We help clients communicate their progress to investors, donors, granting agencies, collaborators and the scientific community. Pharmaceutical companies, universities, medical schools and biotech startups come to us for one reason: we have a track record for helping clients discover, develop and articulate the messages that earn attention and confidence from funding sources.
First, we listen to you. Very closely. Then we discover what the outside world thinks of you and what you need to tell them through interviews, focus groups and other research methods. We help you to develop a convincing position in the marketplace of perceptions and to occupy it. The outside world, as well as people in your organization, will better understand and value your vision, goals, strategies and achievements.
Some of our clients have used our services to raise money for new research buildings. Others have wanted to impress investors in their public offerings, private offerings or annual reports. Still others needed to develop and implement a plan to educate or inform research collaborators and thought leaders in medicine.
Our work has built bridges to success because collectively we have had decades of experience:
- Developing and implementing marketing communications programs
- Generating research results and writing for scientists
- Starting and running science and business publications
We know both the business and science of biomedical research and product development. We also understand the internal and external challenges involved with promoting your ideas and products to outside funding sources.
How will you benefit from our services?
- You institution and programs will attract greater interest from potential donors, collaborators and potential faculty members. This is because your strategy and messages are based on empirical knowledge, not guesswork
- You will save time and money by getting the messages right at the earliest possible stages
- You will gain perspective on your plans and challenges from people who have helped similar clients for decades. This perspective can lead to surprising and highly effective solutions
- We offer cost-effective answers to your communications problems. You pay for value, not for potted plants, prestigious addresses or slick sales presentations
- Morale and productivity may greatly improve within your administration, since our approach builds internal consensus as well as successful delivery of targeted messages
What will we do to help you achieve your goals?
- Based on interviews with key members of your organization, we will recommend a position for your project, organization, or department and suggest strategies for developing messages
- We will develop key messages and supporting messages and test them, both internally and (if desired) with key opinion leaders outside your organization (through interviews or focus groups)
- We will write the appropriate text to underscore your messages, in print and on the Web.
- We can provide custom publishing services to convey these messages through printed reports, books, magazines, websites, or blogs
Why should you hire us?
The two principals of Still Point Coaching and Consulting, Christopher Edwards, PhD and Beth Schachter, PhD, offer combined strengths in marketing communications, business consulting, scientific understanding, and writing. Chris learned marketing communications in the 1980s while serving as Director of Strategic Communications at Regis McKenna, Inc. Regis McKenna developed and implemented the initial positioning of Apple Computer and many other successful companies. The Founding Editor-in-Chief of Bio/Technology (now called Nature Biotechnology), his writing has appeared in books, journals, magazines, online columns, annual reports, public and private offerings, review articles and major grants. Beth was a research professor in cell and molecular biology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of over 30 peer-reviewed articles before becoming a science editor and writer. She is widely published in top research journals and magazines for scientists, and she has written or edited major grant proposals and research plans for numerous medical schools.