Case study: ResMed

Sleep evangelist

CEO delivers sermon on sleep to DOT officials and long-haul truck drivers, gaining recognition of the importance of treating the cause of sleep apnea, not just the symptoms.

ResMed, the world's leading manufacturer of products to treat obstructive sleep apnea, needed ways to raise its image and credibility in the investment community and beyond. The Cook & Schmid team alerted ResMed's CEO that federal regulators were missing a key component of drowsy drivers: 78 percent of truck drivers suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, a sleeping disorder affecting 20 million Americans. It wasn't necessarily the quantity of sleep the truckers were getting, it was the poor quality.

The agency developed a three-pronged approach to position the CEO as an expert and evangelist on issues related to sleep: present testimony at a Department of Transportation public hearing on truck drivers asleep at the wheel; placed a bylined article in several of the dailies in cities hosting DOT hearings; organized meeetings with legislators in Washington, D.C. The ResMed CEO’s testimony prompted a flood of calls to the company, the bylined article immediately increased traffic to the company's website, and reprints of stories and white papers quoted by key media and analysts helped differentiate ResMed from the competition. ResMed is now on bigger and more important radar screens.