THE CHALLENGE:
Customers were concerned about Varian Services’ overall responsiveness and value of their service agreements. How can we educate them on how to get the most out of their contract benefits, and do it in a new, attention-grabbing way that will alleviate their concerns?

THE SOLUTION:
Humanizing the plan gives us countless opportunities to bring all of its benefits to vibrant life, imbuing personality and interest into our communications while at the same time educating customers about their service agreement.

We bestowed a truly personal, human connection to our products through our PremierAssurance DreamTeam: a friendly assembly of professional experts who are at-the-ready and at-a-clinic’s-command to help keep operations running smoothly.

THE PRODUCTION:
There was a huge challenge when our concept went into production. How do we move two giant radiotherapy machines into a custom designed environment that served as the DreamTeam’s headquarters?

The answer: An amazing cast and crew, bespoke wardrobe design, a 3-D environment, BOLT Motion Control Robot, Unreal Engine integration, and a virtual production studio.

Collaborating extensively with our production partners, we discussed, planned, visualized, and worked through every detail prior to entering the studio on shoot day.

With all those factors already in place, we were able to focus on how our DreamTeam actors performed, bringing out the humanity and personal touch of Varian Services while also directing them around an unseen, 3-D environment we custom-created in pre-production.

The results far exceeded the client’s expectations, and so did the experience we gained by utilizing all the innovative video production technology we enlisted for this shoot.

THE CHALLENGE:
Convince men with BPH they can get long-lasting relief without the issues or concerns associated with well-known, alternative treatments.

THE SOLUTION:
For men suffering from BPH, their confidence wains, virility declines, and the lifestyle they’ve enjoyed takes a back seat to the constant issues of their condition. We decided to focus our campaign messaging on how Aquablation therapy puts men back in the driver’s seat of their lives. Not only fixing BPH’s physical issues, but also helping them reclaim all the facets of what makes a man, a man.

We developed print ads, brochures, collateral, and a new website to highlight how this minimally-invasive procedure treats the whole man, not just his prostate, allowing all men to get back to the things they love the most in their lives.

THE CHALLENGE:
Position three specific cochlear implant products under one all-encompassing campaign (The Marvel platform) with Phonak, the world’s leader in hearing aids.

THE SOLUTION:
A new brand strategy centered on the importance of connection and how without sound that connection is lost. The creative highlighted emotional moments of human connection in life that are made possible again thanks to AB’s technology for hearing-impaired patients. This led to the creation of our core campaign headline: “Connect with the moments you love.”

Sound connects us. It helps immerse us in our world and build strong relationships with the ones we love. Those thoughts guided a photo shoot creating warm, personal, engaging content that would appeal to patients, while also incorporating an environmental background in our designs that feels immersive and connects people with the world around them.

We wrote, storyboarded, co-directed, and produced three individual videos: one for the umbrella AB brand, and two for individual products (adult and pediatric cochlear implants). The videos included a mix of live action, animation, and 3-D rendering and were all translated into eight different languages—resulting in the biggest launch for Advanced Bionics in a decade.

THE RESULTS:
34% traffic increase year-over-year (compared to the same period the previous year).

THE CHALLENGE:
Position Varian as the one company that has the command of technology and data across all oncology.

THE SOLUTION:
Intelligent Cancer Care (ICC) is Varian Medical System’s information-driven network of next generation oncology solutions that bring people, data, and technology together to manage a more intelligent approach to cancer care.

Tasked with bringing ICC to life, we collaborated Varian’s internal marketing teams, product development innovators, and C-suite executives in creating launch materials that heralded the coming of the world’s next wave of progress in oncology.

The creative executions that followed the launch took a deeper dive into the tenets of Intelligent Cancer Care: highlighting through film, online, print, trade shows, and social media how the future of advanced, smarter, patient-centered cancer treatment is finally here.

THE CHALLENGE:
Introduce a new, advanced cancer treatment machine without igniting a features war with competitors.

THE SOLUTION:
We took inspiration from the meaning of ethos—the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community; its beliefs and aspirations—to create our initial marketing materials. So we decided not to rely on the expected route of showcasing beauty shots of the product.

Instead, we built intrigue by starting out with messaging, visuals, and identity that spoke to Ethos as being a completely new belief system—a true paradigm shift in how the world will fight cancer from here on out. A turning point in history where human expertise and high technology converge, triggering a moment (The Moment of Ethos) where things will never be the same.

THE CHALLENGE:
Build differentiation in the minds of all oncologists for a much-needed advancement in treatment planning and delivery that fills a gap in complex treatment plans.

THE SOLUTION:
Inspired by the rotating motion of Varian’s radiotherapy machines, we landed on the idea of their new solution, RapidArc Dynamic, as being a turning point for arc therapy. Creative work began by developing a dramatic graphic depiction of the two treatment modalities used in arc therapy (VMAT and IMRT) coming together.

An anthem video was scripted, storyboarded, and produced to showcase RapidArc Dynamic’s revolutionary advancements and the profound impact it will have in helping oncologists fight cancer.

We developed print, landing pages, product brochures, animated ad units, and tradeshow displays to introduce RapidArc Dynamic to the world. Our key art also turned all internal presentation materials into show-stopping content for hundreds of Varian stakeholders.

KUDOS:

“RapidArc Dynamic is a key innovation for us, and the campaign needed to capture its transformative potential effectively. The feedback from both our team and customers has been outstanding, describing it as inspiring and perfectly aligned with the product’s vision. We’re thrilled with the results and proud to showcase these assets as part of the RapidArc Dynamic story.”

— Kevin Sullivan, Director of Product Marketing at Varian

THE CHALLENGE:
In a highly-competitive category, position Advanced Bionics as the best solution in the minds of hearing care professionals and patients with advanced hearing loss.

THE SOLUTION:
Advanced Bionics approached us with the desire to create a testimonial series featuring the emotional stories of their cochlear implant recipients. In a category full of patient testimonials that all followed a formulaic, expected style and format, we felt there was a deeper and more impactful way to bring these amazing stories to life.

Through our in-depth research and conversations with our client, one truth always resonated with us: The person who has lost their hearing is not the only person that suffers from hearing loss. This insight led us to approach testimonials in an entirely fresh way. We concepted a campaign that allowed cochlear implant recipients to hear their story through the personal experience and voice of a loved one who had a unique, poignant perspective on their hearing journey.

These are stories about connection. About losing and finding connection again. And when connection to the people and the moments we share is tested due to hearing loss. These were their stories but also moments we can all relate to. We called this campaign “The Moment”.

Our creative executions included over 40 videos, internal and external launch materials, and a dedicated website.

THE CHALLENGE:
For over 70 years, Varian Medical Systems has been solely known as the world leader in building radiotherapy machines. So how do you convince today’s oncologists that Varian is not only the leader in cancer-fighting hardware, but also an innovative pioneer in software solutions.

THE SOLUTION:
Our creative work began by developing a graphic representation of Varian’s ARIA CORE information management software. Inspired by the complete continuum of care ARIA CORE provides, we embraced the boundaryless, multi-dimensional nature of a mobius to evoke the seamless journey a cancer patient travels while undergoing treatment.

ARIA CORE is an all-in-one solution—containing every piece of patient information a clinician needs in a single location. Concepting our additional creative assets, we landed on the idea of a continual, steady flow of data points streaming through our mobius icon—representing ARIA CORE’s capabilities of streamlining a clinician’s treatment workflow.

KUDOS:

“Everything from the icon, animated ad lob, and PowerPoint slides to the messaging was exactly what we hoped it would be and more. We are super proud of all the assets produced. ARIA is one of our flagship products, so there was always going to be a lot of scrutiny in getting this brand right. We had such great feedback from Varian people and customers saying they love it, it gave them chills watching the video, and how the new brand is very modern.”

—Selina Elliott, Director, Global Commercial Strategy & Marketing at Varian

THE CHALLENGE:
Position the MISHA knee system as the revolutionary and only effective option for treating patients who are beyond being helped by conservative therapies for knee osteoarthritis (OA).

THE SOLUTION:
In the world of osteoarthritis treatment, physicians historically present patients with two choices: inefficient non-surgical options or total knee replacement.

Moximed introduces a groundbreaking, highly-effective third option—an implantable shock absorber. Our concept’s goal was to empower physicians to opt for MISHA and understand that: “It’s Your Move.”

KUDOS:

“Mortar did an amazing job pulling key insights from our clinician and patient research. The team then translated those findings into a creative strategy and compelling marketing platform for our product launch. I’ve always been impressed with the creative and impactful work produced by Mortar, and they came through once again.”

—Keith Fong, VP Marketing and Business Development

THE CHALLENGE:
The status quo in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is to treat the symptoms to bring relief to the patient. How do you introduce rheumatologists to the first device-based therapy that targets the root cause of RA rather than its symptoms?

THE SOLUTION:
Our conceptual stage began with the fact that SetPoint is a non-pharmaceutical treatment that activates the immune system to restore the body’s natural balance. We saw an opportunity to market SetPoint’s novel new implant as a call-to-action for rheumatologists: essentially that the time has now come to “Start Activating.”

This led us to landing on a fresh, ownable headline and campaign direction whereby we could engage our audience with myriad ways to do just that:

Start Activating the advancement of the field of rheumatology.
Start Activating the body’s innate neuroimmune pathways.
Start Activating the only medical device proven to effectively treat RA.

KUDOS:

“When we chose to partner with Mortar for our launch, we wanted a branding platform that would differentiate us. I can undoubtedly say you guys got the brief and delivered an amazing platform for us to build on during the early years of our launch.” 

— Ankit Shah, Vice President of Marketing, SetPoint Medical

Together with Siemens Healthineers, Varian Medical Systems saw an opportunity to innovate and build more intelligence into the world’s cancer treatment rooms by elevating image quality within their LINAC delivery systems.

They were committed to ensuring the entire oncology care team gets high-quality imaging where it might matter most—inside the treatment room. Not only would this breakthrough innovation produce immediate benefits for clinicians, but the seamless integration of imaging into LINACS will also unlock further options and possibilities in radiation therapy.

Most importantly, enhanced imaging benefits the patient. More comfort, less waiting, less stress, fewer appointments. That makes a difficult process a little more bearable.

Getting the above detailed product information and its advantages from Varian, as well as the expertise from Mortar’s strategy team, there was only one creative headline that would announce the superlative imaging capabilities of their new innovation and also summarize the importance of this technology in making an impact in the fight against cancer:

HyperSight is: A REVOLUTION IN RESOLUTION