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In August, HDMZ joined a collaborative panel on best practices in scientific storytelling at the second annual scientific marketing event hosted by C&EN Media Group. That event, "Preparing for the New Scientific Buyer: Emerging Market Trends and Expectations", detailed the strategies with which marketers can build connections with scientific professionals, through creating credible content that captures their attention while underscoring key business objectives. The sessions discussed how science marketers can navigate audience personas to determine when and what a scientist would buy. Scientists recognize they have a need for a product or service. Marketers should prompt this curiosity by demonstrating an investment value through product awareness in the context of their clients’ research applications.

Roundtable discussions and key panelists included industry experts from Merck KGaA, Luminex Corporation, The Market Element, Ashland, and more.

As a panelist for an inbound marketing segment, HDMZ’s Director of Scientific Communications, John Kang, highlighted how to build trusted relationships with the media to implement awareness:    

• Leave branding and ego at the door — We live in a loud media landscape where everyone's marketing meter is heightened. Cut out superfluous buzzwords when pitching a story.

• Develop relationships with journalists like you would any other human relationship — Hey, journalists are people too. This means they also require time and care. 

• Know who you're pitching — It's not just about knowing his/her beat. It's also about knowing what makes them and their audiences tick.

• Master your client's area of expertise — Sometimes the media comes to YOU for advice and insight on storyline ideas. Therefore, it's our job to connect the dots between trends and ideas, which requires more than just a superficial knowledge of the science behind your client.

• Treat all journalists with respect — Whether the journalist is from a local news outlet or the Wall Street Journal, never underestimate their potential contribution to telling your client's story. Treat them all with equal respect.

Chris Connor, the moderator for the panel, recently hosted a podcast on Life Science Marketing Radio, where he invited John Kang to share his thoughts on Media Relations and Scientific Storytelling. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

About John Kang, Director, Scientific Communications

As an experienced public relations professional in B2B life sciences communications, the list of people he respects and admires in the field is endless.

His goal is to have candid conversations about the virtues of science, innovation and discovery with as many scientific journalists as possible. As a former researcher and eternal science nerd, John’s good at that. But he also values honest relationships around the topics and causes scientists are passionate about. For John, that’s essential. Because of this philosophy, he has successfully placed stories in The Atlantic, the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among others.

About C&EN Media Group

Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) is the award-winning news outlet that reaches the American Chemical Society’s vast membership of 156,000 scientists, as well as the worldwide chemistry community in academia, industry and beyond. Through its website and weekly print newsmagazine, C&EN covers the latest research advances, business trends, chemical safety data, career information and more.