Interview with Ann Rule, Rayovac Marketing Manager
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Topic: Rayovac's Hearing Professional of the Year
Ann Rule
CAROLYN SMAKA: This is Carolyn Smaka from AudiologyOnline and I am speaking with Ann Rule of Rayovac about the Rayovac Hearing Professional of the Year program. Thanks for your time today, Ann. Before we talk about this great program, could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
ANN RULE: It's great to be here, Carolyn. I am Marketing Manager at Rayovac, focusing on our hearing aid battery business in North America. I have been at Rayovac for 14 years and have worked with the hearing aid battery aspect of the business for the last 5 years, both on the professional side and on the retail side. Currently, as Marketing Manager, my job is to develop products and programs that promote batteries and hearing health awareness.
SMAKA: Where is Rayovac located?
RULE: We are located in Madison, Wisconsin. That's where Rayovac initially began over 100 years ago. Our batteries are actually manufactured in Portage, Wisconsin, which is about 40 miles north of Madison.
SMAKA: Now, let's talk about your new program. How did the Rayovac Hearing Professional of the Year program come about?
RULE: The Hearing Professional of the Year program that we're launching in the U.S. is founded on rewarding and recognizing excellence in the hearing industry. We've had great success with a similar program in the European market for the last two years, and we want to build on that success and bring it to the US.
The program is about recognizing those hearing professionals that are interacting with patients every day and are contributing on many different levels, professionally and personally, to the hearing industry's good name and reputation.
SMAKA: This program runs through 2010, right? How are people nominated and selected?
RULE: It is for 2010, yes. The nomination process is simple. We are asking consumers to nominate hearing professionals. There is also a way for hearing professionals and other office personnel to nominate their peers, but the real focus is on consumers nominating their professional caregiver. We have a website, www.hearingprofessionaloftheyear.com that supports this program for online nominations, we have printed brochures and other materials that will be out in the market, mostly in hearing care offices, and patients can contact us directly for printed materials as well.
A panel of judges will then review all of the nominations, select the finalists, and ultimately choose the National Hearing Professional of the Year.
SMAKA: I think consumers will love this. Some patients like to write letters to their clinician to show their gratitude, and this is another way for them to show their appreciation.
RULE: Yes, I agree. We have already received a good reception to the program. Everyone wants to share a good experience, and if that experience involved a caregiver, you want to acknowledge that person and show your appreciation. This program gives patients an avenue to do that, and for professionals, it is an opportunity for recognition in the industry as well.
SMAKA: We know from research that most people that purchase hearing instruments are pleased with their hearing care professional, so I think this is great PR for the profession.
RULE: Exactly. That's what we've learned through the program in Europe. It's been so well received and picked up by a lot of consumer magazines, even outside our traditional trade media, that it helps give the industry a boost. It's something positive.
Everyone likes to hear about people being rewarded, or accolades being given. I think it makes you feel good when you're the receiver, but it also makes you feel good when you're the person who is doing the nominating.
SMAKA: Will nominations be accepted throughout the year?
RULE: Entries are due by the end of September. Then, we will take the months of October, November, and December to read through and select regional finalists. Specifically, we've divided the US into five regions, and each of those regions will have a finalist. Finally, we will select a national winner out of those five individuals.
This way, instead of selecting only one US professional, it gives us an opportunity to give accolades to multiple individuals.
After assessing all of the nominations, we will make our announcements of both the regional and national recipients next January.
SMAKA: What are the criteria for the nominees? Does it have to be a professional who is working with Rayovac batteries, or could it be someone who does diagnostic audiology and not hearing aid fittings?
RULE: Batteries are not tied to this at all. We want it to be something that everybody practicing in the industry would be eligible for. Professionals don't have to offer batteries or even fit hearing aids in order to participate in this program.
We include audiologists and dispensers, as well as medical professionals such as ENTs. We are trying to be non-exclusive and open it up to anyone that the patient considers a hearing health care provider.
SMAKA: What does the professional receive for being selected, besides what I would think is a lot of satisfaction knowing that their patient nominated them?
RULE: All five regional winners will receive an award featuring them as a regional finalist, and a $500 donation will be made to a hearing charity of their choice in their name.
In addition to that, the national winner will receive an additional $1,000 donation for their charity. So, in total, we will donate $1,500 to the charity of the national winner's choice in their name.
We also will extend an extensive media program with our corporate sponsors to publicize the program, and it includes interviews and photos with the winner. The media program will further expose the program and generate excitement for our next campaign in 2011.
We want the winner to be able to use this as PR for their practice, locally and within the industry.
The donation in the winner's name further establishes the program as something that is designed to have a positive impact on the hearing industry as a whole.
SMAKA: What I like about this program is that it recognizes the everyday person who is working hard for patients and really making a difference.
RULE: That's exactly right. That's who we're targeting with this program, the everyday people. They don't always hear about the difference that they're making in the lives of their patients, or their community at large. That is really at the heart of what we're trying to do with this program.
SMAKA: Sounds great. What else is new with Rayovac?
RULE: Our main focus this year is on mercury-free hearing aid batteries. There are some developments in legislation and other activity that has propelled this initiative forward.
So, that's where our focus is now. In addition to some product improvements already planned that will roll out in the fall of 2010, we are continuing to develop our technology roadmap to make sure that we are supplying a power source that best fits the needs of the consumers and the device manufacturers. In the next year, we'll be focusing on green initiatives and helping our customers convert their business to a battery that's going to meet growing legislative requirements and meet increasing demands for environmentally responsible products, without sacrificing performance and reliability.
SMAKA: Are the mercury- free batteries available for cochlear implants?
RULE: They will be. We currently have a mercury-free 675 battery available, which will work for cochlear implants that are powered adequately with the standard 675 battery. For those implants that need the cochlear cell, those will be available later this year as well.
SMAKA: Exciting things happening this year at Rayovac. Now, if professionals want more information on the Hearing Professional of the Year Program, where would they go?
RULE: We have a website to support the program, which is www.HearingProfessionalOfTheYear.com. In addition, there will be information on our consumer website, www.Rayovac.com and our website dedicated to professionals, www.ThePowerofHearing.com.
For practitioner participation, we have materials for them to utilize in their office to draw attention to the program, and allow their patients to partake in it. We will also have additional media spots coming out soon to help generate excitement and educate people on the program.
SMAKA: Thanks, Ann for taking time to talk about this program. We're really pleased to help spread the word.
RULE: Thank you for your time. We're excited about it here. It's been really fun developing, and I hope we get a really good response.
SMAKA: Wishing you much success with it. Maybe we can follow up in a few months and see how it's going?
RULE: Most definitely. Thank you, Carolyn.
For more information on Rayovac, please visit Rayovac's website for professionals at www.ThePowerofHearing.com or the Rayovac Web Channel at AudiologyOnline.
