Candice N’Dri, from Ivory Coast, has been taking part in a three-month work placement with Viscgo Limited, an SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) in Manchester, as part of an ERASMUS study visit with Chester Business School. The 21-year-old is studying for a degree in Business and Marketing in France and came to Chester to learn more about digital marketing.
The team at Viscgo launched the innovative drink thickness test sticks in July this year which are an accurate way to check that a thickened drink is at the prescribed consistency helping users to swallow.
Some people with dysphagia have problems swallowing certain food or liquids and others are unable to swallow at all. Dysphagia also means it takes more time and effort to move food or liquid from the mouth to the stomach.
Viscgo Limited was founded by Dr Elizabeth Boaden and Steven Bookbinder to design, develop and deliver innovative devices and technology to improve the management of dysphagia for people with dysphagia, carers, clinicians and dysphagia practitioners
Candice led the company’s digital marketing for this new product starting with a research exercise into understanding the social media preferences of Viscgo’s audiences and developing a digital strategy, action plan and content creation.
She said: “Working for the medical device industry was new to me. I have learned a huge amount about communication in the health sector and the use of new digital tools.
“The most challenging aspects were gaining knowledge of the sector, the language barrier and the management of social networks in a business-to-business environment. The people in Viscgo helped me and I was able to draw on their years of experience. I would like to come back to the UK to do a Master’s in digital strategy and gain more experience in the UK.”
Tanya Wood, Viscgo Sales and Marketing Director, said: “Candice has done a cracking job. She has supported and collaborated across the management team to bring the social media campaign to life.
“This is a highly specialist medical area and it is challenging to understand the correct message content and tone. She has resiliently risen to the challenge ensuring those messages are on point.”
Beth Morris, Senior Lecturer in the Chester Business School, said: “I am delighted to hear about the great work Candice has been doing with Viscgo. It is wonderful that the project has delivered such positive outcomes for all involved. Thank you to the team at Viscgo for all of their support and for giving Candice invaluable experience within a highly specialist sector. Candice has clearly applied the knowledge and experience gained from the Social Media Marketing module she successfully completed earlier this year. Candice has a very promising future in digital marketing ahead of her, I wish her well.”
