Marketing mix for plastic surgery

The point of marketing is to make masses ready to buy your product or leastwise to identify true product to sell. Marketing is all around models. Disregarding of what do you perform, selling goods and services, you need to know and use proper pattern

4P’s “Product, price, promotion and place” or marketing mix. The similar model is 4C- context, competition, customer, cost. It’s trendy also today to bring 5th component like “people”” to pattern to show “social responsibility”. These patterns are essence of marketing and applied to nearly to any activity, from preparing marketing plan to analysing sales resultants.

Product in theory is a real value for client. In reconstructive surgery the value can be youthful and athletic body, changes in vocation or intimate life, betterment of inbred flaws, etc. It's amusing, reconstructive surgery is an outstanding instance to show what is the Product in Marketing Mix framework. Numerous people do not realize this right and believe Product is a list of characteristics. And you can realise reconstructive surgery as a Product unquestionably can't be described as a listing suchlike : unproblematic procedure, progressive technique, or short convalescence . Scarcely somebody pays for operation exactly because it is pain-free or carries any other feature. Hence here we meet the requirement to understand the customer and his necessitates, but not to show product. That's why 4P is closely connected to 4 C with Customer as an integral component.

Promotion brings Product to the marketplace and supports it there. As it may be transparent, 'brings' relates to new products and 'keeps' - to present ones. Promotion is the most innovative component of marketing mix and may stick with another model : AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action). This means, that promotion medium should :
- attention,
- create interest which transforms
- to desire to purchase and
- occurrent buy.
You may see Promotion in varied kinds :
- Coke strong promotion with ultimate goal to make mental image of this beverage as a default option;
- Cosmetics direct promotion with ultimate goal to form a net of allegiant buyers, without expending a cent for mass media advertisements;
- Food supplements quiet promotion by local MD with final goal to give this stuff to patients to the end of days.
In reconstructive surgery Promotion is closely attached to life style and may imply not just advertizing of clinic, but even founding of passion for perfection. The Like it may occur with many Goggle Box worshippers aft 'Extreme makeover'. Promotion in plastic surgery creates wide area of opportunities for smart and aspiring marketer. Obviously there’s divergence between ‘Drink Coca Cola’ advertise and advertising of breast enlargement technique. In the initial instance you figure out on how the goal would be accomplished, while at the 2nd, for instance, you should firstly convince potential client he needs lipo the least bit, the second that he needs to buy the most actual presents infrasonic Liposculpture, and the 3rd he will buy it from your company.

Price is about money customer is willing to give for your goods or services. Pricing mainly is the following:
- cost based, - customers are non price highly sensitive, there is rivalry on marketplace and it’s hard / expensive to define market value. Despite the fact that cost based pricing is verbally often resisted by marketers, really it comes out even more often than some other types of pricing: prices for food ( bakery, veggies, fruits), tools and instruments, home gadgets, etc.
- market based, thought to be accurate pricing, when seller looking at on price level of suchlike products, powers to create or promote extra economic values of product, position in product life cycle. Product life cycle is a diagram, consisting from product periods : institution, maturity and decline. In introductory period margins can be higher, during maturity - stable, and while decline- decreasing.
Plastic surgery is more about market based pricing, because masses rarely employ price as the single factor to select plastic surgeon. Yet, clinics may try to minimize costs and create locations in low cost countries like Thailand or Estonia, and nevertheless charge premium for supplementary benefits like placement in playgrounds or intimate aura far away from relatives or paparazzi.
If we apply concept of product lifecycle to plastic surgery, we may discover it in maturity phase with extensive competition and comparable pricing, even among various countries. When was introductory phase ? I would say, in sixties when one American operating surgeon 1st made suction lipectomy with scalpel to his wife. This fact made plastic surgery a consumer product, since liposuction is the most popular cosmetic surgery from all others: facelift, breast enlargement, tummy tuck, etc. However, some people may debate saying examples of plastic surgery in ancient Egypt or Rome. However this clause about marketing for plastic surgery, not for history, and I even was lazy to look for name of the 1st operating surgeon who produced lipo.

Place is how do you distribute the Product. In several instances it can be even more important than Promotion, Product or Price (all parts of marketing mix are equal, but several might be more equal than others). Illustration from my life is chain of bakeshops, producing terrible bread, but having kiosks on high traffic places crosswise city. Essentially people have choice to buy breadstuff elsewhere, but purchase rubbish from kiosk to save time. Other instance is soft drink you may got in McDonalds; at that place will be no surprise in any eating house worldwide. Distribution represents very important function in retail, particularly if vendor does not have space for inventory, or demand is high, like it occurs with breweries in summer time. Some companies, especially in Japan, do not have stock at all, leaving supply for distribution.
In plastic surgery Place is a really sensitive matter and closely linked to:
- your target patient base, which means clinics can not direct famous people if based in blue collar area;
- constructing trust to clients. Like in case with banking companies, which must demonstrate substantiality and stability to those who loan them money.

The Second Revolution in breast enlargement

The 1st Revolution in breast enlargement was carried through by US cosmetic surgeons F. Gregow and T. Cronin who employed silicone implants filled with salt solution or silicone gel. The canonic technology of breast enlargement stayed the identical and only materials and varieties and sizes of implants change.

Nevertheless, implants were not as great as people wish and it’s not possible to reach desirable effects in 100% causes of breast enlargement procedure. The ground primarily not implants themselves, but diversity of cases why client want to increase breasts. For example, if breasts were lost after amputation because of cancer, implants can make the desirable shape, but on that point will be no touchable senses because implant is simply determined by touching. This is peculiarly dissatisfactory, regarding the fact that implants are viewed as a external tissue by your physical structure ( although with long-lasting warranty in respected clinics). According to many operating surgeons implants are required to replace for new in 13 -16 years.

The Second Revolution of breast enlargement occurred when system Brava Breast Enlarger, originated by American surgeon Roger Kuori was applied for preparation for breasts enlargement with personal fatty tissue (fat grafting).

Advantages of breast increase with own fat tissue (3D fat grafting):
- adipose tissue does not cause unhealthy responses in a breast, - adipose tissue is natural by touch,
- fatty tissue does not require replacement in the future.

I think the most perspective utilisation of this system is to restore amputated breasts because of cancer.
Let's consider differentiations between different methods of breast enlargement. Breast implants pluses :
- Proper for the majority of patients to increase and correct the form of breast;
- Effect reached quick;
- It is not essential to have some preoperative preparation.

Breast implants minuses
- Replacing in 13-16 years is requisite;
- Chance of complicatednesses, though not as large, but is present;
- Requirements for thickness of tissue;

3D fat grafting (breast enlargement with own fat) pluses
- No complications;
- Normal breast;
- Substitution in future is not required;
- Proper for all patient roles including those with cut off breasts;
- Realizable to use adipose tissue from liposuction areas.

3D fat grafting (breast enlargement with own fat) minuses
- Long-term preoperative preparation;
- Several procedures to produce.

As you can see, two methods of breast enlargement are not mutually exclusive, and can append each other. Also, combining of Brava Breast Enlarger and 3D fat grafting represents more opportunities to reach the best resultants in creation of a pretty breast. You can try such combination in Villa Medica clinics.

Russian plastic surgery is dangerous

Today, plastic surgery remains one of the most unregulated areas in Russian health care. However demand increases and the number of problem cases, some of which are fatal: just the other day led to the death during trivial liposuction.

Russia is booming plastic surgery. Paradoxically, this is not the richest country in Europe, however Russia stands at fifth place among countries with the highest level of plastic surgery operations. Today, market players are already talking seriously about the seasonal increase in demand for such operations: during summer season the number of clients in local clinics traditionally increases.


Russian market of plastic surgery is relatively young. Most of private clinics were opened only in the late 90-s, as well as a separate market segment of plastic surgery. It is right to say that until last year Russia even did not have specialists in plastic surgery.

A real top professionals with experience back to Soviet times are located mainly in Moscow , and come from reconstructive and rehabilitation departments of major medical centers .

The fact is that in Soviet times, plastic surgery was not known. Only the largest hospitals had offices of reconstructive surgery, where plastic surgery performed only by medical necessity - for example, for recovery from serious injuries or accidents. At the same time, most of the procedures that in the public mind are strongly associated with plastic surgery (face lift, wrinkle removal..) in fact, belongs to the so-called aesthetic surgery. Similar manipulations in the former USSR were carried out only in one place - in the Institute of Beauty on Novy Arbat, Moscow. However, to get there, patient was required to have medical prescription. It was impossible to call the clinic simply because the patient did not like his nose.

As a result, the market of plastic and aesthetic surgery in Russia during the past years was developed spontaneously or chaotically. It is illustrative to to say that even today there is no official statistics on the number of officially registered health care institutions providing plastic surgeries. There is also no exact data of how many and what kind of operations conducted were in Russia. The cardinal change in the situation occurred only last year, when Health Minister officially introduced a profession of "plastic surgeon".

"Today in Russia there is practically no legitimate plastic surgeons certified. In order to do this we need to take appropriate educational standards ", - states the head of reconstructive surgery and microsurgery of RNTSH, Academician Nikolai Milanov.

While officials and the official medical community still wonder how the system would operate training and certification of future plastic surgeons, thousands of professionals already working for many years throughout Russia, creating a private clinic and taking patients. Nowadays Russian media are full with advertising of such institutions with each of these naming themselves as "leading" industry experts. In reality it often turns out that a significant number of such leadears are surgeons, who made appendicitis cuts in local city hospital.

The result of this situation are numerous unsuccessful operations, despite the fact that Russian world of plastic surgery is so closed that even today there are no official statistics on the number of operations, and on number of the fatal operations. In early June, we received information about 27-year-old Louise S., who died after banal liposuction procedure. However legal consequences of this are still not clear, since according to law, criminal proceedings will be possible if medical examination would conclude that the woman died as a result of medical errors. So far, the autopsy showed that the patient died because of an allergic reaction to one of the drugs used for anesthesia.

The difficulty in investigating such cases is that the majority of patients before surgery did not take care about what they would do in case of failure and just easily sign a document with the words "warned about the possible risks."

In fact, "such informed consent" implies that a physician informs fully the patient about all possible risks. But in the pursuit of profit, most Russian plastic surgery clinics choose to bring to the information in the most simplified form, emphasizing the fact that these procedures are absolutely safe for health. Meanwhile, one should bear in mind that even a face lift has a very impressive list of contraindications.

According to the Moscow City Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination, about 7-10% of all civil cases against health care institutions accounts for unsuccessful plastic surgery. However, the success of the trial in such cases is highly questionable. To prove medical error patient must provide the results of medical examination conducted by colleagues of a surgeon who made a mistake. So to get objective results is not a simple task.

Liposuction revised and explained

Liposuction in details.


Candidly speaking, liposuction is one of the simplest cosmetic surgery operations. Despite the fact that several informants state fatality rate of liposuction in the US equivalent to mortality in car road accidents, it is still possible to say: liposuction is the simplest.

If you investigate other plastic surgery operations, you will realize my stand. For example, lets learn breast enlargement, one of the most favourite and "public" plastic surgeries. You may have different kinds of problems taking breast augmentation: with implants, with scratches, with infection, even with good sense ( guess what I imply ). YetNevertheless, lines into cosmetic surgery clinics do not become smaller. Different instance is rhinoplasty or nose job, operation which is really demanding to skills and experience of a surgeon, although easy for patient. Rather, liposuction is just a few tubes (cannulas) and pump which absorbs fat from your body. The biggest problem may take place when you drop off overmuch blood, moving out too much fat. In this clause I will make detailed explanation of liposuction technology and its health implications.

Suction Lipectomy can be used for varied areas of your body: thighs, hips, the abdomen, the back, neck, buttocks, face. For Instance, if we think about face, you can make liposuction and skin tightening in the neck, jawbone area and chin area which heal in a couple of days and making so called " Week end rhytidoplasty ". Other example is breast reducing by liposuction, leaving you the ability of breast feeding as the milk canals are not damaged. In addition, the recovery time from liposuction is shorter than that from conventional breast reducing. However, places where liposuction is commonly applied is not the greatest differentiating component to talk about this kind of plastic surgeries.

This factor is technology. You may imagine tasks of this technology: to remove fatty tissue as effective as possible. The first suction lipectomy was did in 1979 by plastic surgeon to his couple. He applied scalpel and just cut off fat from body. Real elementary and direct approach, demanding long-term stays in the clinics with long-term recovery time and even transfusions. Patients in general were not capable to walk upright for up to six weeks, sustaining awful pain and scarring. For Certain, you may anticipate advances in liposuction at the least because phrase "suck" in liposuction is not equal to word "cut". And we can, at least, process fatty tissue with supersonic, laser, vibration, etc. Thus, lets imagine you are going to liposuction.

The classic liposuction demands tumescent infusion accompanied by fat extraction. Upon arrival into plastic surgery clinics, you may be presented something like Valium to relax (if worried ). Afterwards, when you lie, Demerol or some other pain reliever is injected and the fatty fields of the body are filled with a solution of sterile salt water, Adrenalin and anesthetic.

When the anesthetic agent takes effect, miniature incisions are produced in the skin with small needles where fat is to be removed. A cannula, or thin tube, is then inserted and pump sucks fat through cannulas into a disposable bucket.

After the fat is removed, you are covered in a clothing that remains on body for around 6 days. Foam pads are placed on the places where the cannula entered the skin and you are then placed in a clothe which fastens skin and carries the foam pads. You may feel constricting the clothe on the day after surgical procedure.

The ugliest happens at the second day of suction lipectomy, when your feel sore and bound up. However after the second day, the liposuction experience continues of going better and better. When the pads are withdrawn you will have an chance to see a glance of different body and may love what you discover. Of course, dropping down a size or 2 can realise anyone feeling better and more bullish. Yet, do not be too assured about liposuction; liposuction is not to decrease weight, it is just to tune fields, which are unreactive to diet or exercises. Plus liposuction doesn't wipe out fat for good. If you continue following former eating habits and life style, the fat will come back soon. Although it may come back into slightly different areas, since old areas may have micro injuries, therefore do not store fat.

The rest of liposuction post-operational period is just step-by-step recovery. Drain from the addressed places normally stops in six days after surgical procedure, possible slight bruising will heal in nearly two weeks, and puffiness and swelling will go away in few months.

Some Other more aggressive liposuction technology applies supersonic which emulsifies fat before extraction. Ultrasonic lipo causes skin tightening, which does not happen with conventional liposuction. Its proved to be more effective, peculiarly for areas, where conventional liposuction did not performed good.

Laser liposuction causes the blood vessels to coagulate at once, so people are left with less hurting, less swelling, and less pain. This operation of to breaking up fat cells, is known as lipolysis, leaving in less harm also tightening the skin.

Improvement of laser lipo is SmartLipo Laser Body Sculpting system, which however, can be employed only to tiny areas, and named lunchtime liposuction, because of very small recovery period. Productiveness of SmartLipo, however is also small, presenting vantages only in precise laser application, due to minimal serving areas, for example under the arms (batwings), etc.

Oscillation also causes liposculpture more efficient, because effect of vibration makes fat to remove faster and smother. Among vibration supported liposuction techniques Nutational Infrasonic Liposculpture is a world-beater. This technique compounds advantages of all above noted and brings own: it tightens the skin, pain-free (working frequence is an extra anesthetic), do not carry risk of perforation and has quick recovery period. Since this is very new technique, you may not hear about it in many plastic surgery clinics and you may be guaranteed that laser, ultrasonic or power assisted lipo techniques are the greatest. Take these ridiculous phrases as indicant of level of qualification in that clinics; although to be modest, equipment is somewhat expensive.

Among alternatives to lipo I would list spa treatments such as seaweed wraps and cellulite massages, which promise to help crack up fat cells and move out them from your body. Nevertheless most of these techniques are not proved to work, and if they do show some power to make your body appear better, it is short-lived.

I do not wish talk over here lipo dangers, disdain the fact the title of this clause is lipo in particulars. Risks do not add up for me if you understand technologies and can make focused conclusion about clinics, doctor and technique. Right decision diminishes risks, bad one causes the opposite. Costs may too play important role, but can be reduced, if you make cosmetic surgery in some low cost state like Estonia or Latvia. For Instance, Villa Medica, is the only clinics in Baltics, which proposes oscillation based Nutational Infrasonic Liposculpture.

Bad eyelid surgery

Eyelid surgery,   or blepharoplasty is plastic  surgery operation on  eyelid. Excess tissue such as skin and fat are removed or repositioned, and surrounding muscles and tendons may be reinforced.

Bblepharoplasty was listed as the third most popular surgical procedure among men and women by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Over 300,000 operations were performed in the United States alone.

Eyelid correction is not the most complicated cosmetic surgery operation, however it could leave you this asymmetrical and odd-looking face. I would distinguish the following problems with eyelid corrections:

Hollows under eyes
Since surgeon removes skin, fat and muscle from the upper and lower eyelids, it can can create a hollow or sunken area around the eye, leaving a sad, tired, dark or skeletonized appearance. This fullness is restored with a “filler” such as Restylane or the patient’s own fat levels.

Eyelids are pulling down
Scar contraction may happen after incision, pulling the lower eyelid down and sclera (white part of eye) being more visible. In addition to changes in appearance, this can create irritation from eye exposure, redness, increased risk of infection, and dry eye syndrome.  




Eyelids  do not close completely
If  too much skin and/or muscle  removed from the upper eyelids, incomplete eyelid closure, or lagopthalmos may happen. Some people have no idea that this takes place, however, they have typical symptoms of dry eye syndrome: redness, reflexive tearing, burning, dependence on artificial tears (especially in the morning), and a sensation of sand in the eye. Insertion of a gold eyelid weight in the upper eyelid will sometimes be enough to help the eyelid to close sufficiently.



Eyelid surgery (also as a part of facelift) can completely change your face, like with Kenny Rogers.

Of course is possible to avoid there and other problems in plastic surgery, and I do not want to state common sense advices: certified surgeon, reputable clinics, etc. However, you should trust you doctor and state your goals explicitly. Do not expect perfection from operation, but do not take risk of it if you afraid, things will not be done well. And good luck !