What’s stopping us from gaining media coverage?

Marketing Program Management

We had a written strategic marketing plan I understood inside and out. I had written it. We had collaborated within marketing on how we would support the business line and received stakeholder buy-in. Our concept was solid because the team came together to make an idea into something special. We were nearing our time frame for deploying our tactics into market. By all accounts, everything was moving forward and we were excited to see if our work was going to translate into patient inquiries.

Except, we had a piece of work that was not moving and we needed to figure out a way forward. I asked and inquired from the area of expertise on what was blocking our work from moving forward. Was the idea not viable? Was there another piece of information needed? After a few weeks without much movement, we called a quick meeting of the minds. If we couldn’t resolve the barriers through quick conversations or emails, then onto face-to-face formalities.

I recall sitting in a room with three other team members talking through what was happening. I reiterated our commitment to our leadership and stakeholders and offered to go back to the group and deliver a revised message. “We can’t achieve this tactic as part of our plan.” Knowing the marketing team trusted me in being transparent as well as leadership knowing that we were accountable to our recommended plan, I hedged my bet that we would find a way versus going back on our plan.

And … we did. It was amazing to watch the energy in the room transition from neutral to excited. To watch the experts accountable for the success of the effort, brainstorm “how might we …” They moved into execution mode and magic, pure magic, happened. First some local buzz, then a ton of national buzz.

Coverage included Time, The Washington Post, Megyn Kelly TODAY, and USA Today and much more.

If you’re wondering “What’s stopping us?” then I encourage you to have a conversation.