Dexcom helps diabetes patients 'know more, prick less'

Dexcom launched an awareness and marketing campaign for its new glucose monitor this January.

Image via Dexcom on YouTube
Image via Dexcom on YouTube

SAN DIEGO: Dexcom, a developer of diabetes management devices, launched a campaign for its first-of-its-kind wearable and mobile-connected glucose monitor.

The campaign - Know more. Prick less. - began last month and will run through the end of the year. Dexcom is using the entire spectrum of digital, social, and traditional media to inform diabetics about Dexcom G5, including TV ads and print ads, social media promotion, and a partnership with influencers in the online diabetes community.

"A universal truth in diabetes is that finger sticks are such an awful part of diabetes management, and part of why diabetics don’t manage it well and have complications," said Mike Bloom, VP of marketing at Dexcom. "We want to make them aware of what our product does and the benefits to help people avoid these complications."

The main difference between Dexcom G5 and other glucose monitors is fewer finger pricks are needed, and there is less pain to track one's blood sugar levels. Appropriately, the TV ads for the campaign focus on fingers, asking, "Wouldn’t it be great if we could prick them less often?"

The device is a sensor that sits under the skin and sends glucose readings to a meter or an app on a smartphone for diabetics to track their blood sugar. It’s the first device of its kind approved by the FDA for monitoring glucose, so Dexcom needs to first inform consumers what it is and how it works. To do that, the company is educating diabetics on social media with #DiscoverDexcom.

"We’re making them aware that it exists," Bloom said. "Once they hear about it, they’re immediately drawn to it and interested in it."

Dexcom worked with Allison+Partners and ad agency Marcus Thomas on the campaign. Bloom said the campaign is the largest direct-to-consumer campaign in company history.

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