Not all publicity efforts produce instantaneous results. In fact, most major PR results take a long time.

A prime example of this is a New York Times article about natural drug sources. As part of Politis Communications’ work for NPS Pharmaceuticals, (formerly known as Natural Product Sciences), the agency worked with a reporter for more than five months on the idea of natural sources providing new leads for future pharmaceuticals. Politis Communications supplied the reporter with information about

• NPS,
• its competitors,
• industry analysts, and
• virtually any appropriate information or material we could gather.

After five months, the reporter finally said the article was done. But, he added, he was looking for some “sexy” artwork to go along with the story. We proposed a picture of someone milking a spider, which he accepted. Within 48 hours, Politis Communications

• arranged a photo shoot,
• selected potential photos, and
• delivered the photos to the reporter via overnight delivery (along with possible captions).

(NOTE: This was before the days where email delivery of photos was possible.)

One month later, the photo and caption ran on the front page of the NY Times business section nearly six months after initial contact with the reporter.

As it turned out, the story happened to break on the same day NPS announced it had landed $5 million in a venture capital investment, its first such VC funding. Three months later, NPS closed on an additional $4.75 million VC investment.

NPS Pharmaceuticals’ stock is now traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol NPSP.