Stakeholder Mobilization

The first question any elected official, regulator, or policymaker asks when confronted with a policy or political decision is, “Who’s for it and who’s against it?” Our greatest strength is mobilizing groups and individuals – the right people – to weigh in on your behalf. Call it stakeholder development, ally mobilization, coalition building, or grassroots/grasstops lobbying. We have the contacts, the experience, the technical skill, and the creativity to identify, recruit, and deploy credible allies who care about your issue. These aren’t just silent supporters; their advocacy is tangibly manifest in media placements, on TV, online, in-person, before legislators, at hearings, at conferences, or wherever the need may arise.

Issue Management

Too many companies and organizations allow issues to manage them. It’s understandable given the nearly unlimited ability of special interest groups, trial attorneys, competitors, and the news media to utilize social and traditional media to advance incendiary and misleading concerns about our clients and their products, services, and reputations. Driving a counter-narrative, especially among key decisionmakers, is where we excel. This often involves a combination of offense and defense: positioning our clients as “part of the solution,” while knocking down misinformation. Today, effective issues management isn’t just about rapid response; it’s an ongoing function, and one we can help you institute.

Issue Advocacy

Public affairs campaigns are often time-limited and built around a specific catalyst. Upcoming regulations or marketplace approval, judicial rulings, and state legislative sessions all can put a finite timeline on public affairs campaigns. Working to craft a strategy and then move quickly to implementation, Drumfire drives outcomes while the clock is running. Adaptability to changing circumstances is essential during a campaign, and it is a core tenet of our philosophy.

Drumfire has executed a wide range of domestic and international campaigns to support clients facing litigation, competitor attacks, and marketplace challenges, as well as to influence foreign contracts and regulations early in the decision-making process. Simply put, we eschew the cookie-cutter approach taken by many larger PR firms, and instead prefer to take a distinctive, surgical approach for each client. Whether in Europe, the Asia Pacific, North America, or elsewhere, Drumfire’s campaigns are tailored to take into account regional and country-specific nuances that define the business and public policymaking environments abroad.

Media Relations

Given that our team consists of seasoned on-the-record, national spokespeople and senior news producers, our strength is helping clients shape the story and gain positive, targeted media coverage. We have a vast network of trusted reporters, bookers, and editors, as well as the pundits whose commentary is featured in leading policy publications, Hill newspapers, blogs, and editorial pages of major dailies and online news sites. Moreover, we provide the full package: from messaging, to training, to engagement, to placement. Whether it is beating back an innuendo- and misinformation-fueled potential news story or securing an exposé that shines a light on the tactics of your detractors, we leverage media coverage in the most influential local, state, national, and international outlets to help clients achieve their public policy and business objectives.  

Spokesperson Training

Forget whatever notions you may have about tedious training sessions and droning instructors. We don’t do that, nor do we rely on off-the-shelf PowerPoint presentations cluttered with worn-out platitudes and dated case studies. Every training we do is tailored to the uniqueness of each client and their challenge. We analyze the situation, help craft the right message, and enable every trainee to feel confident. Whether it’s a high-stakes TV interview, congressional testimony, shareholders meeting, or public or employee townhall, we help you or your spokesperson enter the fray prepared and ready to perform.

Government Relations Support

We understand how policymaking works, whether that’s in Washington, D.C., or state capitals across the country. We help clients develop an effective strategy and drive it with the best messages and messengers. We have a long track record of supplementing and strengthening a client’s lobbying team by gathering political intelligence, developing or enhancing a legislative game plan, crafting materials, preparing clients for hearings, and arranging and attending meetings. Of course, in today’s hyperpartisan legislative environment, the state and federal bureaucracy is where most of the work of government actually gets done. We frequently team with scientists, regulatory affairs experts, lobbyists and attorneys to develop and execute smart programs designed to accelerate, dissuade, or mediate the actions of the FDA, EPA, DoD, Energy, Interior, and numerous other state and federal agencies.