Who We Are

We are a public affairs firm born out of the demand to provide measurable results at the state, federal, and international levels faster, smarter, and less expensively than what’s currently available in the marketplace. The fact is businesses, trade associations, and nonprofits today have grown dissatisfied with mega-agencies and self-absorbed boutiques that spend more time promoting themselves than their clients. Our goal at Drumfire Public Affairs is not to make ourselves look good – it is to make you look good. And our promise is that we will toil ceaselessly to provide hard-hitting, sophisticated, and well-integrated campaigns that achieve the advocacy and marketplace outcomes our clients deserve.

What We Do

We do everything you’d expect from a public affairs firm: Direct Advocacy. Ally Mobilization. Grassroots. Strategy. Messaging. Training. Media. Digital. But our true expertise is the effective application of these tools toward achieving a government affairs or business objective. The reality is, while the concept of integrating communications and lobbying has been embraced for decades, very few companies and organizations practice it. Or, if they do, it’s usually reserved for million-dollar, high-profile legislative battles. We take the power of integration and put it to work for our clients every day, whether the issue is unfolding on Capitol Hill, a state government, a regulatory agency, the marketplace, or the mainstream or online media.

Specifically, Drumfire staff has extensive experience mobilizing its network to gain public, stakeholder, regulatory, and legislative support for novel concepts and products that upset the status quo, as well as to defeat bad policy targeting highly scrutinized and regulated industries. Our goal is to assemble motivated supporters to drive our client’s narrative and beat back misinformation being peddled by the other side. To be clear, it is crucial that a sound strategic course is set and followed. Clients value the insights and counsel we provide in determining the best message, the right targets, the proper timing, and a sustainable plan. However, our bias is to move from strategy to deliverable as quickly as possible. We measure our success based on results, not meetings and conference calls.

Why We’re Different

At Drumfire, we pride ourselves on our ability to ramp up as quickly as possible on new issues, so the time spent from initial engagement to implementation is brief. Our team is purposefully small and nimble so that we can produce positive results and outcomes efficiently, without all the lumbering account teams, extra conference calls and unnecessary brainstorming sessions that waste clients’ precious time and resources. Simply put, we learn issues quickly, leverage an arsenal of contacts and effective advocacy tools, and draw upon a proven track record of getting results that truly make a difference for our clients.

Q&A

We can help with your challenge. We have a bias for action.

How do I build support for my issue?

It starts with connecting your interests with the interests of others. Unless you already represent a broad swath of the public, you’ll need to demonstrate that people who matter to decisionmakers are just as motivated to achieve mutually beneficial change. That calls for more than a message; it requires a narrative that resonates with deeply held beliefs and values and ignites pre-existing political passions. You then must recruit “issue warriors” from outside of industry who will articulate the issue, lead the charge, and help attract other, often non-traditional, allies. With a core of supporters in place, leverage early successes and momentum to build out your coalition and mobilize a diverse, credible and energized cadre of interests. Peaking at the right time is essential, but most political fights are marathons, not sprints. “Outlasting the other side” is a decidedly unglamorous strategy, but often the most essential.

How Do I Prepare My CEO for a Congressional Hearing?

A congressional hearing, especially one involving a company’s CEO, is one of the most agonizing predicaments for any corporate lobbyist or communications professional. Matters of legal liability, regulatory penalty, and corporate reputation loom large. Obviously, this situation calls for a highly integrated game plan, involving political intelligence, pre-hearing staff outreach, media management, and, of course, extensive rehearsal and prep for the CEO. But, as intimidating as this process might appear, these hearings are rarely well-orchestrated interrogations. A 90-minute appearance by your CEO is actually a series of five-to-10-minute exchanges with individual Members who may take up half of their time delivering remarks intended for their hometown newspaper. Success requires blending an overarching set of messages—and answers—with an individualized strategy for each Member interview.

How do I raise my media profile?

We probably don’t need to tell you that the media market is a crowded, competitive place. The media is often not interested in your well-reasoned policy position and “facts.” What they are interested in is 1) a novel, dramatically stated idea, especially if it challenges orthodoxy; 2) that you can connect with real-world people; and 3) that you can articulate via a media-savvy spokesperson who is available 24-7 to talk to virtually any reporter or show host. In short, the way to get on TV is to be on TV. Producers and bookers want someone who is predictably good—and that means pithy, provocative, polished, and, most of all, available. They want someone who will take a side and intelligently fight for it. Either be prepared to enter the fray or seek out other venues to promote your point-of-view.

My company is the target of a stealthy attack by a competitor. What do we do?

Marketplace attacks can have immediate and significant consequences for any company’s bottom line and can be particularly challenging for companies with disruptive products, innovations, and technologies. These attacks are a favorite tool of competitors whose market position is already slipping. As companies and industries try to cling to market share, they often employ PR playbooks designed to manufacture concern among stakeholders, including policymakers, media, activists, customers, and consumers. The key to any effective defense is to forcefully and repeatedly beat back the misinformation campaign being orchestrated by your competitor and, where necessary, to shine a light on the other side’s dubious tactics. This may include direct company pushback, as well as stakeholder pull-through to demonstrate broad support for your company’s products, services, and innovation. Drumfire has waged this kind of counter-campaign with great success in a wide variety of sectors, from food and beverage to national security to health care. We can help you build and execute a comprehensive strategy for knocking down artificial barriers that prevent your products from reaching their full potential market share.