Kick start your practice in 2005 with CDA

If your New Year's resolution is to concentrate on more cosmetic dentistry, then the umbrella marketing group Cosmetic Dentists of Australia (CDA) may be able to help. In 2004, CDA's advertising campaigns on television and in large circulation consumer magazines directed over 3,000 cosmetically focused patients to its member's practices.

The 2005 campaign kicks off on February 1 with a combination of magazine advertisements, TV commercials and direct mail to high net worth consumers. The campaign will grow throughout the year using other mediums such as radio and PR. The other big change for this year's campaign is the addition of local advertising to augment the national campaign.

"We did trials last year that showed a CDA branded local newspaper advertisement drew up to three times the number of enquires as the same advert just carrying the practice or dentist name," said CDA founder Carl Burroughs. "CDA is gaining brand awareness and when a potential patient sees a CDA advert in their local paper, they are more likely to respond as they have already seen the TV commercial or an advert in Vogue."

Mr Burroughs said that the team at CDA will be maintaining the marketing initiatives that were successful last year as well as exploring new ways to improve both the volume and quality of the patients delivered to CDA members.

"Last year was a big success, but we can always do better," he said. "One of the problems we encountered last year was the fact that a campaign of this nature has never been done in Australia before and the advertising agencies we spoke to had little or no experience in dental patient motivation. The advantage we have this year is that after handling thousands of patient enquires and studying which adverts created the best inquires, we now have real data to draw upon to improve the 2005 campaign".

According to Mr Burroughs, a key factor that was obvious in the data is the high level of demand across all social and economic groups for improved dental appearance. Potential patients surveyed felt that a beautiful smile would greatly enhance their life and they did not regard cosmetic dental work as narcissistic in the same way many people consider cosmetic surgery. The cost of high-level dental work, however, is an issue to the market in general.

The research also showed that a large number of patients who would like a smile makeover, when presented with a large figure for the treatment, consider it out of reach.

"The same person will buy a new car for twice the price of their proposed dental work," Mr Burroughs said, "or take a holiday or buy some other form of expensive luxury goods. The current difference between dentistry and all the other 'commodities' that compete with a dentist's treatment plan for the patient's dollar is that just about everything these days is offered as a monthly repayment.

"No one really shops for a car based on the overall cost because the majority of people do not pay cash; rather, the car they purchase is largely determined by the amount they can afford to pay out of their wage.

"For this reason, potential patients of CDA will now be given the option of the new DFS 'SmileCard' smile now pay later product that has just been launched.

"With some dental treatment plans costing the equivalent of a deposit on a small unit or a luxury holiday, it makes perfect sense that we provide the sort of facility the patient would be offered when buying anything else. This SMILECARD finance facility, we believe, will substantially increase the market size for CDA members, plus ensure they receive payment upfront."