Bob Griff

Last Updated: December 12, 2020

If you’ve ever stepped into a doctor’s office, you’ve undoubtedly seen the various medical products, devices, and instruments spread throughout the room. Have you ever considered that each of those devices is only one brand chosen from an entire market of medical devices? Why did the doctor pick that brand over the others?

When medical device development companies need help selling a product, they turn to medical marketing communications experts like Bob Griff of Griff/SMC Medical Marketing Communications. Griff provides companies with branding and advertising strategies that allow their products to stand out in a crowded field.

Griff and his company work to create distinctive business-to-business marketing campaigns for medical device developers, whether that be through print advertising, branding, logos, websites, or patient education.

“You want the common thread of your messaging, your look, and your brand to be consistent through all communications channels,” Griff said.

Griff first discovered his love of marketing in college, while he was earning his bachelor’s of science in business administration. To graduate, Griff had to take several marketing classes, where his professor pushed him to succeed.

“I really found the subject matter to be interesting, and I found his teaching was inspiring,” Griff said. “He kind of took me under his wing early on, giving me the sense that I was well-positioned to pursue a career in marketing, particularly advertising.”

Griff’s classes exposed him to various marketing case studies that introduced him to marketing fundamentals, such as organizational behaviors, customer attitudes, and how different organizations develop their brands. These fundamentals of marketing are ingrained in Griff’s approach to advertising, even today.

What approach is that exactly? Three words: objectives, strategies, and results.

When establishing objectives, Griff typically meets with a new client or account and performs initial market research. This includes who they are, what they do, what the competition does, and where they want to be.

“We work via a plan where a situation analysis begins the process. Where we spell out who they are and how they see themselves in the field and what the competition is saying about them, and then we come forward with specific marketing communication strategies to achieve objectives,” Griff said.

With a solid understanding of a company’s objectives and products, Griff works with his team to introduce messaging methods that will help sell that product. They examine past marketing campaigns and look at what’s worked, what hasn’t worked, and why it didn’t work.

Depending on the particular client, Griff may work on displaying their products through advertisements, brochures, or convention exhibits. He says during this process, his company usually comes up with three distinctive advertising or marketing styles that allow the client to choose between a “conservative” approach and an “out-there” approach. By giving the client multiple choices, Griff ensures he and his company present at least one style that pleases the client.

From there, Griff and the client wait for the results – which are, much of the time, positive.

“I get great satisfaction in coming up with a big idea,” Griff said. “I get great satisfaction with having an account say, ‘Dynamite, I never thought about it that way.’ I had one account just the other day say, ‘You guys really understand us.’ That’s big.”

Griff spent years building up a solid reputation in the medical marketing communications field, and that reputation, he says, drives his business forward. When a company enters a contract with a marketing business, they need to know that their money will be well-spent.