Sigma-Aldrich
About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich, based in St. Louis, is one of the largest specialty chemical suppliers in world with $2.2 billion in annual revenue and 7,800 global employees. In addition to providing materials and services to academic and commercial researchers, the company provides services for outsourced laboratory testing.
Challenge: Sigma-Aldrich was well known as a trusted and reliable provider of specialty chemicals, but relatively few people knew it was pioneering research and products for the life sciences community, including in exciting but competitive fields such as genomics and drug discovery. To reach academic and commercial customers investing heavily in biotechnology research, the company needed to break from its reputation as a chemical supplier and increase awareness of its investments in the life sciences sector.
Strategy: After studying past media and analyst coverage of Sigma-Aldrich, Ricochet concluded that Sigma-Aldrich’s position in the life sciences community was not well understood compared to its competitors. To build the company’s reputation among life sciences researchers, Ricochet identified the areas where the company was innovating most aggressively &mdash in functional genomics, antibodies and online content &mdash and engineered PR programs for each initiative to build visibility for the company as a whole. Using product launches and research updates, Ricochet built a consistent news queue around Sigma-Aldrich milestones and conducted aggressive outreach to a global roster of trade and mainstream media, creating greater visibility for the company and its key executives. Ricochet also coordinated an internal communications program, educating Sigma-Aldrich’s sales and external communications staff on how to leverage media coverage to build and expand a customer base.
Results: As a result of Ricochet’s programs, Sigma-Aldrich received coverage for its investments and technology in the Associated Press, Forbes, Science, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, USA Today and numerous other publications, including a wide range of relevant trade media. The communications strategy also led to greater interest in the company’s subsequent life sciences activities, with analysts understanding the company’s growth prospects were tied to its life sciences research and development. Most importantly, Sigma-Aldrich reached a vast new audience who now turn to the company for higher-margin products and as a source for trusted biological information.