You could describe them as everyday heroes: the dentists and dental professionals who, through their dedication, professional skill or simply a friendly smile, manage to transform a dental appointment into a positive event. They do this simply because they care and want to make sure their patients feel comfortable.
It is precisely this aspect that will be the focus of W&H’s new image campaign ‘From a patient to a fan’, which will shine a spotlight not on the company itself, but on dentists and their teams. We interviewed Anita Thallinger, W&H Marketing Director, about the background, objectives and challenges of this new advertising campaign.
In February 2018, the new W&H image campaign will be launched on the global dental market. What objectives did you set yourself for the new campaign?
Anita Thallinger: One of our objectives was, of course to draw the attention of the world of dentistry to W&H, and to make ourselves stand out from the competition in the long term by way of the new image campaign.
But we also want to show dentists and their practice teams that W&H is there for them as a solutions provider and does its utmost to support them in overcoming their day-to-day challenges.
As mentioned in the introduction, W&H’s new image campaign ‘From a patient to a fan’ will not be focussing on the company itself, but on dentists and their teams. Why did you opt for this approach in your campaign?
Anita Thallinger: We want our customers, i.e. dentists and their practice teams, to know that W&H values their work, their dedication and their skills. As a manufacturer of innovative dental solutions, it is our aim to provide users with products that bring added value when used. As the practice team need to give patients their undivided attention throughout the entire treatment process, W&H sees that its primary task as optimising and facilitating the workflow. Our innovative products are not only high in quality, they are also intuitive, reliable and above all precise in their functioning. Our intention is to support dentists and their teams and offer them products that meet these requirements.
This campaign features smiling dentists and patients, happy faces. What makes your current campaign different from that of your competitors?
Anita Thallinger: It’s true, compared to the previous campaign, the new image campaign seems at first glance to be going down a very traditional route. However, W&H is known for its slightly tongue-in-cheek advertisements. You’ll notice this in the current campaign if you take a closer look at the name tags of the dentists pictured.
If someone is exceptionally good at something, or becomes synonymous with something, they become the epitome of it, thereby gaining fans. W&H is using this approach in the new campaign: in the eyes of patients, the dentists pictured in the advertisements become Dr. Phil Good, Dr. X. Pert, Dr. I. Novativ, Dr. S. Mile, Dr. I Trust or Dr. Sue Perstar, and thus become the living embodiment of trust, well-being, expertise, happiness or innovative spirit.
During production of the campaign, you did not resort to using conventional models, but instead used colleagues from your own company. Why did you opt for this approach, and how did your colleagues feel about the photo shoot?
Anita Thallinger: At W&H, the concept of togetherness plays an important role. Our employees are in contact with at least one area of dentistry every day. They enjoyed the change of perspective and putting themselves in our customers’ shoes. For the photo shoot itself, we were able to find three dentists in Salzburg who offered up their modern facilities as a set. The dentists and their assistants were also on hand to offer advice during production – that’s why the images look so authentic. I think the fun that all the participants had in the process is evident from the emotion in the pictures.
Have you already received some initial feedback on the image campaign from your customers and partners? What has the response been like?
Anita Thallinger: We carried out a survey involving around 100 dentists during the development phase. The concept in itself, the idea with the name tags and many other aspects were put to the test, and received excellent feedback across the board. So we’re looking forward to an exciting 2018.