the-counter medical device that uses light therapy (photobiomodulation) to provide drug-free relief of seasonal allergies symptoms, aka hay fever, allergic rhinitis.

ROLES PLAYED - Business strategy, re-brand strategy, naming, integrated marketing, market research, creative direction of brand and product design, content & community marketing, marketing under regulatory compliance.

Assignment

To market an unknown and still unproven concept product so that it could rise to its potential as a breakthrough innovation in the seasonal allergy remedy space.

Challenges

The company needed to gain the attention of new partners and stakeholders - and eventually consumers - but had not established the strategies necessary to raise its profile. The challenges presented on multiple fronts:

• The company had been pursuing a B2B path to reach partners and investors and had been presenting its technology through a medical lens. This scientific positioning of a consumer device did not leave room for relatable storytelling from the allergy sufferer’s perspective

• The use of light therapy as a medical treatment was still vastly unfamiliar and needed to be explained in plain language so it could be understood by non-experts

• The device was about to enter and compete in a space dominated by giant drug companies

• The company had virtually no brand identity or public profile and only a tiny budget to implement strategies

• The device was deceptively easy to use and fast to provide relief, therefore, educating the consumer would be essential to demonstrate this wasn’t just another gadget full of false promises

• As a pre-FDA device, the company had to abide by stringent restrictions that prevented it from making any therapeutic claims whatsoever or even mentioning that the product would ever be available for sale (only the FDA could determine that). How does one promote a product when it’s not allowed to promote it?

• While the company had the technology and pilot studies for its concept, there was no physical prototype.

Objectives

A new approach was needed to communicate the potential of the incredibly exciting technology to different audiences including investors, partners and consumers:

• Alert new investors and partners to the global opportunities of this breakthrough product

• Reposition and rebrand the company to make its technology more approachable, easily understood and even to build demand before the product became available 

• Demonstrate the exciting promise of the product while working within the FDA’s strict language constraints  Establish channels for storytelling, engagement and education around this novel protocol for allergy relief

• Develop a working prototype that 1) differentiates it from conventional allergy remedies and 2) to have something credible and concrete to show in pitch and marketing settings

Approach

Research & data: Identify the driving forces, trends and gaps in the allergy care and industry-adjacent markets

Intuition: Read between the lines of all gathered data to reveal what feels like the right strategic direction in short and long term perspectives

Creativity: Implement by using creative design and messaging to radically differentiate the product from anything else existing in the allergy care category

Solutions

CONVERT A B2B TO A DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER. The company shifted its previous approach of targeting corporate-type partners and instead turned its attention to allergy sufferers, i.e. the end customer. The team conducted research indicating that allergy sufferers were largely dissatisfied with the effectiveness and side effects of existing allergy medications. They were yearning for a new solution to quell their symptoms. As such, we strongly felt they would likely embrace the device’s drug-free alternative.

POSITION FOR RELATE-ABILITY. The intimidating medical lingo was replaced with plain English to explain the technology and its “how-it-works” method. This made it easier for the average consumer to quickly understand how the product could help them. At the same time, a brand was created to express empathy for how badly allergy symptoms can impair someone’s quality of life. The brand’s essence, “we take your struggles seriously and we’re here to help”, became important to build trust during our pre-market stage.

LOOK AND SOUND DIFFERENT. Scratch the cliché images of people sneezing miserably or where others are serenely deep breathing in a field overflowing with allergens. Scratch the medical blue color too. Instead, we created a colorful brand imbued with modern views of wellness and optimism. All facets of the brand, from visuals, to color, voice, and design of the device itself were intentionally designed to be a complete departure from existing products in the conventional allergy care market.

Packaging was designed to aesthetically differentiate from conventional OTC allergy remedies while indicating a modern approach to symptoms relief. Labeling passed the FDA utility testing.

Visuals were designed to highlight the company’s mission and commitment to improve the quality of life of allergy sufferers.

BUILD TRUST - even before you have a product and before it’s FDA approved. A content strategy strategy was introduced to position the company as an authority on allergy matters All content focused on the person, the condition and purposely not on the device.

In contrast to the messaging of common allergy brands, the company provided discussion-worthy content like little known facts about allergies (botanical sexism as one example) as well as an understanding of the lifestyle compromises that people are making when their allergy symptoms flare up (e.g. post: depression as a common side effect).

CREATE THE MECHANISM TO BUILD GRASSROOTS MOMENTUM AND BUZZ by reaching out to allergy sufferers directly and opening these lines of communications would allow the capture of pre-market enthusiasm and first-account storytelling.

Organic, unsolicited messages from allergy sufferers created “fans before customers”.

GET VISIBLE. The company sought out opportunities to tell its story and despite the FDA language restrictions imposed by the product pre-approval stage. The new brand showed up wherever it could to build awareness and generate excitement for its unique solution to tackle allergy symptoms.

Winning renowned innovation awards created the opportunity to generate valuable organic coverage and industry buzz.

Results

Given little to work with but armed with creativity, grit and conviction, the strategies used in the makeover this formerly unknown product delivered dramatic results:

• Developed a fleshed out brand strategy that provided the foundation for the results below

• Accepted to CES 2021, Eureka Park

• Innovation Award Winner at SXSW 2022 

• Innovation Award Finalist at P&G Ventures 

• Gained fans before customers: From 0 to over 3,000 email subscribers, each of whom organically signed up for the waitlist and newsletter. Unsolicited messages were sent by early fans, allergy sufferers and individuals interested in investing

• Earned organic press coverage at verifiable Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) of $1,792,025 and an estimated true advertising value of $2.2M

• Passed the Human Factors and Usability testing with a score above 95% on the design of the device, packaging and labeling

• Ultimately, the efforts led to a significant partnership and funding with a leading global life sciences company

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