To attract investor attention for its innovative compact disc-based technology, Gamera Bioscience Corp. took the promotions road less traveled - relying on a highly targeted PR campaign instead of a traditional investor relations effort.
LMInformation, the PR and medical education arm of Lehman Millet Inc., a global medical marketing communications firm with offices in Boston and London, convinced the startup company that its LabCD system, which performs a multitude of lab tests, was innovative enough to warrant high profile coverage in some national business and science publications.
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Venture Capitalizing with PR Shortly after LMInformation launched its investor-focused PR campaign last year for Gamera Bioscience Corp. of Medford, Mass., the startup company completed its first round of financing worth $4.5 million to support its LabCD System from a venture syndicate consisting of:
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The PR gamble literally paid off. After landing key "on the cutting edge" ink in Business Week, Financial Times, Nature (an international weekly journal on science) and Genetic Engineering News, Gamera secured $4.5 million in financing within six months of the campaign's launch in July 1997.
Less Is More
Gamera was sitting on a big medical idea with tremendous cost-saving potential for the healthcare industry but had a small PR budget of only $25,000, according to Christoper McNary, Gamera's VP of marketing. Instead of developing an elaborate media kit, LMI took a bare-bones communications approach that involved three straightforward communications pieces-a corporate overview sheet, a Q&A with Gamera's founder (Alec Mian) and a product applications sheet.
The press materials communicated the LabCD system's novel use of compact disc technology for lab testing. Once a drop of blood is placed in the center of the disc, the device will perform a full range of tests from genetic diagnostics to cell counting and identifications.
The LabCD system had a "gee whiz" effect on the media, says Sandy Bodner, who led LMI's media relations effort.
The key campaign challenge was communicating the complex technology both in simple, layman's terms for the business press and with scientific sophistication for the trade press. To captivate both audiences, pitch letters included an amateur photo, taken by Mian, of the "miniature laboratory on a disc."
Narrowing the Scope
Instead of blitzing the media world, Bodner's team cherry-picked print vehicles in the financial and science industries that published forward-looking technology features instead of straight product news.
They also eliminated lab publications and medical journals because the product still was in prototype phase (earliest projected commercial availability is 1999).
At best, Bodner thought the campaign had a 90% chance of getting one national hit. And of all the media pitches, Business Week was considered the biggest stretch of all.
Bodner attributes the campaign's media success to:
- having a firm grasp of what reporters want (keeping the information concise but captivating);
- pitching the right editorial departments; and
- giving reporters a preview of the technology, despite the LabCD's prototype status (the Nature reporter was given a prototype disc of the system so he could see it on his computer).
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Prototype Exposure It's not easy to think outside the box when you're working with a startup company with limited promotional dollars. But if the client and agency have Maverick vision and an entrepreneurial spirit, the PR effort can fly, according to Sandy Bodner of LMInformation, a medical PR firm in Boston. The keys to launching a high-tech media relations campaign for a startup company on a shoestring budget is:
Source: LMInformation |
IR vs. PR
Using a strong PR campaign eliminated the "missionary work of calling on investors" that is required of a traditional IR effort, says McNary. After the stories broke, investors contacted Gamera.
Initially, however, Gamera executives weren't that confident that PR was the best way to generate investor interest. But LMI convinced Mian that the right high-profile media exposure would be more impressive than typical IR presentations.
The PR campaign resulted in investor interest shooting up to10 companies from one. Gamera now is in discussions with market leaders in clinical diagnostics and life science industries for developing strategic partnerships. (LMI, Sandy Bodner, 617/722-0019; GBC, Chris McNary, 617/306-0827)