Abbott’s Diabetes Care business earns double recognition at the Healthcare Asia Medtech Awards 2023 for Innovative Marketing and Customer Experiences

With its user-generated content and in-store experience centres, Abbott’s Diabetes Care has created a best-in-class user experience that sets a new benchmark for the healthcare industry.

Abbott has been recognised at the 2023 Healthcare Asia Medtech Awards, bagging both the Marketing & Communications Initiative of the Year - Australia and the Most Differentiated Service of the Year - China accolades. 

Abbott’s Diabetes Care ANZ team is recognised for its outstanding achievement in connecting the hearts and minds of people living with diabetes in Australia. The programme was developed to harness the power of user-generated content and build a more authentic relationship between the FreeStyle Libre^® brand and its customers.

Abbott engaged over 30 FreeStyle Libre users as ambassadors, representing a diverse range of ages, life stages, and demographics, to showcase the benefits of FreeStyle Libre through their social media channels. These brand ambassadors completed monthly surveys and provided images showing them using the system in situ, which were then used to develop a series of emails that highlighted their experiences. These emails were deployed each month across all stages of the customer lifecycle to support broader reach and retention.

The programme resulted in a significant incremental sales uplift against the baseline and an average high double-digit click-through rate (vs. the 15% benchmark across all industries). The lived experience style communications helped reinforce and create strong emotional connections with the FreeStyle Libre brand, moving beyond its functional benefits. The programme also served as a solid base to drive retention and continuous sensor usage, shifting infrequent to more frequent glucose monitoring.

Participants living with diabetes shared their appreciation for being involved in this opportunity, which enabled them to share their own lived experiences and build trust with prospects and occasional users, helping them overcome some of their diabetes and glucose monitoring challenges. 

In-Store Experiences for Improved Customer Value

For the Most Differentiated Service of the Year Award, Abbott’s Diabetes Care team in China is recognised for its innovative approach to improving customer value through in-store experiences for FreeStyle Libre, a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system.

Since the introduction of FreeStyle Libre in China in 2017, Abbott has focused on improving the lives of people living with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes by addressing unmet needs and solving problems related to consumer product onboarding experiences and the value proposition to drive quality acquisition and retention.

To achieve this, Abbott’s Diabetes Care team in China partnered with local pharmacies to establish 100+ in-store experience centres, providing face-to-case assistance for FreeStyle Libre customers. This 1:1 experience improved user engagement by providing a real-time demonstration of the technology’s benefits beyond the product features. A dedicated team of experts (Doctors/Dietitians/Customer Service) provided real-time consultations and coaching using the WeChat platform during the customer's first two weeks of FreeStyle Libre use.

As a result, the impact of this programme on the business was immediate and significant, with achievements including a 60% new user conversion rate on average. The initiative generated three times the average sales per month compared to online purchases. By providing a live experience specific to the technology and personalised for each user, the centres were able to attract offline traffic and connect with offline consumers.

By the end of 2021, the initiative had achieved 150% of its offline sales target. This was due in part to the expansion of the chronic disease management partnership with pharmacies, which enhanced the Go-to-Market model advantages and helped to release increasing online competitive pressure.

This service helped to establish a seamless offline channel to build a go-to-market advantage and resulted in improved consumer onboarding experiences and value propositions. The programme aimed to convert consumers and maximise retention and provided a best-in-class user experience, motivating patients to understand the importance of glucose monitoring. 

Abbott's innovative programmes in diabetes management have set a high standard in the MedTech industry, inspiring similar initiatives in other markets worldwide.