25 CHEMICALS KNOWLEDGE HUB Issue 2 / October 2025 ROUNDTABLE run-up to the event. This has two major benefits – you’ll reach new audiences and you’ll boost conversion rates of your existing contacts. For example, having respected media speak positively about your brand just as you’re meeting contacts is an incredibly powerful way to build trust quickly. When prospects read about you and you provide actual insights, not just fluff, and then meet you – or vice versa – it reinforces your credibility and leaves a lasting impression. For smaller biotech companies in particular, this can be the trust-building moment they need to feel confident about moving a project forward with a CDMO. Often, they aren’t aware of all the options available and you may well be approaching them as a ‘cold lead’, so building trust is everything. So, above all, focus on credibility not just selling. Show prospects that you put the same care into building your reputation and marketing communications, with insightful themes that help them rather than sell to them, as you will into nurturing their discovery project, IND filing, development or commercial delivery. Can you give a real-world example of making the news cycle work for your company and creating at show narratives? AH. Creating narratives and even news around industry trends – even when you don’t have ‘hard company news’ like a new site investment or acquisition – is an incredibly powerful way to deliver far-reaching news and insights. For example, last year much of the media conversation at CPHI focused on BIOSECURE. We looked at the implications of this and rather than letting it remain a WuXi-centric story, we reframed it with media to highlight Indian CDMOs as the key beneficiaries. The result was hundreds of pieces of coverage and a global conversation centred on our clients. Even better, this media campaign became a selfreinforcing business trend – many of our Indian clients have since publicly reported significant growth in discovery and more recently development contracts. In this case, we didn’t just ride the news cycle; we helped shape a new business strategy through our media outreach. We literally used the media to change outcomes for clients. If you could relive one CPHI moment, which would it be and why? AH. I’m going to throw my former colleague under the bus here – partly because it was hilarious in hindsight and partly because he has an absurdly long list of amusing CPHI anecdotes. In his defence, his eyesight isn’t the best (this is also the man who got stuck in Frankfurt’s Main Tower after being unable to spot the glass doors in the glass walls). So, we had just started working with the Indian Government and I was speaking with the Secretary of State for Health, who had flown in specially. Naturally, I was on my best behaviour. Suddenly, in he came – a whirlwind of energy – completely oblivious to who I was talking to, and in full Boris Johnson-esk fashion loudly declared that “we should be working with the Chinese government instead because they have more money!”. Not content with that, as I desperately tried to change the subject, he doubled down repeatedly…. before then vanishing faster than Keyser Söze. The whole exchange was so over-the-top that the Minister just turned to me and said, “You English are completely hilarious – I love Monty Python”. I nodded gingerly. But here’s the thing – that moment completely broke the ice. The rest of the evening turned into a genuinely open, collaborative conversation and we went on to build an incredibly strong partnership. The lesson? Sometimes letting your guard down – even by accident – is the fastest way to build trust. Did that experience influence how you prepared for future events or your networking style? AH. Strangely, it did, but not in the way you might expect. It reinforced the importance of preparation, but also taught me that once you’re on site at CPHI, all that prep is there to give you the freedom to be flexible and adaptive. It showed me the importance of a little personality because business partners trust you more when they connect with you as an individual. This slightly more relaxed version of myself means I get to really listen actively – so important when meeting new people – and gives the space need to develop deeper strategies. Of course, I now use all of Tristan’s hilarious stories as a constant source of ice-breaking material! What are any new comms trends you are seeing in pharma and at CPHI? AH. Easy question: short-form video content and news. This magazine, led by Ellie Bruni, has really led the charge, especially at CPHI, with her wide LinkedIn network and professional corporate video edits. If you haven’t done one, you should consider it. Inspired by Ellie, we’ve taken a different approach at De Facto to launch Biobeat – a weekly shortform video series re-reporting trade media news with analysis on TikTok. Why? Because TikTok
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