Opportunities for health tech are greater than ever: But different strategies are needed to ensure growth. Highland CEO Mark Venables explains why a new identity for the company signals more than a brand refresh.
Health minister Lord Hunt had just launched the National Programme for IT for the NHS. The human genome project was advancing rapidly, creating new possibilities for personalised medicine. Robotic surgery announcements were surfacing in the media. And between meetings with technology companies, marketeer Susan Venables identified a clear opportunity.
It was 2002, and the health sector offered significant new opportunities for technology to respond. But efforts by technology firms to gain cut through were hampered. In trying to be noticed, many were having to spend time managing a myriad of digital, marketing, design, and PR agencies, the majority having little understanding of what drove the health sector, or how to amplify messages that resonated with target audiences.
Susan’s response: Create an agency that would serve all those needs with one clear focus: health tech. Highland Marketing was born in 2002. And since, a huge range of innovators have worked with the Highland Marketing team to achieve success.
Health tech companies have been able to shape market direction, gain substantial share of voice, and engage with decision makers from board to ward. More than just hitting headlines, companies have successfully launched brands, influenced policy, won major contracts, and become market leaders.
Success has been down to many factors. A strong team that advises clients, and that is trusted by customers as well as a great many people within the NHS, has been key. Trust in a sector like health must be earned, and I’m proud to say our people have worked hard to build such strong confidence and relationships.
Connections too have been crucial. Being able to leverage our network within the media, the health service, and industry, has helped our clients engage the people they need to reach.
Deep knowledge of the sector our clients operate within has been fundamental – aided by insight from our advisory board of people who have been in the driving seat of health tech policy and adoption within the NHS.
And ongoing innovation has been essential – continually evolving the services we provide to meet the strategic needs of our clients as they work to understand their market opportunity, convince their target audiences, and to get directly in front of decision makers to help them grow their business.
Nearly a quarter of a century of impact in health tech has passed, and 2025 now signals a new moment of change.
The emergence of artificial intelligence within healthcare, and a renewed policy to transform from analogue to digital, have set conditions for a technological expansion within health and care.
Harnessing that opportunity again requires a different approach – just as Susan delivered when she founded Highland Marketing back in 2002. Actively listening to our customers – we understand they require more than just effective marketing. They need a growth partner that can help them to navigate a complex and changing market.
This is what Highland represents – our updated identity from 1 October. More than just a brand refresh, it is a reflection that the way health tech companies succeed with us has grown beyond marketing services.
I would invite health tech innovators to explore how we can help them find, convince, and grow their market, by reaching out directly or by exploring highland.health.
We are entering a new era where the traditional agency model of marketing isn’t enough, but where companies serving the sector value insight and guidance on how to best deliver their business objectives. Accelerating growth is now the focus in a sector where success can benefit both the health and wealth of the nation. We are eager to build that success together.
