Cerus goes from months to hours getting critical content to sellers in the field

THE CHALLENGE

Paper-based marketing with no control over seller messaging

Cerus produces biomedical products that make blood transfusions safer. But the company’s marketing approach wasn’t keeping pace with the urgency of its industry.

“I did not have any control over the use of our collaterals. Everything was paper-based, and I felt that I could not control the salespeople when they were delivering messages,” says the company’s marketing lead. “I wanted something that gave me control.”

Getting a new idea from concept to printed material to a seller’s hands could take two months — an unacceptable timeline in healthcare, where urgent developments can demand immediate action.

THE SOLUTION

Senior leadership bought in after a single demo

Cerus evaluated several platforms before inviting Showpad to present to the full senior management team. It took one hour.

“It took them just one hour to conclude that this looked very attractive, and that’s what we went for,” says the marketing lead.

Since implementation, Cerus has gone almost entirely paperless — the only printed materials are invitations to symposia. Showpad now gives the team full visibility into how sellers use content: which materials are popular, how frequently they’re accessed, and whether the right assets are being used in sales conversations.

And it’s not just sales. Other functions across Cerus also have access to the platform, extending its value beyond the commercial team.

THE IMPACT

From two months to two hours — with a real-world proof point

The most significant change has been speed. Where it once took months to move an idea from concept to a seller’s hands, Cerus can now turn content around in hours.

“Where it took us in the past sometimes two months to get an idea on paper, and then print it and in the hands of our salespeople, we have examples where we could actually turn around in a couple of hours. That is unseen.”

That speed proved critical during the Zika virus outbreak, when Cerus needed to push urgent information to customers immediately. The team turned it around in days — something that would have been impossible before Showpad.

“The Zika case, where the infections were so important that we needed to tell our customers — we could turn that around in days. That’s critical to us, the speed with which we can get our salespeople ready.”

The print cost savings are real too, but the marketing lead sees speed as the bigger win: “The value to the salespeople and how we can engage our customers — I don’t think you can even quantify that.”