Grassroots Marketing for Dr. Stitch Share: Vertigo Media Group Score Awaiting client review n/a Date Published 13 July 2018 Reading Time 2-Minute Read Large Plastic Surgeon engaged Vertigo Media Group to increase their visibility as an option for stitches. Challenge Stitches represent an excellent source of income for plastic surgeons. Despite having considerable expertise, the Long Island Plastic Surgical Group was doing very little business in this service category. They engaged Vertigo to increase their visibility as an option for stitches and to increase the number of incoming calls requesting stitch work. Insight Our research showed that potential customers didn’t have a particular reason to think of the surgical group when an emergency arose. A crucial market segment the group was missing out on was children’s sports injuries that require stitches—these are cases which typically cause anxiety or panic, with parents often allowing whoever is on call at the emergency room to perform the work. Solution Vertigo developed the successful “Dr. Stitch” campaign, which used grassroots marketing to sponsor local sports teams. By focusing our efforts on sports with a high “stitch ratio” —such as hockey, soccer, and swimming—we were able to create a new conversation. Families of young athletes were provided with keychain tags featuring the contact information for the surgical group, putting the solution into prospects’ hands before an accident occurred. The tags and campaign used the tagline “Accidents Happen. When They Do, Call Dr. Stitch.” Result After the campaign took hold, the surgery group’s incoming calls soared from an average of 8 to 56 per month. This has been accompanied by a consistent increase in referral business.