ProductCamp Boston May 12 2018

1. This is not my beautiful
product; how did I get here?
Five strategies for communicating your product message more accurately
and successfully inside and outside the organization
ProductCamp Boston | May 12, 2018
Presenters: Laura Holly & Jeff Rice

2. Introduction
Laura Holly
Global Director, Upstream Marketing & Product Management
Systems Integration
Olympus Corporation of the Americas
Jeff Rice
Manger, Global Product Marketing
Systems Integration
Olympus Corporation of the Americas
Slides will be
available afterwards
on the ProductCamp
Slideshare page.
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3. Our World
Page 3
GLOBAL REVENUE$7 BILLION
18,000+ PATENTS
33,300+
EMPLOYEES
WORLD WIDE
NEARLY
INVESTED
10%HISTORICALLY
IN R&D
PUBLICLY TRADED ON
THE TOKYO STOCK
EXCHANGE
¥ ¥

4. Problem
Having the experience of reading a
draft brochure, web copy, or sell
sheet and thinking to yourself…
“This is not my beautiful
product!?!?!”
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5. Audience Poll
After making the hand-off to
marketing, which have you
experienced when reviewing the
marketing collateral?
A. Too much focus on a product feature
B. Lack of emphasis on a product feature
C. Facts in wrong context or inaccurate
D. Product claims over/ under promise
E. All of the above

6. How can I avoid poor communication
with team members that result in an
uneventful product launch?
Key Question
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7. Your takeaway
A repeatable and effective communication
process in order to generate the most impactful
product launch possible

8. How do they prefer to communicate?
• Face to Face
• Video Conferencing
• Telephone
• Email
• Text/ IM
What is their motivation?
• Identify key performance
objectives
• Review product launch against
their priorities
• Is it important?
• Is it relevant?
• Is it urgent?
Step #1 | Before communicating, ask…
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What can I do to make their job easier?”

9. Product
Manager
Vs. Product
Marketer
“How does side by side
comparison mode help the
physician do their job?”
“Help me answer our
audience’s WIIFM”
“Now with side by side
comparison mode”
“A new solid state drive”
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10. Root cause of failure:
Decision Latency
Timing
• Good decision latency is < 1 hour
• Poor decision latency is > 2 hours
Top factors to reduce decision latency
• Empowered teams
• Emotional mature teams
Source: Nanomorphics: The Age of Accelerated Change presentation given by
The Standish Group and the Antwerp Management School
“For every $1 million in labor cost
(on a project) there are about
1,000 decisions that have to
made. Projects of this size fail
because of "decision latency" -
- the time it takes to make each
decision”
Jim Johnson
Chairman of The Standish Group
and professor at the Antwerp
Management School
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11. Reality:
Sharing is not enough
You must communicate well enough
to take action and make quick
decisions
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12. Audience Poll
What does your handoff marketing
meeting agenda look like?

13. Hand-offs are hard:
Situation
Background
Assessment
Recommendation
“Failures in hand-off communication can result in a
sequence of misadventures and adverse events which
can include medication errors, medical complications,
readmissions and even loss of life.”
Ana Pujols McKee, MD
Executive VP and CMO
The Joint Commission, 2017

14. Product
Manager
Time Product
Marketer
“I want to build products
that delight my customers.
My goal is to pass the
product facts on to
marketing, and get working
on the next release”
“I don’t want to have
another meeting and review
another draft.”
“I want to receive the
information, and get
working on the telling a
great story”
“I don’t want to go back and
ask for more details”
Finite resource,
everyone only gets
24 hours each day

15. The Product SBAR
Scope
Big Value
Assets
Relay & right
Avoids setting incorrect expectations or
just providing flat out wrong information
to internal and external audiences

16. Product Intended Use:
1. What is the product category?
− E.g. enterprise medical recorder, ride-
sharing service
2. What problem(s) does it solve?
− E.g. “Reduces revenue lost attributed
to e-shopping cart abandonment”
3. Who is it for?
− E.g. “Residents and fellows at
teaching hospitals with significant
volume of general surgery, colorectal
and bariatric procedures.”
Release Objectives:
1. What are the business motivations for this
release?
− E.g. Competitive response, enter a new
market, line extension to support….
2. What are the measurable objectives?
− E.g. % market share, conversion % of old
release customers, $ revenue from new
features….
Step #2 | “What’s the product’s SCOPE?”
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Availability
• When will it be available
• Where will it be available
• Named markets

17. Product
Manager
Guard Rails Product
Marketer
“I want to make sure I
communicate effectively
that this product does not
have the same feature set
functionality of its higher
priced counterpart.”
E.g. LiveStream® in nCare® vs. EasySuite® 4K
“I want to make sure I
understand which medical
devices are most relevant
to our target audience,
within the long list of
devices that are compatible
with this product”
E.g. Surgical Endoscopy vs. OR environments

18. Product Value Proposition
• What are key benefits
• How does it differ from named
competitors or competitive
categories?
– Parity, Strength, or weakness
Feature / Benefit by Persona
• Most important features
• WIIFM
− What value does it bring to the
customer?
− How does this persona use the product?
− Why is this benefit most important to the
customer?
Step #3 | “What’s the product’s BIGGEST VALUE Proposition”
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Be sure to highlight:
• What’s unique
• What’s new
What not to say is just as important
• What’s not new
• What subjects to avoid
• What should not be said

19. Rough Draft
Our image recorder makes it
easy to capture HD and 4K
images in jpeg format and
collect high-quality
MP4 videos
Value Proposition
Polished
For a physician who needs
to view, record, and
compare high-definition
medical video and high-
resolution images, the
enterprise medical recorder
can be deployed nearly
anywhere, from an
endoscopic cart to an
equipment boom. Unlike..
Find it by answering…
• Who’s it for ?
• What’s the problem(s) we solve
or the customer need(s)?
• What kind of product is this?
• What are the key benefit(s)?
• Who are the key competitors and
how are we different ?
First ask…
“If I am the ideal prospect, why
should I buy from you rather than
your competitors?”
Make sure it has…
• Appeal
• Exclusivity
• Credibility
• Clarity

20. Audience Poll
What type of information is most
valuable to you at the hand-off?
A. Quantitative
B. Qualitative
C. Use Case Stories
D. Any kind I can get!
E. All of the above

21. Qualitative and Quantitative facts are the building blocks of every story
Step #4 | “What are the product’s Assets”
Validation:
• Testimonials
• Customers, KOL, Analysts
• Certifications
• Published Studies
Proof:
• Improvement results
• Data & Metrics
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22. Quantitative Qualitative Ready-made
Stories
$117,750
Annual hospital savings using
product averaging 3 procedures a
day and 250 days per year.
The OR staff at northeast MA
community hospital play movies for
kids on HD monitors controlled by
handheld touch screens to help put
kids at ease before surgery.
“It is a decision I have never ever
regretted. Our videos, our editing
system, our presentations are the
envy of the academic neurosurgical
world, and that really all has to do
with this particular investment.”
Robert Spetzler, MD
President & CEO
Emeritus Chair, Neurosurgery
Barrow Neurological Institute

23. Help anticipate challenges:
• What not to say and why
• Customer expectations
• Market factors determining your
judgment
FAQs:
• What will customers ask?
• What will sales ask?
Step #5 | Relay domain knowledge
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Be open to Receive recommendations from marketing based on:
• Internal forcing functions
• External events (i.e. tradeshows)

24. Value Proposition
Claims
Stories
Right message to be concise and consistent

25. Summary: Communications
Communication
Norms
Scope Biggest Value Assets Relay & Right
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26. Our tool: Product Value Template (SBAR)
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27. Senior Product Manager
https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/Home/Home?partnerid=26088&siteid=5535#jobDetails=447160_5535
Product Manager
https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/Home/Home?partnerid=26088&siteid=5535#jobDetails=459184_5535
Director-level position to be opened soon – contact Laura Holly if interested
Job Opportunities in System Integration
http://medical.olympusamerica.com/about/careers

28. ProductCamp Boston has set up surveys for attendees to provide feedback on
this session.
Please complete the survey online by clicking on the FEEDBACKSURVEY link
in this session’s description page at
http://www.productcampboston.org/2018sessions
Session Feedback
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29. Contact Information
Laura Holly
Global Director, Upstream Marketing & Product Management
Global Systems Integration
Olympus Corporation of the Americas
Email: lholly@imagestreammedical.com
LinkedIn: /lauraholly/
W. Jeffrey Rice
Marketing Manager
Global Systems Integration
Olympus Corporation of the Americas
Email: jrice@imagestreammedical.com
LinkedIn: /wjeffreyrice/ @PCampBoston
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