Corporate Narrative Development & Investor Communications

the client challenge

An early-stage pharmaceutical company was preparing to complete Phase 1 of its clinical program in obesity and pursue additional funding to sustain its research. Without a website or branded materials, and with an outdated investor deck, the company needed to hone its story and create the content to bring it to life.

the approach

Discover

-To understand the company’s story, we facilitated a half-day working session with the executive team, learning about their histories, the foundation of the company, the latest data and research in the space, their research program and what they are trying to achieve, and overall what makes them tick. While there, we workshopped stakeholder perceptions and a story framework. We learned that strong communications and brand positioning would be key to capturing people’s attention about a new drug for obesity due to a number of previous failures in the space.

-Following the working session, we conducted one-on-one interviews with two scientists and a clinician on the ERX board to ensure we had a clear understanding of the complex research in the space and the patient experience. We additionally reviewed a number of recommended publications on obesity and the hormone leptin, and learned about the experiences and communications of other pharmaceutical/biotech companies focused on obesity.

Build

-Synthesizing all of the information we had gathered we drafted a message track and corporate narrative to serve as a foundation for all other content. Following, we wrote an engaging new website and developed a completely new investor presentation, including content and design, that tells the company’s story in the context of the obesity crisis and obesity research that has taken place over the past 20 years.

the result

Both the website and the investor presentation have received great feedback. Both pieces successfully explain the complex biological problem of obesity in plain language, as well as how the company’s research program is different.