Michael Coffey, Marketing Manager of Strategy and Innovation, North America, Roche

From the wine industry to SV backed startups to now the healthcare space, Michael Coffey has focused his career on building new business model that obtain deep connections with consumers through the use of design led development. He forces the teams he leads to strengthen their ability to deconstruct the status quo and reconstruct it through the eyes of the consumer.  On a day-in, day-out basis Coffey faces one of the most daunting challenges: His role is to make living with diabetes a positive experience for the 21 million Americans suffering from the disease. And while “positive experience” is highly subjective, several of Coffey’s patient-centric innovations have resonated with his target audience. Most notably, Coffey and his team have surprised customers with the monthly delivery of Accu-Check To, a box filled with both the essentials for monitoring glucose levels and treats like popcorn and aroma candles. “The challenge is understanding where our ability to walk alongside the customer truly is and to break out of the commoditized world we live in,” he says. Along those lines, Coffey believes that it’s important to look beyond healthcare to delight consumers; he finds inspiration in the world of discovery retail (wine clubs, Birch Box). The Accu-Check program has been a part of Coffey’s efforts to build a much richer relationship with customers—even to generate some enthusiasm around the treatment of their condition.

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