PR and social media for a nonprofit changing the world
CZ Biohub
The situation
Founded in 2016 by a gift from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan, CZ Biohub is a nonprofit research organization with an ambitious goal: to cure, prevent or manage all disease during our children’s lifetimes.
In 2017, CZ Biohub announced the launch of its much-anticipated Investigator Program.
$50 million would be awarded to 47 top researchers to pursue their riskiest, most exciting ideas.
CZ Biohub had the opportunity to stake its claim as the most innovative, groundbreaking research institution in the country.
The objective
We’re a first-of-its-kind, nonprofit research organization bringing together the world’s leading biomedical researchers. Our Investigator Program funds the riskiest, most exciting scientific advances that will change the world. We need to let people know who we are.

The solution
iQ 360 created a positioning strategy that leveraged the reputations of its collaborating institutions — Berkeley, Stanford and UCSF — to bolster Biohub’s credibility as a leading-edge research hub.
Media relations surrounding the investigator program launch focused on top-tier mainstream outlets as well as industry publications for maximum exposure. In the two days following the announcement, we secured 50 original articles from Business Insider, CNBC, Fortune, Nature, San Francisco Chronicle, Science, TechCrunch and others, with a cumulative audience of more than 160 million. Key messages of openness, collaboration and innovation in the fight against human disease came through consistently in our extensive coverage.
Ongoing social media through 2017 resulted in significant growth, including a 58 percent increase in followers from 11,751 to 18,537. Our two highest-performing posts reached a combined 512,308 people, garnered 6,029 post clicks and 3,269 reactions and shares. Amplifying our media coverage through link shares on Facebook drove 1,405 sessions to the CZ Biohub website.
More than that, sharing the research and stories of CZ Biohub Investigators on Facebook has created greater awareness and understanding of the groundbreaking medical innovation taking place in Mission Bay.
The work
MEDIA RELATIONS
MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
WEBSITE CONTENT
Creative work
