Zoom is a company experiencing rapid growth due to its optimization of telehealth and virtual care. Despite Zoom being originally a video conference platform, Zoom now holds 36% of the US national telehealth market, with the industry projected to grow to $150.1 billion by 2030 (23.8% CAGR). Zoom's growth has not only been driven by strategic marketing but also through partnerships and integrations, such as with AI-driven clinical documentation tools (e.g., Suki). On the marketing side, it has touted values of trust, reliability, and compliance, marketing its HIPAA-compliant platform as secure and dependable. Furthermore, they have also expanded their use case beyond just patient visits to provider-to-provider communication, medical training, and virtual health education. 

Zoom has also leveraged content-based marketing by distributing webinars and hosting virtual events to build thought leadership and demonstrate real-world use cases of its platform, enabling potential clients to visualize practical applications. 

At the core of Zoom's growth has also been the ability to scale its infrastructure rapidly in response to sudden demand. For example, during the pandemic, it swiftly responded to user needs, supporting their air of reliability. However, as they watch their success, people have raised questions about how Zoom will fare in the long term, once pandemic-driven demand has stabilized. Should Zoom begin to pivot from marketing efforts on trust and data privacy to tech features and user experience now? Regardless of how Zoom fares, its progress thus far already demonstrates how effective marketing, built on credibility, adaptability, and partnerships, can drive growth in emerging healthcare markets. 

Novo Nordisk has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, due to the success of its drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. The company’s market value and revenue increased significantly in both 2023 and 2024, with annual revenue reaching $33.72 billion in 2023 (a 34.59% increase from 2022) and $42.11 billion in 2024, a further 24.86% increase. Ozempic was originally developed and marketed as a diabetes treatment and its popularity skyrocketed when users began reporting weight loss as a side effect. This effect gained widespread attention through celebrity endorsements and viral social media exposure. To capitalize on this increased demand, Novo Nordisk launched Wegovy in 2021, a higher dose version of Ozempic containing the same active ingredient (semaglutide), and marketed it specifically for weight management rather than diabetes.

In order to strengthen its market position, Novo Nordisk has employed several marketing strategies. One technique they use is offering Ozempic and Wegovy directly to consumers at discounted prices for those unable to access the drugs through insurance, helping the company stay competitive against similar products. Additionally, Novo Nordisk invests heavily in direct-to-consumer digital advertising and celebrity driven campaigns that aim to create an emotional connection with potential patients by sharing real success stories. For Wegovy in particular, the company uses a disease-focused messaging strategy, framing obesity as a chronic condition rather than lack of willpower.

Although Novo Nordisk is expected to continue growing through Ozempic and Wegovy, it's predicted that this growth may begin to slow as competition in the weight-loss drug market intensifies.

Dexcom is another company that has been doing great and growing. It’s a business known for its continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, and has had impressive development in recent years. With the help of international growth and expanded insurance coverage, their income climbed from about $2.5 billion in 2021 to over $4 billion in 2024. Interestingly, Dexcom's marketing focuses on empowerment as opposed to merely medical treatment. Instead of concentrating only on glucose readings, their advertisements feature actual people utilizing CGMs to "live life without limits." They're selling independence and quality of life rather than just a medical technology, which is a small but a significant change and it maintains clinical trust.

Should more medical device companies focus on lifestyle marketing, in your opinion, or may that make it harder to distinguish between consumer branding and medical necessity?

The medical device market demonstrates a consistently robust market growth rate, fueled by global demographic and technological trends. The global market size is typically valued in the hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars and is projected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) generally ranging from 6% to 7% over the forecast period (up to 2034, according to recent estimates). This expansion is primarily driven by the aging global population, which increases the prevalence of chronic diseases requiring advanced diagnostics and treatments. Furthermore, rapid technological innovation, including the integration of AI, robotics, and connected wearable devices, creates new product categories and replacement cycles. The growth is also significantly supported by increasing healthcare expenditure worldwide and favorable regulatory initiatives, such as the FDA's Breakthrough Devices Program, which accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge medical solutions. Emerging global markets like the Asia-Pacific region are expected to grow at an even faster pace due to improving healthcare infrastructure and rising disposable incomes.