posted by Donna LaVoie on 3/11/2010 3:53:24 PM

Traditional PR Tactics have rules and expectations that are usually followed to the letter.  For news announcements, PR firms generally recommended picking a date around launches, milestones and/or conferences, issue the news at 8:30 a.m. on a particular day, and then monitor print publications for resulting stories.  If the article was negative, then the PR firm would call that reporter and request a correction (if possible).  In todays Web 2.0 reality, these rules and expectations no longer apply, and press releases are no longer handled as one size fits all. 

With online publications, subscriber newsletters, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, Google alerts, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (to name just a few), push technologies now send out information on your brand to you, and other interested parties, in real-time from multiple sources.  For many companies, this fact can be an overwhelming reality especially for public companies that are trying to get their arms around a multitude of sources discussing their brand.

In addition to the expected sources such as media, analysts and thought leaders, companies now have to contend with bloggers, ex-employees and individual investors that may have an axe to grind.  Ignoring a scathing blog post or a viral video could negatively impact shareholder opinion and stock price, and should be taken very seriously.  On the flip side, with a wealth of new media outlets to pursue, this can be considered a new renaissance for public relations.

Print publications have fallen on tough times. Veteran reporters who do not possess multi-media skill sets have been let go.  Reporters that have embraced blogging and podcasting, and yet still manage to stay on top of their print responsibilities, are proving their worth as revenue generators who can positively impact their publications bottom lines.

This brave new world provides challenges for some companies.  If these companies have not integrated their communications efforts across investor and public relations along with the companys marketing efforts, there could be several disconnects across the board.  These new technologies provide for a more robust effort to collaborate internally and provide seamless integration across the various marketing and communications disciplines.  Companies who recognize this need are leading the charge in providing a seamless and consistent set of messages and brand positioning to its various constituencies. 

As large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies continue the trend to in-license or purchase technologies, development-stage assets as well as commercialized products to help them manage future growth, the management of their communications functions changes significantly.  This is particularly true as large pharmaceutical companies have experienced patent expirations of blockbuster products and the fruits of their internal research and development efforts have not always panned out.

Several large pharmaceutical companies have announced initiatives to begin efforts in the orphan disease area, expansion of generic pharmaceuticals, animal health and OTC/consumer.  As part of their plans, many have and are competing for the most promising technologies and assets.  As they are successful in bringing these products and product pipelines as well as technologies into their companies, they find themselves challenged with communications issues in which they may have never experienced before.   Many of these challenges are deeply rooted in the integration of investor relations, public relations and general corporate communications and the need to update regularly with public company investors and analysts.

Lets take one case study example that I believe speaks to the very real situation that many companies on both sides are challenged with. 

Case Study Example.

The situation.  A large, multinational pharmaceutical company in-licenses product X in an area in which they have never worked before from a small European biotechnology company.  While both companies are publicly traded, they trade on different exchanges and, with market caps and dynamics that are very different from one another.  Materiality of information is not shared by the two companies and their objectives are not common to both. 

Herein is the potential problem.  The large, multinational pharmaceutical company has purchased product X and transitions it away from small company.  It feels strongly about becoming the owner of the asset and therefore, owns communications across the four key audiences patients, payers, physicians and partners (advocacy and the like).  It does not have a need to inform the investing public of its intentions or updates as it is immaterial to their company.  

The small, European biotechnology company was the developer of product X.  This companys top audience is the investment community.  While other audiences should be important to them, the reality is they have not put resources against this effort and thus the reason for the large, multinational pharmaceutical company as its partner. 

Product X is their baby and crucial to not only the company, but to the management responsible for bringing it from early-stage development into the partnership with the large pharmaceutical company for commercialization. 

The small European biotechnology company understands that their expertise is in development and in innovation, something that many large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have not delivered on over the last several years.  Nonetheless, their need for transparency and communication to the investment community of their progress on a regular basis is not something many companies think about in great detail prior to inking the deal.

The solution.  Whether you represent the large pharmaceutical or the small biotech company, you may ask yourself, what do we do now? 

First and foremost, you need an experienced team of communications specialists that not only understand the needs of small, publicly-traded companies but also can put their large company hats on as well.  Providing possible solutions to the problems helps to bridge the gap between the two companies.   Sometimes one only sees things as black and white.  In order to be successful in these situations, one must be able to bring examples and perspective that help bring creative solutions to the challenges. 

These skills and experience to navigate through the rough currents of partnership communications and the integration of the various disciplines is important to the ultimate success of the partnership. 

Excellent negotiating skills and good communications as well as relationships with other key functional areas are essential to successful outcomes.  This includes working across media relations, investor relations, regulatory and medical affairs, public affairs and advocacy as well as marketing. 

Whether you are working with another company in which you have in-licensed a product or you are going it alone, there needs to be alignment upfront with all of your key internal stakeholders on the overall communications approach, agreement on potential news flow and milestones, including medical meeting participation as well as data dissemination and CME programs.  Questions surrounding duty to update as well as FDA/DDMAC compliance need to be addressed to ensure that you are not violating FDA marketing rules.  Partnering with an experienced SEC and regulatory legal counsel is also very important in the process. 

Included in the Communications Plan, needs to be advocacy program initiatives, public affairs tactics and promotional efforts that affect the communications.  Internal communications needs also need to be included.   A protocol developed to take into consideration all of the potential news flow along with specific scenarios and sign off could be one way in which to manage through the challenges. 

5-Steps to Integrated Partner Communications

1.        Experienced communications professionals with solutions

2.       Good negotiating and collaboration skills

3.       Agreement with internal stakeholders on the communications approach and plan

4.       Development of the Communications Plan

5.       Development of a protocol on communications initiatives.

Integrated communications across various disciplines is important in todays function.  Companies that design their organizations and incentivize them to work together will be at the forefront of building brands with clear and consistent messaging/positioning.  Having key members on your team that have the experience and solutions to todays challenges will prove critical to successful positioning. 

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