Healthcare
Lake Region Medical; Problems Solved, Lessons Learned, Rewards Earned
For decades the closely held, global medical device manufacturer, Lake Region Medical (LRM) in the Twin Cities area, kept a low media profile, due to the wishes of The Fleischhacker family who were the majority owners. But when LRM planned an expansion into Ireland via acquisition of a complementary manufacturing plant, Lake Region made the strategic decision to make its news public – not just in the U.S. but In Ireland, too. It was a smart move that calmed the worries of the workers in the New Ross plant in County Westford who were concerned their jobs and livelihoods would end as Lake Region took over.
Not to worry.
The global leader in the development and manufacture of OEM devices that supplies the world’s largest medical device companies with minimally invasive delivery solutions for cardio, endo and neurovascular procedures not only was going to retain those workers, but it was also going to expand its workforce -- if the move proved successful. (It was!)
Working with Media Savant and two project allies, all with former ties to journalism, the team was tasked with developing the media strategy for the international press, general business media and the medical device trade industry. The trio set out to put all the necessary pieces together to make the international announcement, and with just two weeks out from the big rollout, everything seemed in place.
But then….
A Hiccup Instead of a Car Wreck
Even though the news release – and accompanying media lists and an international wire service – had all been approved by the C-suite and the company’s legal team, one key piece was missing. There was no internal communications document to notify Lake Region Medical’s workers in the U.S. - -or in Country Wexford!
At the proverbial 11th hour, the PR team quickly informed the client, repurposed the key messages of the external news release for all LRM workers and made sure it got to them before everyone read it in the papers.
Despite all the good minds in the room, the corporate execs and their hired PR guns almost overlooked a key group who were critical to communicate with. This issue underscores a bigger and more common one in any organization at both the macro or micro levels: Sometimes clients are so close to what they do, know and say, crucial information that can be taken for granted can easily get overlooked.
That’s why it’s important for an external team of communication pros – in this case the PR trio hired for the international announcement – to put fresh eyes and thinking to all the assets, assumptions and objectives for such a project. You might have a hiccup, but you avoid having a car wreck.
The great reception in the media for Lake Region’s Ireland expansion ultimately went as planned: The story was picked up extensively in the local Twin Cities business press, in Ireland and elsewhere on the continent, and in the medical device trades. And the same PR team was rewarded with other media assignments, including other announcements – and the writing of a couple highly technical papers for the medical device trade press.
Postscript
Lake Region Medical could have easily hired a blockbuster agency (with blockbuster fees) for all these tasks. But in the end, it chose a small team of former journalists to tell its story. And it ended happily ever after.
