Recently, the Gilmartin biotech team hosted a webinar with Berry and Company, discussing how public and private biotechnology companies should utilize public relations (PR). If you were unable to attend, you can watch a replay of the conversation. Gilmartin Group’s managing director Laurence Watts and principal biotech Stephen Jasper interviewed Berry and Company’s Bill Berry, Adam Daley, and Jenna Urban about the value of PR and how it differs from investor relations (IR). Berry is the founder of Berry and Company. He currently serves as a principal, bringing over 30 years of experience in the industry and holding specialties in media relations, business and medical writing, corporate positioning, and crisis communications. Daley is the head of social media services at Berry, working with the company for just over ten years. Finally, Urban serves as a vice president at Berry, working with the company for about seven years, focusing on traditional media. We recommend watching the entire webinar to capture all of the insights the Berry team shared, but here are a few central points we wanted to highlight.
There is some confusion between IR and PR among biotech executives. At times, and with certain accounts, our service offerings can appear to have some overlap, but as a PR agency, how would you define the difference?
In most of our engagements, Berry stated that they work with a separate IR team, and it is a very collaborative relationship. There is some overlap, but not a lot. With investor relations, the goal is to work with investors. On the PR side, we’re talking to a broader audience. The language, tone, and techniques one can use while talking to clinicians or patients are very different from the approaches you use with investors. In terms of social media, Berry ensures creative ideas and initiatives will appease investors as well. Furthermore, when posting content on social media, no one can guarantee that only investors will see it. The tone of each post must fit the entire potential landscape – which can include patients, clinicians, and even investors. The benefit here is learning what approaches and tones work best for specific audiences.
Why does Berry not do IR like some supposedly “full service” agencies?
They are different professions – IR and PR require different skill sets. IR deals with analysts, broker networks, and the overall complexities of investing. They stated that it is a matter of what kind of communication you prefer. They prefer to engage with patients and work with clinicians to increase disease awareness and highlight the unmet need. The Berry representatives noted one of their essential roles is to help scientists explain their science. This won’t always resonate with investors, but it will resonate with patients and clinicians who might use the products down the line. Those target audiences often require very different messages. Overall, the company strives to speak with patients and clinicians firsthand. They stated, “It reminds us why we do the work that we do, you know, to get important information out there that patients and clinicians could find useful and help them make good healthcare decisions.”
When companies employ PR and IR, how do you think responsibilities are best split?
The communications do divide neatly. We will often support with messaging and provide help with presentations. If it is a data announcement, the IR team will take the lead. Berry will take the lead on releases that deal with subjects such as Rare Disease Day. They work with IR teams a lot on developing corporate decks because that is something that has applications across the board. Daley chimed in to add that there are many ways that social media efforts complement IR teams. He stated, “We’ve seen many Key Opinion Leader (KOL) events lately, where companies will bring in a KOL to talk to investors. We then use social media to get the word out. That is probably the key piece here, no matter who’s working on the press release. As long as we’re all connected and discussing the messaging beforehand, it usually is a successful collaboration.” In IR, investors are the primary target; you need to keep your investors engaged so your development program will resonate with patients or clinicians in the early stages. During this pivotal time, Berry will initiate collaboration with the IR team to build out capabilities and services slowly and expand to other audiences.
How should biotechs think about social media and how can you help in this regard?
Biotech and pharma leaders should look at social media as an opportunity. The group noted that there was a time when companies “were sort of afraid of it in 2014. The FDA put out guidance for the industry on how to use social media, and we saw a massive shift around that time when everyone changed from ‘I need to convince clients that they should be there’ to ‘we need to be there, which platform should we use?'” Social media is about your thought leadership, your disease awareness opportunities, and building your company’s influence, which is where Berry would jump in.
Social media is like a microphone. Companies are talking directly to your stakeholders – patient advocacy groups, investors, the media and clinicians are all at your fingertips. The key is to be targeted. Before you even pick a platform, you must step back and say, “Who are we trying to engage with specifically? What organizations will make a list? You are not trying to reach millions of people; we would never recommend a client go viral. The goal is to find a handful of the most critical stakeholders and determine what platform they often use. Once you pick your platform, you build your content to engage your target audience. Often, leaders in biotech and pharma do not realize how powerful their existing networks are already; they can have 50 or 100 connections on LinkedIn, all of which belong to their target audiences. They also noted that many people do not have the time to sit down and become good at posting regularly, and that is where an agency like Berry steps in. Berry will take on the responsibility, provide guidance, and manage the logistics.
Throughout the webinar, Berry and Company emphasized how it works with companies of all stages. However, they do welcome collaboration with IR companies to provide clients with well-rounded care. The company noted the lines between the work of PR and IR companies are clear but again emphasized collaboration works well with proper communication and mutual understanding. Social media is incredibly relevant in today’s society, and Berry and Company is always ready to take the lead and utilize pre-existing or new connections to help spread a company’s message.
To hear the full conversation, be sure to watch the replay. If you have questions about how we strategically partner with our clients, contact the Gilmartin team today.
Rachel Mahler, Analyst
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