Coronial inquest involving an international pharmaceutical company

The challenge:

fowlstone’s client, an international pharmaceutical company operating in a niche area, faced intense scrutiny as part of a highly public inquest.

The coroner had a track record of seeking media attention to further his own agenda, and the topic was highly emotive.

Furthermore, the looming threat of regulatory change around the client’s products had the potential to spark further interest.

fowlstone’s approach:

Our approach was to ensure that the client was positioned as a ‘small target’ in the situation. By shifting the conversation, we succeeded in re-casting the media narrative in a direction more helpful to the client.

A key part of the approach was to acknowledge the emotion in the situation, and to communicate to customers and staff sensitively, given that this was a highly charged issue that had the potential to affect the whole industry.

By leveraging the industry association’s position, we created third-party endorsement that supported the client through the challenging process surrounding the proposed tightening of regulations.

The results:

The company avoided adverse media attention and was successful in not being drawn in to the significant media coverage that appeared around the inquest.

Where the company was mentioned in the media, it was closely aligned to the work of the industry association, resulting in positive positioning, despite the challenging situation.

The client was also able to ensure that a consistent message was communicated by industry groups and other influencers in the sector, and the eventual outcome was that the regulatory change was not passed, in line with our client’s recommendation.