Case Study: Vineti

Advanced therapies require advanced software. Vineti is the essential software solution to drive and scale personalized therapeutic innovation.

Background

When Karbo Communications began working with Vineti, the company was in stealth mode and lacked a compelling messaging platform and market visibility.
While individualized medicine continued to gain traction, the commercialization of the latest cancer treatments lagged far behind. Medical practitioners and manufacturers were managing this complex process with pencils and clipboards in a computerized and data-driven world. Vineti was in stealth mode, but was poised to deliver the first commercial platform to expand patient access to life-saving cancer treatments by helping pharmaceutical companies accelerate life-saving treatment delivery, and ensure safety and FDA compliance for individualized cell therapies. Through the successful implementation of Vineti’s platform, more cancer patients would be able to receive last-chance treatments, better data would improve individualized medicine development and delivery and ultimately, more patients would be cured.

Vineti hired Karbo Communications in March 2017 based on the team’s strategic insight, successful track record in securing top-tier coverage and creative approach to storytelling. While the biotech space is a recognized and established market, technology as an important part of the access and commercialization of cell and gene therapies for late-stage cancer treatment is a relatively unknown space. Vineti wanted to increase awareness of both the market itself and their leadership.

Objectives

Increase Vineti’s market awareness and media buzz ahead of their Series B fundraising efforts
Increase sales and customer acquisition via coverage in top-tier business, technology and healthcare/biotechnology publications
Develop effective and compelling messaging that differentiates Vineti and attracts the attention of key press and potential investors
Position the company as more than a SaaS platform—emphasize how the technology platform enables the delivery of lifesaving treatments and cures as well as the more effective commercialization of treatments
Communicate the positive impact Vineti’s technology will have on manufacturing discovery and delivery regulations
Position the company’s executives as industry “all stars” in the biotechnology and software space
Announce their Series A funding of $13.75M and investors

Execution

Karbo Communications and Vineti began the relationship by completing an in-depth messaging exercise to articulate the current market need, Vineti’s impact and differentiation and product value propositions. The agency spoke with Vineti’s executives, subject matter experts, customers, patients and investors to understand every angle of the product, its impact on the market and the company as a whole.

The agency developed a detailed launch plan and recommended a strategic media outreach approach to earn the interest of key press. The Karbo Com team began executing on this immediately, working with the executive team and investors from GE Ventures, Mayo Clinic and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). Customer interviews were also conducted. Interviews were held with the companies top press targets, including The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch and FierceBiotech.
Karbo Com also recommended a refresh of Vineti’s website and press page to support the newly crafted messaging, outlining recommended content for the press page and drafting web and social-optimized iterations of the positioning.

Simultaneously, the agency developed compelling press materials, and prepared Vineti executives and investors for interviews. The agency recommended amplifying Vineti’s existing social media presence and developed a social strategy to build awareness of Vineti’s brand and market engagaement prior to the launch. Karbo Com launched the company’s LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook social media channels and completely executed all social programs, which included a follow-back program to connect with key influencers. Over the course of the relationship, Karbo Com populated Vineti’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages with biotech and healthcare-focused industry articles, and promoted earned coverage of the launch.

Results

As a result of strategic messaging, a multi-layer campaign and aggressive media outreach, Karbo Communications secured more than 18 original articles in all of Vineti’s top business, technology and biotech/medical publication targets. Features were secured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, TechCrunch, FierceBiotech, San Franciso Business Times and BioITWorld. The agency also secured long-lead article interest with reporters at The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Forbes, Science Magazine and Fortune.

A sampling of media that have featured Vineti: