Two Labs: Showcasing company culture in national media

TL;DR: Geben Communication used a media relationship-building opportunity with a reporter to turn a client’s COVID culture shift into a 1200-word story above the fold in The Wall Street Journal. 

the concept

Since 2018, Geben has served as a vital communications partner for Two Labs, a Central Ohio-based pharma services company. When COVID-19 hit, the pharma company began working harder to ensure their own clients could still launch their products on time but wanted to ensure that their own team still felt connected to the rest of the company even when working from home. 

Culture is at the heart of everything Two Labs (named for two pet labrador retrievers) does and is extremely important to the leadership team. Consistently participating in mergers and acquisitions, as well as always seeking new talent to join the team, the company is just as focused on showcasing their culture as they are their industry expertise. 

They tasked Geben Communication with finding ways to showcase how they had translated their culture virtually. As part of an integrated communications strategy, Geben developed a year-long media relations strategy for Two Labs. Part of this strategy included media tactics that would help highlight company culture regionally, nationally and internationally. 

the execution

Creativity was essential when pursuing a positive culture story, especially amid a global pandemic. Reporters were working fast, trends were evolving quickly and positive stories were few and far between. Before we pitched a specific story, we worked on establishing and nurturing a relationship with a reporter, so Two Labs would be top of mind. We continued to check in with the Two Labs team to see how they were handling COVID remotely and by July, the executive team had decided to start having some meetings at a local park in Columbus -- socially distanced with masks -- and Geben realized this was a perfect national media opportunity to share with the Wall Street Journal.

In addition to showcasing the company’s culture for new team members from recent acquisitions and potential hires, the company was also looking for a new private equity partner. While a culture story would highlight the company, it could also be a way to celebrate internally and get in front of investors. Wall Street Journal, with 83.5 million monthly unique visitors, would reach both of the intended audiences. 

the result

As a leading source of business and financial news across the U.S. and the world, Geben effectively met our objective of highlighting Two Labs’ COVID-pivot in culture with both target audiences of new and potential hires and well as potential investors. The 1200-word feature story in print and online of The Wall Street Journal was completed with photographs of the company’s COVID-safe meetings in a local Columbus, OH park. Despite a global pandemic, Geben was able to find the perfect opportunity to turn these dreams into a reality and help move the business forward.