iHear Medical
Crowdfunding a Start-up In Stealth Mode
BACKGROUND
One in 10 people suffer from hearing loss, but only 1 out of 5 use a hearing aid. The main barrier to using a hearing aid is typically cost and stigma. iHear Medical is out to address these problems by introducing the world’s first web-enabled hearing aid starting at $199.
As a company operating in stealth mode, iHear Medical had no existing client base to leverage. To launch the product, iHear Medical turned to Plinth to devise their crowdfunding campaign strategy.
OBJECTIVES
- Reach elderly customers who weren't usualy online
- Build a customer base from scratch
STRATEGY
- Partner with hearing advocate groups to reach elderly customers
- Create a customer base with a cause marketing campaign
- Create a video that would tell a compelling story
CREATING A VIDEO TO RALLY PEOPLE TO A GREAT CAUSE
To help set the stage for the crowdfunding campaign we created a video which explained the problem that iHear Medical was out to solve and how backers would be an integral part of the solution to a growing problem.
THE "HEARING FOR ALL" MARKETING CAMPAIGN
iHear Medical is all about helping people in need. To reinforce their mission and generate buzz we created the "Hearing For All" campaign. We designed the campaign so that for every hearing aid purchased, another hearing aid is given to somebody in need. This would form the back bone of a new customer base.
DEVELOPING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS TO GET THE WORD OUT
Since iHear Medical was a company in steal mode without a social media base, we partnered with hearing advocacy groups to help promote the crowdfunding campaign. This lead to news of the campaign spreading throughout many blogs and a major spike in backers.
WITH A GOAL OF $65,000, OUR CAMPAIGN RAISED OVER $240,000 WHICH WAS 365% OF THEIR INITIAL GOAL.
DO YOU NEED A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN FOR YOUR NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE?
