BD Chooses Optas Direct to Manage e-Marketing Campaigns; Will Manage Outbound E-Mail Marketing for BD Consumer Healthcare, Allows Company to Focus More on Consumers.

Business/Technology Editors and Health/Medical Writers

WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2001

Optas, Inc. (www.optas.com), a provider of privacy-safe, direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing tools in the healthcare industry, today announced that BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), (NYSE:BDX), a leader in the design and worldwide delivery of healthcare devices, systems, and services, has licensed Optas Direct, a Web-based campaign management tool for healthcare direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing with confidentiality and nondisclosure provisions.

BD will use Optas Direct in its Consumer Healthcare Business Unit, marketing specifically to the diabetes market. BD is the diabetes healthcare industry leader in insulin delivery devices for people with diabetes, their caregivers, and healthcare providers.

According to Barbara O'Rourke, Manager, Internet Marketing, the company will use Optas Direct to manage its outbound e-mail campaigns to consumers.

"Our focus is on reaching the people who count, rather than counting the people we reach," she said. "Using Optas Direct to manage our marketing campaigns will free us up to remain highly focused on that goal."

Subscribing to Optas Direct will allow BD to evaluate the impact of their medical device DTC marketing while preserving consumer privacy; identify opportunities to profitably expand DTC spending; improve marketing processes by deploying ROI-based campaign decisions directly from their Web browser; and receive immediate benefits through rapid Web-based availability. Further, Optas Direct offers a wide range of segmentation techniques that can highlight consumer characteristics that drive product usage. Using scenarios that estimate product profitability, companies can quickly build, deploy, and analyze campaigns that optimize their marketing investments.

The choice of Optas Direct by BD Consumer Health Care was strongly influenced by Optas' knowledge of and expertise in healthcare e-marketing.

"Optas really understands the nuances of the healthcare industry," said O'Rourke. "In addition, the company is well-versed in the issue of privacy, which is such a critical element of healthcare marketing. The combination of these factors makes us confident that Optas Direct will help us achieve the dramatic results we expect."