Overview
In an industry as established, regulated, and legacy-driven as clinical trials, building a challenger brand is no small task—especially one with global ambitions to take on the “big five” CROs. Over the past five years, we’ve partnered with Emmes to transform its reputation from a niche, government-contract centred CRO into a full-service global player recognized for supporting both biotech innovators and major pharmaceutical companies. Along the way, we helped launch two new companies—Optymedge and Veridix—the latter now leading the global rollout of AI-enhanced clinical trials and driving a transformative shift in trial delivery, efficiency, and economics.
How Did We Do That?
One of our biggest challenges was reshaping how the market perceived Emmes—particularly its capability and credibility in delivering global programs, not only for pharmaceutical companies but, crucially, for biotech partners. At the same time, we needed to communicate a broader narrative: that of a Contract Research Organization (CRO) undergoing rapid transformation and pioneering a new approach to clinical trials.
This meant integrating the stories of six strategic acquisitions, the launch of new service lines—innovations not only new to Emmes but to the industry as a whole—and aligning these developments with our medium-term goal: to fundamentally transform the delivery of clinical trials. Central to this vision are next-generation advances in machine learning, data analytics, and, most significantly, artificial intelligence.
Our Branding Strategy: A Three-Stage Evolution
-
Stage One:
We began by positioning Emmes as a data-driven, research-intensive CRO, grounded in its ground-breaking work with the NIH—particularly on COVID-19 vaccine trials and other infectious disease studies. These government-sponsored trials are among the most highly scrutinized in terms of regulatory and scientific standards. We leveraged this world-class credibility to launch a global thought leadership campaign, showcasing Emmes’ rigor, integrity, and track record of excellence.
-
Stage Two:
Next, we expanded the narrative to position Emmes as a rapidly growing, full-service global CRO. This phase focused on integrating newly acquired companies into a cohesive story of sustainable growth and scientific advancement.
One standout example is our expansion into India—a market with a high prevalence of infectious diseases and a large population of treatment-naive patients. This move was a natural extension of Emmes’ existing capabilities and added significant scientific value to the group. The emphasis was on building a differentiated story—not one of financial engineering, but of deliberate, long-term company-building. We aimed to avoid the typical private equity narrative of acquiring scale for eventual sale; instead, this was a strategic expansion designed to fundamentally reshape how clinical trials are conducted.
We also launched targeted thought leadership and lead generation campaigns across major industry events such as DIA, JP Morgan, World Vaccine Congress, and AAO, reinforcing Emmes’ presence as a serious global player.
-
Stage Three:
Finally, we launched new Centers of Excellence and introduced next-generation service models through OptymEdge, underscoring our leadership in innovation. Most notably, we unveiled Veridix—the Emmes Group’s AI-centric CRO—which represents the future of intelligent, data-driven clinical trial delivery.
Results
- Media Presence: Over the past five years, Emmes has become the third most written-about CRO globally, an impressive feat given its size relative to the industry’s top five players.
- Its experts have moved beyond traditional trade media, including a keynote presentation on the opening day of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference and multiple interviews with the Financial Times’ pharma editor — unheard of feats for a mid-sized CRO.
- Reputation for Excellence: While not the largest, Emmes is now widely recognized as a leader in key specialty areas, particularly in orphan drug development, vaccine research, infectious diseases, military medical programs, and is now seen as the standard bearer for AI and next-generation data use in clinical trials.
- Commercial Impact: Our thought leadership and lead generation campaigns have been hugely effective, resulting in thousands of new business leads, and we also recently surpassed 500 trade media placements.
Overview
When we started our partnership with Syngene, they were already known as one of the world’s top two CROs — a true chemistry and biology powerhouse. But Syngene was now investing heavily in CDMO services and needed to build trust, particularly around commercial biologics delivery.
How Did We Do That?
We knew we had to fundamentally shift how the market saw Syngene — from being a top CRO advancing targets through discovery to becoming one of the world’s only end-to-end CRDMOs.
With the BIOSECURE Act and growing debates about supply chain flexibility, the timing was perfect — but we needed big pharma customers to recognise Syngene not just as a viable commercial supply option, but as their preferred partner.
Our strategy:
- Leaned into debates about alternative sourcing and used them to reposition Syngene as the natural choice for pharma companies seeking to diversify away from China.
- Launched a major thought leadership campaign to put Syngene at the centre of the conversation.
- Shifted the BIOSECURE narrative to highlight why this moment represented a massive opportunity for India — focusing media attention on Syngene’s quality, scale, and end-to-end capabilities.
- Generated consistent news flow with a series of timed updates to tell the story of a rising commercial biologics CDMO.
Our challenge was clear: get this story in front of the people who matter most — the heads of outsourcing and external manufacturing at big pharma.
Results
- 46 long-form thought leadership placements in pharma media — the most of any CDMO in 2024.
- Despite having far fewer “hard news” events (acquisitions, M&A, etc.), Syngene was the 3rd most covered CDMO for news thanks to consistent story generation.
- Widely identified as a big winner of macro sourcing shifts and credited with gaining major US commercial supply deals.
- The most interviewed CDMO in 2024, with 22 in-person media interviews — a transformative moment in helping the media understand Syngene’s brand and value to pharma.
So it’s no surprise that today its winning strategic partnerships, attracting commercial interest, and investing in new capacity to keep pace with industry demand
Overview
When CPHI first approached De Facto in 2012, the event faced strong global competition and had limited personality and coverage. We recognised that CPHI needed to evolve its communications approach and offer insight-led content that would add value to the industry — and attract new audiences.
Our approach worked fast: in our very first year, our reports and content made CPHI the most covered brand in global pharma media. What’s even more impressive? We’ve kept it there for over a decade.
How did we do that?
We repositioned CPHI within the media from being just an event to becoming the ‘heart of pharma.’
- Built a global pharma panel of experts to identify and analyse emerging trends
- Launched a massively successful Annual Report — now 100+ pages with 200+ stories each year
- Created regional trend reports and global pharma industry rankings to keep the conversation going all year
- Evolved our strategies and creatives to move with digital delivery and new forms of insights — always keeping what works but with fresh ideas
Why did we do all this? Because we recognised CPHI should be seen as we see it: a collective hub of untapped industry knowledge that, when harnessed, could shine a light on what’s shaping the pharma trends of tomorrow. Our campaign ensured the industry recognised CPHI not just for mere transactional events, but for the spirit of the industry and the innovation, insights, and partnerships it drives by bringing so many executives together.
Such was the success of this strategy that the CPHI Annual Report is now used as a global barometer of pharma health, with the likes of Reuters and Bloomberg covering the event for insights.
Results
The impact was nothing short of transformative — CPHI became the most recognised and cited brand in global pharma media, and the numbers speak for themselves:
Media Coverage
- 1000+ targeted press stories for CPHI brands in 2024 across key media
- Report consistently cited in ongoing coverage across Endpoints, Fierce Pharma, C&EN, Reuters and Bloomberg
- 100+ national and regional business media stories in 2024 — including every national outlet in Italy [the event’s host nation] with 30+ stories
- 16 in-depth speaker interviews
Reports & Insights
- 100-page Annual Report which delivered 200+ pharma stories
- Regional trend reports and global pharma industry rankings kept conversations going year-round
Events & Multimedia
- 75 event previews and 20 speaker interviews published
- 10+ video media interviews, three webinars and 5 podcasts produced
Growth Metrics
- 3X attendee growth and 5X revenue growth over the decade
