MARKETING CHALLENGE:
Increase sales of exam gloves and meet sales quotas
Launch a new product and create buzz to boost the brand image at the same time.

PRODUCT LINE:

Medical Examination Gloves
(yawn)

BACKGROUND:
Medline is the leading provider of healthcare supplies and equipment to the long term care market. One of their product lines is gloves. They had already delivered latex gloves to the market for 40+ years, added a strong and durable line to deal with high-risk and high-stress settings, expanded with vinyl for the low cost market and the latex intolerant and even added aloe to the inner coating to soothe and moisturize. Management was struggling to come up with an innovative product that could both enhance the line and draw more attention to their brand.

CONCEPT:
Support a charity.

Get one or more Customers to participate and produce a viral video.
The charity: The National Breast Cancer Foundation
The product: http://www.medline.com/breast-cancer-awareness/pink-glove.asp
The Customer: Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR USA
The video: (see below)

THE GIVING:
Medline has donated almost a half million dollars to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to provide education and free mammograms to those in need.

THE EARLY RESULTS:
The Charity: Thanks to the increased exposure and awareness, donations increased by 9% during the past  month period not including those donations made by Medline.

The product: According to internal sources, sales quotas have been exceeded for the quarter but exact numbers were not yet available.

The Customer: More than 200 employees of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center took part in the team building event which strengthened moral and brought many diverse groups together to support the project.

The Pink Glove Dance video has been viewed more than 8 million times on You Tube!