Twitterviews from the top: John Seng, CEO, Spectrum Communications

July 10, 3:30 PMPublic Relations ExaminerValerie Simon

John Seng, Founder, President and CEO of Spectrum Communications shares his thoughts on building a successful Public Relations Agency in this weeks Twitterviews from the Top

ValerieSimon: It's time! Welcome to the Public Relations Examiner Twitterview w/ @beatlemaniacs, John Seng, #CEO Spectrum Communications

 ValerieSimon: If you have something to add or questions for @beatlemaniacs, please DM or@ me w/out the hashtag

 Beatlemaniacs: Glad to be here. thx for the invitation

ValerieSimon: I received several questions from PR  professionals who are considering launching their own agency...

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs What prompted you to start your own agency?

Beatlemaniacs: Frankly, tired of working for conglomerates, and I was more interested in focusing on client service. Specializing in health

ValerieSimon: What was the most frightening thing about starting your own agency?

Beatlemaniacs: Naturally, what would happen if I failed? What if the phone didn't ring? But it did. I planned, planned, planned...

Beatlemaniacs: and then simply executed against the plan. Relentlessly. Being clear about Spectrum's message and our targets, our prospects

ValerieSimon: Who was your first client?

Beatlemaniacs:  US Health Resources and Services Admin (HRSA). A $50K project to help them articulate their messages and programs-1996

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs You've grown quite a bit since those days! How many employees currently work for @spectrumscience ?

Beatlemaniacs: 50, between our NY and DC offices

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs 50 employees? Wow! The New York office is new, correct? What prompted you to open this office?

Beatlemaniacs: Both listening and anticipating client interests. Plus, Cherry Dumaual joined us as SVP, based in NY.

ValerieSimon: Congrats Cherry! @Beatlemaniacs What is the greatest challenge you have faced in managing growth?

Beatlemaniacs: Growing smartly. You just can't add people, or the organization begins to implode. You must build a structure, just like...

Beatlemaniacs: a tall building. So it's implanting new systems, policies and most important, people who get "scale." It's still a challenge.

ValerieSimon: From @sternalpr What kind of clients are you going after today? Big, small, start-ups? Specific industries?

Beatlemaniacs: The recession's a challenge, but target clients are either health care organizations, or companies with health messages

Beatlemaniacs: Health has been recession-resistant, but not recession-proof. Major upheavals in big pharma, and small biotechs are running...

Beatlemaniacs: out of $$$, fast. Investors are still very skittish. But, still plenty of biz out there. There's no divining rod, so we...

Beatlemaniacs: put ourselves out there on the Web, target interesting prospects, and happily accept referrals!

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs Smart! Let's talk about what Spectrum is best known for -- Science and #Health #PR...

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs Thought you could share Spectrum’s role in the FDA approval and launch of the drug BiDil?

Beatlemaniacs: ethical issues swirled around re: researching and marketing a "race-based" drug. Also, major payers early on refused...

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs Can you describe BiDil and what made the Drug so controversial?

Beatlemaniacs: to admit BiDil to formularies. I could go on and on, but issues re: pricing, race/medicine obscured the fact...

Beatlemaniacs: saves lives. BiDil is a combination of different formulations of two generic drugs already available. But not enough docs use...

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs What were your goals? What could Spectrum offer BiDil?

Beatlemaniacs: Spectrum helped manufacturer Nitromed manage the issue well, but BiDil failed commercially. BiDil was sold to another company.

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs What were some of the key ways Spectum was able to help manage the issue?

Beatlemaniacs: We worked with the Association of Black Cardiologists and with Nat'l Minority Quality Forum to prepare messages and spokesprsns.

ValerieSimon: @AdrienneBailey asks, As CEO of the company, how are you teaching your clients to use social media effectively? #socialmedia

Beatlemaniacs: Not all clients created equal. Some are far more assertive, and we educate and enable them if the will is there...

Beatlemaniacs: e.g., Johns Hopkins Center for Livable Future - Spectrum guides them in expressing their opinions and expertise on farming...

Beatlemaniacs: See results of our collaborative efforts with CLF and Spectrum Digital - @LivableFuture Other clients are "coming along"

Beatlemaniacs: We work with Genomic Health, for example, on a novel "Breast Cancer" coach -  to promote correct therapy

ValerieSimon: @Beatlemaniacs Time seems to be nearly up...Thanks so much for taking the time to chat today.

ValerieSimon: For more info on Spectrum Communications visithttp://www.spectrumscience.com

Beatlemaniacs: Follow us on @SpectrumScience if you're interested. Thanks everyone! John Seng

ValerieSimon: Announcement of which #PR Agency CEO I will Twitterview next Friday coming soon!

ValerieSimon: And I do have a surprise for everyone- the FIRST EVER interview with the ever elusive @PRCog! Just follow the hashtag #prexaminer Tuesday July 14th at 8pm

Thoughts on this Twitterview? Please leave a comment below. For more insights from John, please visit the Spectrum Communications Blog

If the CEO of your Public Relations Agency would like to be considered for a future twitterview, please email me at prexaminer@gmail.com

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