Eargo, Interesting Product, Interesting Website

Engaging Copy, Come On Eyes and They Sell Hearing Aids

I recently came across Eargo and its consumer website, its another instant fit amplification device. It appears, although I may be wrong, to be set to a generic mid and high frequency loss with four levels of output. I didn’t notice anything about sending an audiogram, although there is some talk about a customised fit option. (late correction, you can send your audiogram in and it will be custom fit to it for $500) The device itself looks a little odd, conceptually it is in the same vein as the fuse was.

It is a bit of an odd-looking device, especially with the silicon spikes that are used for retention. The company is also actively looking for Audiolgy Professional partners to become involved in distribution. My outlook on this would be that it is worth exploring what they want to do.

A Worthy Website!

Now, to what I really want to talk about, their website. A lot of time and thought has gone into their website. The general presentation on the website and the theme design is meh. Not special really, looks alright, nothing fancy.

Their Copy is Brilliant!!!

Their copy is a work of art, it is written especially well. It is written to reach a younger, tech savvy, fun-loving audience. An audience that has a problem but who don’t take themselves too seriously. An audience who will like a brand based on what they read and see, and who will stay loyal to that brand.

In essence they are going after the youngest of baby boomers and the baby boomer generation in general. They are delivering a device that is in tune with the ideas, wants and needs of that generation. Technology to fix a problem without constraints on purchase points or paternalistic conditions.

Don’t forget, this generation expects open availability to technology, this is the generation who wants to make their own decisions. This is the generation who most balk at paternalistic authority. So, what do you deliver them? Freedom of choice, easy purchase options, online purchase, home delivery all with a serious side order of knowing humour and a wink at self-effacing hilarity.

Engaging Their Target Prospect With Humour

All throughout the site they have introduced the slightly knowing hat tipping jokes, like “With layered noise reduction technology to give you a cleanly amplified sound and an extended frequency range up to 7750 Hz (extend that frequency range until it Hz! Sorry, nerd joke),”. They are just small touches of humour that are used well throughout the copy.

Another fantastic paragraph is “In fact, they’re so comfortable, many users say they completely forget they’re wearing them. Several users also said they forgot where they put their keys. And we can’t find that yogurt we put in the fridge this morning. Wait, what were we saying? Oh, right…” It is small touches like this that raise the copy to engaging.

It is copy like this that drives a brand feel and identity. Eargo appeals to me as a brand I want to do business with. A brand that I want to buy off, a brand that I feel affinity with. I think it may do so for many people within the target market it focuses on.

What Can We Learn

Never mind the endless blah about PSAPs or the paternalistic chatter of hearing aids fitted by qualified professionals. Your opinions are irrelevant, the only opinions that matter are the opinions of the consumer. You can guide those opinions in some way, you may even influence them somewhat. However it is their opinions that will shape the face of hearing aids, hearing devices and their provision in the future. In any way, that is not the focus of this article.

Touching The Boomers

I have talked about the boomers before in the article Demographic Personas. What we can learn from Eargo is that a brand voice is an important way to reach your prospects, even in the hearing industry. We sometimes forget that our brand is more than just a professional voice, it is a human voice, made up of all of the features of that humanity. The baby boomers are an interesting bunch, as a group are forward thinking and tend towards optimistic. They can smell bull shit from about fifty feet away.

They don’t have nearly as much faith in traditional institutions as their predecessors. They tend not to be as conservative as their predecessors and respond well to humour in marketing, even if it might be at their expense. They are wary of experts and authority of most kinds.

They tend to research purchases and want a consultative approach from the people who sell to them. They are not averse to spending on themselves, in particular if the purchase is a lifestyle one. They will not tolerate paternalism in the purchase relationship and will actively rebel against it bringing their business elsewhere. They are also far more open to new technology than their predecessors.

Boomers tend not to take themselves too seriously and they respond well to brands who appear to be the same. Eargo have bet the house on this understanding, I think they are going to do pretty well. One way or the other, as a copywriter for audiology, it has given me more than a little to think about.  Maybe as a Practice owner, you should ponder it too.