• Position Affymetrix as providing an essential tool in the DNA research arena, both academically and in pharmaceutical applications
  
• Position Affymetrix as the Gold Standard solution of choice in DNA arrays
  
• Reposition the company as customer focused and value driven
  
• Increase the understanding of Affymetrix’ products and services and help drive commercial enquiries
  
• Launch new products and services, gaining rapid market awareness and trial
  

Method and activities

The strategy adopted for the media campaign was:

• To identify current issues to sell in news stories around. These included the SARS epidemic and BSE crises
  
• To provide media outreach around European conferences attended by Affymetrix
  
• To identify key product news that might be of wider interest
  As part of this strategy the following actions were undertaken:
  
• To support financial PR outreach, Northbank organised eight media one-on-ones with key journalists during the 2003 NASDAQ European conference, London
  
• Media outreach was provided around the SARS epidemic and journalists informed of the Affymetrix array used to study the disease
  
• Significant outreach around the news that Affymetrix was the first to put the whole expressed human genome on a single DNA chip on the back of the Food Expert ID Chip launched by Affymetrix’ partner BioMerieux and around Affymetrix’ attendance at Forum Labo, Paris
  
• A press briefing was held at Biotechnica in Hannover to launch this U133 plus array
  
• Media briefing around the ‘transcriptome’ research published by Affymetrix’ scientists in Cell including a briefing at the AAAS
  
• A press dinner was arranged at the Human Genome Meeting 2004, Berlin
  
• Articles in leading biotech trade press were negotiated around key product stories and feature opportunities
  
• In addition to PR, Northbank has been successful in negotiating a special publishing and web focus supplement for Affymetrix with Nature, called Nature Reviews Microarray Collection, launched in March 2004. This project is designed to have a significant commercial and corporate impact on a global basis

Results

• Meetings at NASDAQ Europe conference resulted in coverage in the Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph and several leading trade media, as well as live coverage on the BBC business programme, Working Lunch
  
• The launch of the SARS detection array was covered in the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times
  
• Coverage of the Human genome on single chip was achieved in the Financial Times and Reuters as well as in the trade press
  
• Features on the Food Expert ID chip was placed in the Financial Times and, following a lead story in the New Scientist, also on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today
  
• Media one-on-ones were set up with five key media in Paris around the Food Expert ID launch resulting in coverage in trade and National media including national newspaper Les Echos
  
• Articles were placed in International Biotechnology Laboratory, Biotechnology International, BioSpektrum, SP2, Bioforum (Germany), BioForum Europe, Scrip and European Pharmaceutical Review
  
• Regular coverage in microarray features in Nature product focus as well as in Nature’s technology feature on target validation
  
• The transcriptome story was published as a feature in the New Scientist as well as being covered by the Independent and, for the future, on the BBC
  
• Eleven journalists attend the dinner at HUGO including Genome Technology, Bio-IT World, Technology Review, Nature Genetics, The Scientist, FAZ, BBC, Wissenschaft.