July 23, 2007

Through the first half of this year the Better Hearing Institute secured more than 800 print placements, 250 radio PSAs, and more than 1000 TV placements, which included PBS documentary placements. The data was released in a statement from BHI executive director, Sergei Kochkin, PhD.

Notable placements that carried print messages from the institute include the following:

* New York Times (July 12, 2007); The Day the Music Died by Stephanie Rosenbloom. This article effectively repositions hearing healthcare and hearing aids away from the geriatric population. In addition it is highly baby boomer focused with an additional focus on the reinvention of hearing aids into personal communication assistants.

* Forbes.com (June 13, 2007); Men’s Health and Fitness: Commonly Ignored Men’s Health Issues by Allison Van Dusen. This article quotes the impact of hearing loss on income study.

* Parade Magazine. (May 27, 2007); You Can Hear Better by Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld. This article with an audience of 74 million was written by request of BHI for Better Hearing and Speech Month.  It tells people to come out of the closet regarding their hearing loss; and indicates that hearing aids provide benefit at the same time creating appropriate expectations.

* Investor’s Business Daily. (May 22, 2007); Take Action; Turn up Treatment for Hearing Loss by Gloria Lau. Provides a detailed description of the BHI study on income loss to the investment world.

* Associated Press. (May 22, 2007); Hearing Loss and Income Loss by Jackie Farwell. This syndicated occupationally oriented column appeared in hundreds of newspapers and websites. Among other topics it discusses very succinctly the impact of hearing loss on income.

* Savvy Senior. (January 2007) article on Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids by Jim Miller. This syndicated column which is targeted to seniors in 400 local newspapers and hundreds of websites covers many key issues regarding hearing loss and hearing aids.

Data from the institute reported media impressions the first half of this year exceeded 2005-2006 combined. Messages that appeared in the media, according to BHI, were favorable to the hearing health care industry based on the following criteria:

* Consequences of untreated hearing loss on quality of life (e.g. income loss),

* Hearing loss positioned as something impacting younger people rather than the just the geriatric population,

* Hearing aids provide benefit and have been reinvented to appeal to a new generation.

Source: Better Hearing Instutute