Strategy + Communications = Impact
Orangefiery is a strategy and communications consulting firm that combines the insights and decision-making tools of strategy consulting with the real-world orientation and agility of a public relations agency to help our clients create impact in the world. We provide research and strategy work done through a communications and stakeholder engagement lens. We have expertise in research and insights, planning, facilitation, public relations, stakeholder engagement and systems design. Our proprietary methodology includes four distinct stages -- discovery; alignment; creation; embedding -- to help our clients clearly define problems and align on impactful solutions that can be sustained over time.
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Planning to Operationalize Customer Centricity
the client challenge
Our client’s internal and external environment was changing. The company needed to maintain its position as the medical and countermeasures (MCM) vaccines leader and establish itself as the leader in the travel health market. As part of the company’s five-year strategic planning process, leadership identified customer centricity as a strategic pillar for a specific business unit (BU). However, there were a number of barriers to operationalizing customer centricity on a consistent basis across the BU
the approach
Discover
-Working with BU leadership, created a cross-functional “customer centricity workstream” to understand the perception of the company from the POV of the BU customer base and to develop a framework for operationalizing customer centricity.
-Interviewed eight individuals from multiple business units and 13 external stakeholders representing the viewpoints of travel health and MCM customers; conducted three stakeholder mapping workshops and an audit of internal documents to determine brand equities valued by customers, define a customer centric approach for the company and propose ways to implement it.
Develop
-Summarized research (workshops, qualitative internal and external interviews and internal materials audit) and developed customer centricity framework for the BU to follow over the next five years.
Deploy
-Presented customer centricity research findings during 2025 BU Strategic Planning workshop and ensured integration into the five year BU strategic plan.
-Provided slides for customer centricity workstream leads and BU leadership to present to executives to secure support.
the result
The BU leadership team gained a cross-function, cross-office understanding of what customers need and want, and how to operationalize customer centricity to achieve business objectives.
Shaping Perceptions of a Condition through Community Engagement
the client challenge
With the launch of a first-in-class treatment for dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease, our client needed to raise awareness of the condition and the brand among key stakeholders: patients, their care partners (CPs), doctors, & advocacy. We were tasked with developing a strategy to engage the right communities & support unbranded & branded product communications during the post-launch period.
the approach
Discover
-Our team honed in uncovering the white space in an often confusing Parkinson’s disease landscape, identifying areas of opportunity for the company by assessing overarching trends, available resources & current perceptions of our client within the neurological conditions arena. This also required us to dig into patient and CPs beliefs around dyskinesia, by collecting primary & secondary research, where we discovered strategy-forming insights.
Build
-We devised a comprehensive communications strategy to improve product communications including building a social platform for people with dyskinesia and their care partners. We immersed ourselves in the needs of each stakeholder to ensure our messages addressed their realities & concerns while educating on the unmet need. Then we built a community from scratch utilizing relationships with advocacy organizations to spread the word.
Engage
-Through our advocacy relations & knowledge of the space, we deployed an unbranded disease awareness Facebook campaign featuring educational & advocacy resources, information on dyskinesia & a forum for those affected by dyskinesia.
the result
In three months our online community grossed 156k targeted engagements – an example of how collaboration, understanding of the space, and compelling content is critical to on-message, actionable education about dyskinesia. We gained a stronger understanding of challenges facing audiences & were able to adjust messaging & approaches to build a strong community & raise awareness of dyskinesia symptoms and&resources.
Market Development & Brand Narrative for Therapuetic Client
the client challenge
Preparing to enter into a new therapeutic territory, our client needed a core narrative developed to support speaking with one voice to multiple stakeholders across internal and external communications globally, emphasizing the clinical and economic benefits of treating a specific patient sub-population for NASH (liver disease).
the approach
Discover
-Gathered and assessed relevant research and resources on file
-Met with cross-functional representatives to secure input on stakeholder POVs and needs/gaps in understanding; workshopped stakeholder perceptions, barriers and potential benefits
Build
-Drafted straw man narrative; pressure tested internally
Test
-Tested narrative via qualitative research with healthcare providers, payers, policymakers, and patients to deepen understanding of beliefs and barriers, gain insights and feedback on narrative themes, assess evidence and support needed to achieve desired calls to action, and understand communications dos and don’ts
Deploy
-Developed a core brand narrative and accompanying rollout guide summarizing the company’s NASH market development POV:
- Narrative (the NASH story)
- Lexicon
- Key data points and citations
the result
Core narrative and lexicon was rolled out across countries to support consistent internal and external communications about the company and NASH across stakeholders.
Advocacy Landscape & Engagement
the client challenge
A clinical stage company conducting research in oncology sought to better understand the advocacy landscape for pancreatic cancer, mesothelioma, and ovarian cancer. In addition, the company sought to establish an internal operational approach to advocacy engagement.
the approach
Discover
-We began by interviewing internal stakeholders to determine commercial, medical, & corporate goals & priorities; with this information, we scoped the types of organizations to evaluate by disease area & strategic focus, compiling a list of 26 relevant advocacy organizations.
-We continued research by reviewing media coverage, financial statements, annual reports, & other materials from the identified advocacy organizations to determine where they shared the company’s goals, & what ‘influence resources’ they had in place to aid in pursuing goals; we also consulted with subject-matter experts as needed to supplement secondary research findings.
Engage
-With priority organizations identified, we created a strategic engagement plan for introducing new and/or optimizing existing relationships with highest-value targets; this included an engagement calendar with key meetings, key external milestones, & an anticipated engagement schedule.
-We convened & managed a cross-functional advocacy engagement working group and created their operational procedures and governance materials.
-Acting as an extension of the company’s internal team, we served as primary contact for select advocacy organizations, participating in regular calls & providing counsel on opportunities to work together.
the result
We set the client on the right path forward to engage with influential and aligned advocacy organizations & set the foundation for an effective and strategic ongoing advocacy program. As a result of new relationships, they participated in meetings with advocacy organizations, participated on panels, and were asked to join advocacy-led councils and consortiums.
Building a Communications Function for Organizational Success
the client challenge
Aquinox Pharmaceuticals was preparing to pivot from an early-stage, investor-focused company to a Phase 3 company planning for a potential commercial launch. Aquinox needed to establish a communications function and create a plan for engaging in multi-stakeholder communications.
the approach
Align on the role of communications
-Aquinox did not have an internal communications function, and had faced challenges aligning on communications strategy in the past. We began by building trust and educating about what communications can achieve. We then agreed on the systems, roles and responsibilities that were needed to establish a strong communications function for Aquinox.
Build a communications function
-With no internal communications staff at Aquinox, Orangefiery knew it would be important to be extra proactive and transparent about communications plans, activities in progress, and activities coming up in the near term. To do this, we established processes to set and communicate expectations for communications goals, content needs, timelines and roles and responsibilities early on, so that there were never any surprises for the Aquinox team. We also developed new tools for rigorous planning and project management:
– A series of workshops with senior leadership to align on communications strategy, goals, target stakeholders and messaging
– Communications content submission briefs to clearly define and set expectations for the purpose, development and review process for each piece of content
– Communications content review sessions via videoconferences with screen sharing, scheduled far ahead to allow for expected 100 attendance
the result
A highly effective and efficient communications content development and review process that received extremely positive feedback from all leadership including the CEO.
Issues Management: Developing a Preparedness Strategy
the client challenge
A charitable patient assistance organization operates in a highly regulated space that is occasionally scrutinized by national news media. The organization sought to develop a proactive issues management plan including a suite of issues preparedness materials to allow them to quickly & strategically respond if contacted by reporters.
the approach
Discover
-We begin our engagement with a 1.5-day workshop to get grounded in organization values, how they operate, and the precautions they take to ensure OIG compliance. We discussed organizational goals, objectives, & operations, mapped stakeholders, defined risk categories, & filled in existing issues-related tools & materials gaps.
Build
-We discovered that the organization lacked foundational communications materials; so we began by creating a core narrative for the organization, focused on their commitment to patients & differentiators. We also created a master message hierarchy and message track.
-Once the story was defined, we developed issues response messaging aligned with the risk areas identified in the workshop; & made recommendations about potential actions that could mitigate risk or stakeholder perceptions of issues.
Deploy
-We deployed the following messaging & issues preparedness materials:
– Slides summarizing external environment and areas of risk, core narrative, message themes, boiler plate, elevator speech & results of the stakeholder mapping
– A messaging toolkit containing core message pyramid, message map, core narrative, elevator speech, boiler plate, glossary of terms and Q&A, including responses to tough questions that the company might be asked
-We conducted a message training to ensure executive comfort in responding to tough questions, concisely & on message.
the result
The executive team was confident in their preparedness for issues and ability to present themselves consistently to the public in a way that emphasized their rigorous approach to compliance and commitment to patients.
Reviews
the project
Branding & Communications Strategy for Biotech Company
"Their care and commitment to their work and clients are unsurpassed."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I'm the Chief Commercial and Business Officer, including responsibility over corporate communications and strategy, at Lyndra Therapeutics, a clinical stage Biotech company working to make daily pills a thing of the past.
For what projects/services did your company hire Orangefiery?
We were looking to evolve the branding and communications to bring it inline with our current stage/scale, dial up the aspirational elements tied to the future, and ultimately create more buzz and impact in the market.
How did you select this vendor?
I'd worked with Mike and the Orangefiery team at three prior companies. There work is unique and differentiated. Their project management and collaboration is unparalleled. You can trust their budgets, which is rare in the communications and marketing arena with vendors. They are smart, do amazing work, and are fun to work with!
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
Orangefiery's work included: creation of new corporate brand (identity, logo, brand book, etc.), new website, PR & Media strategy/plan, Executive Thought-leadership plan, foundational communications tools (e.g. corporate/disease state/product fact sheets, lexicon dossier, etc.), advocacy mapping and engagement plan for lead product/disease state.
What was the team composition?
The team was assembled to specifically meet the SOW. Close, frequent coordination with the CEO, SVP/Client Engagement Director, creative team spanning scientific content, media, etc. This is an effective and cost effective approach to supporting the work.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Our employees, prospective employees, business partners, board, and members of the media (who were familiar with the company prior to the brand evolution) have remarked on the significant change in our company brand and impression in the marketplace.
They remark that the look and feel is more impactful and aligned to our mission, that there is a more cohesive narrative on who we are and what we do, and more thoughtful and consistent story in the market. Our social media metrics across platforms and website traffic/SEO have significantly increased.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The workflow is excellent and a great balance of proactive and reactive. The Client Engagement Director ensures there is strong project management and internal coordination within the Orangefiery team. There are scheduled, structured weekly tactical meetings, quarterly strategic check-ins, and they are very responsive to ad hoc calls/huddles to react to things as they arise.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Their ability to balance strategic/creative and tactical execution. I don't treat Mike (Founder and CEO) and Diana (SVP/Client Engagement Director) as transactional "PR People," downstream of my brand or corporate strategy, as I had with firms in the past. I bring them right to the table at the beginning to help me formulate the strategy, considering all customer and stakeholder perspectives. They are true partners. And they do an amazing job executing as well. The work is exceptionally creative and delivers! Their care and commitment to their work and clients are unsurpassed.
Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?
Nothing!
the project
Business Consultation & Workshop for Pharmaceutical Company
"I always felt they were very upfront on challenges, progress, next steps, and project completion."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I was leading the medical affairs preparation for the US launch of a new and novel therapy for a small pharmaceutical company doing its first product launch.
For what projects/services did your company hire Orangefiery, and what were your goals?
We sought to develop a high level strategy for medical engagement, but also have the team take ownership of the actual tactics and KPIs. We also had the challenge of a fractured team where lack of clarity on language and objectives led to further inconsistencies and decreased team effectiveness.
My goal in hiring Orangefiery was to support a developing leader in running the workshops and exercises (developed by OF), to get clarity and agreement on terminology and messaging (refined by OF), and build team alignment and engagement around setting their KPIs and agreeing to how they would be evaluated and their performance assessed.
How did you select this vendor?
I had worked with Orangefiery on a corporate rebranding project previously (focusing on company evolution and both the implementation of internal and external rollout) at one company, and then a full initial branding and website buildout for a second startup company which also included an initial investor pitch deck and coaching of C-suite for optimal delivery based on investor feedback and company goals.
Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.
Team interviewed both myself and my medical field team lead to understand the scope of the project, some of the challenging team dynamics, internal barriers, and some market/peer norms. They then crafted a series of 6 workshops. I attended the first and the last, and the team lead was a co-facilitator with Orangefiery for each (be design).
This process addressed both the project needs, as well as the added goal of some leadership and skills building for the team lead. Workshops were summarized with key take aways, and draft plans were developed to be presented and refined in later workshops, assuring that the whole team was engaged in the process and had buy in around the agreed upon tactics, language, the underlying strategy, and the need for alignment.
Final deliverables included a detailed slide deck of what had been covered and agreed upon, including specific KPIs with plans on how to measure and track (to be integrated into our customer mgmt systems), a debrief with the team lead on potential next steps and ways to continue team alignment, and a final debrief with just me to provide a transparent summary on what went well, any rough spots, and further recommendations on messaging to the whole team as well as specifics to further support the team lead.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
Mike and Diana were the strategy leads, with Diana doing quite a bit of the materials build and several of the co-facilitation (others by Mike to set initial tone). Diana also provided some peer coaching for the team lead, with Mike supporting with some additional ideas for her continued success.
Unclear if there were others providing some of the industry standards or other materials. Mike and Diana were the consistent face of the project. I always felt they were very upfront on challenges, progress, next steps, and project completion.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
The primary deliverable was to be a strategy for targeting thought leaders, messaging content and delivery, and development of KPIs - both the collection of and use in performance evaluation. And this goal was met. But other critical pieces of the project were leadership development, conflict resolution, messaging alignment, team engagement, and the way that this could be communicated internally to management and collaborating functional teams.
This is where working with Orangefiery has often yielded the greatest value, since it isn't only deliverables (which are of the highest quality), it is how you get there, the communication, dynamics, interplay or strategy and competing needs/desires. Hard to describe, but it is knowing how to optimize the underlying dynamics, which make or break team performance, and leverage this to create and embrace real fundamental progress on strategy and execution.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
As the project champion I would be copied on emails from Orangefiery, with the team lead as the week-to-week contact, and see the slide decks designed to facilitate the workshops. We had a monthly call with both myself and my team lead with Mike and Diana. Would share in emails where we were in terms of progress against the goals stated in the SOW.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
I guess this shouldn't be a surprise for an agency which focuses on strategic communication AND communicating strategically, but I appreciate the open honest dialogue and willingness to have tough conversations, share opinions, ponder solutions. Here is one example: for the above mentioned project...
After the first workshop, which was challenging and struggled to keep on track (due to a disruptive team member on our side), Mike reached out to have a call to share the event, debrief and talk about how it didn't go as planned, and how they would specifically prepare a little differently and manage the next session for greater success. I appreciated his sharing this and the commitment to tackling it more head on next time.
He had specific recommendations for what our team lead and I could do to help set/support the right tone. All subsequent workshops went more smoothly, and was back on track with all goals achieved/exceeded.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
I really don't have much here. I have asked Mike and team to take on a number of projects, some of which are their first time tackling a particular area, specifically because I so appreciate the dynamics of their thought and strategy partnership. Helps me and my teams think more proactively and expansively, and it seems whatever projects I propose, they rise to the challenge.
Orangefiery has delivered a significantly more impactful brand that accurately aligns with the client's mission and story, resulting in an increase in their site traffic and social media metrics. Their responsiveness, proactivity, and genuine commitment to the client's success are unsurpassed.