“‘But you work at a PR agency…?’”

Posted by serge.beckers | Posted on Jul 18, 2011 | 1 review

 ‘…so what are you doing in a place like this?’, you might ask yourself. Well, I’ll tell you. Indeed, I work at a PR agency. AND I’m very interested in everything that goes on in the medical and life sciences sector. So I am not a health care or life sciences professional as such, but I am very involved and interested in ‘your world’.

 In fact, one of the focuses of our PR agency is health care, in its broadest sense. We work for pharmaceuticals, health care related associations,  medical device manufacturers, sales organizations in the OTC sector, hospitals, research institutes,  and the like, and are heavily involved in crisis communication for nursing and rest homes and day care centers.

‘Aaah, right, you’re here to acquire new business.’ Sure, I’d love to have some of you as a client, because I think there are quite a few very interesting and promising companies in the Science Please network. And also because I’m convinced that PR is an invaluable instrument for any company to have. In fact, I’m convinced that it’s much more efficient than advertising, for the reasons that have been put forward quite eloquently by numerous people. But that’s a different story.

So why am I here? I’m here because I love to read your thoughts on the medical world, and I love to share my thoughts on this sector with you, from a communication perspective. Or should I say ‘our’ thoughts, since I also asked my Worldcom PR Group colleagues to contribute. Bottom line: My Worldcom PR Group partners and I gladly share our international experience and expertise with you and let you know what’s going on in your sector, in all its facets. We’ll try to provide you with trend reports, marketing insights, case studies, PR campaigns, country reports, surveys, tips and tricks, social media thingies, blogs and polls, and what have you.

‘And do you want in return?’ Well, just your input and feedback, your insights and your participation in discussions. Let’s make Science Please a truly altruistic networking initiative, without anyone having to scratch anyone else’s back, unless they both want to. I for one am looking forward to hearing from you! No strings attached.

 

 

 

Reviews of this discussion

Judi Gunter

Judi Gunter

I'm currently doing publicity to raise awareness, understanding and support for a fund-raising walk to be held next month. The purpose is to raise money for a Research Foundation to be able to offer grants to foster studies that will improve diagnosis and treatment of a specific disease.

Our media in Canada not only do not want to do stories on fund-raising events (there are too many) but they also will not do health stories unless there is an expert (like a doctor or a researcher) and a patient brought forward as sources for interview.

My challenge as a PR person is to be "the first reporter on the story" and to figure out interesting angles, reliable source material and articulate and interesting people who can be interviewed. It takes creativity and professionalism and background knowledge and hours of time to figure all of this out and that's BEFORE the first health reporter is called. And it takes a lot of luck too.

I'm telling this story because I want the Science Please community of interest to learn more about what PR is and what it takes to get the kind of positive media coverage that yields results.

So I salute Serge for opening up this topic!!! Our job as PR consultants is largely one of client education.

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