Eli Lilly + SpaceX Launch
Digital Strategy, Live Event Coverage, Media Training
Two Eli Lilly and Company experiments launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and were delivered to the International Space Station by the reusable cargo spacecraft Dragon. In space, scientists performed the experiments with the benefits of microgravity, which provide better outcomes along with a greater understanding of scientific aspects for improving the development of new medicines here on Earth.
I was invited to attend the event and provide live digital coverage on behalf of Lilly. Using a combination of pre-written copy ideas and authentic, in-the-moment content, I was able to work with Lilly team members back in Indianapolis in real time for swift approvals and posting.
Client: Eli Lilly and Company
Agency: Alipes, Inc.
Role: client Lead, copywriting, content curation
Project: SpaceX ISS Launch
External Audience: different for each platform, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Internal Audience: Lilly employees
The Personal Side of Content
In the microgravity environment onboard the International Space Station (ISS), researchers are able to grow crystals that are larger and more well-ordered than crystals grown on Earth. Many researchers, including several from commercial entities, are already using the unique crystallization environment onboard the ISS National Lab to advance their research and development. The published findings from one of the Lilly experiments can be found here if you’re interested!
Because this was the first SpaceX Falcon 9 re-landing event, it garnered a lot of traditional media attention. Beyond traditional news media, SpaceX and NASA hosted 100 social media influencers to cover the event, resulting in multiple press events for the Lilly researchers to attend on top of their experiment obligations. This was all new to the scientists sending experiments into space. A large part of my role in attending the launch was getting to know the Lilly scientists, acting as their communications resource, and prepping them for media coverage. We practiced answering questions with responses that were on-brand and tackled snippets and soundbyes. I was also able to provide them with messaging to have on-hand.
We designed commemorative Spaceball cards–a play on baseball cards–to celebrate the successful launch and future project partnerships with NASA and CASIS. Some were autographed and passed out to children at educational events, others were shared during internal Lilly events including Lilly TedX.
Beyond SpaceX
Lilly Trials hosted a Tweet Chat in partnership with #WhyWeDoResearch asking, “How can the pharmaceutical industry use social media to advance research?” This was part of a week-long Tweetfest hosted by the #WhyWeDoResearch team in the UK and other collaborators in the health care realm across Europe and the US. By participating in the Tweet Chat, we aimed to bring new and diverse audiences together and broaden our reach to include a combination of patients, HCPs, other pharmaceutical companies, and industry professionals who have a particular interest in clinical research.
We took it a step further and introduced an interactive, in-person element to tie #WhyWeDoResearch into actual Lilly culture. We designed and printed blank speech bubbles and gave staff the opportunity to participate in the campaign via a three-day photobooth at Lilly HQ. Seeing responses really enlivened us, and made it clear that the people who work at Lilly have deep and varying passions around what they do. We shared these images (with permission–photo releases were printed on the back of the printed speech bubbles) over several weeks on various Lilly social media channels. The researchers involved in the Lilly SpaceX launch excitedly participated in this campaign as well!
