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Welcome to the 2021 Biomimicry Launchpad! Email us if you have any questions.
This week, we’ll focus on storytelling, with emphasis on three components: 1) effectively communicating your biomimicry story; 2) how to deliver a successful pitch; and 3) tips for media and PR. When done right, storytelling can allow you to connect with your audience and inspire people to feel, act, and align with your (eventual) marketing goals.
Science Communication
Science Communication
As an innovator inspired by nature, it is incredibly important that you continue to communicate the nature and biology that inspires your work. By doing so, you communicate that you deeply understand the technological backbone of your work. It also helps you communicate the ethos of your company - that you believe that nature is something to be valued and supported. Take a look at this Fast Company article to see a great example of science communication in progress!
Your Biomimicry Story
Your Biomimicry Story
Your biomimicry story sets you apart from other projects and startups. Understanding your biomimicry at a deeper level will not only help you build a better product and business, but will also help you tell your story well—broadening your reach, adding to your value proposition and potentially giving you a competitive advantage.
Reconnect
Reconnect
One thing that differentiates you from other companies is the fact that your startup is inspired by nature. This allows you to tell your story in unique ways and connect to individuals through nature, rather than through technology. At the same time, you have the ability to look to nature for future inspiration as you continue to develop new technologies and solutions.
This week, we invite you to reflect on the organism(s) that have inspired your design, both the initial inspiration, and along the way as you've refined your project.
What are your "champion organism(s)"?
Did you learn about their habitat or life histories at any point? If not, consider learning about where & how they live.
How do you introduce them to the varied audiences you'll encounter along your startup journey?
Among naturalists, there's a common saying that "to name it, is to know it". Just as you care more about the people you know than you do about strangers, learning an organism's name and something about where and how it lives helps you connect with and care about it. Once you've "fallen in love" with your champions, your enthusiasm for them becomes infectious and your biomimicry story naturally shines through.
Startup Pitch
Startup Pitch
When you pitch your startup, you are working to get an idea that is stuck in your head, stuck in someone else's head. You are not simply telling them about your work, but helping them see why your startup is a good idea. Your pitch will change as you continue to develop your startup, and should also change based upon your audience and who you are pitching to.
You will not be able to communicate everything about your startup in your pitch. However, there are 7 things you should try to include in every pitch:
Problem - What is the specific problem you are addressing?
Solution - What is your product or service, and what traction do you have? This is where you can talk about biomimicry!
Customer - Who gives you money for your solution, and what is your anticipated market size?
Competitors - Who else is solving this problem or need, and how do you compare to them?
Social Cause - How does your solution make the world a better place?
Team - Who is on your team, and why are you the right people to make it happen?
Ask - What kind of help or support are you asking for, from this audience?
For more help on communicating your work, check out Startup Guts, a tool that Jared developed to help startups develop their pitch.
One of your final deliverables is to create a 1-minute elevator pitch. The reason a short pitch is called an "elevator pitch" is because you never know who you may meet in an elevator! You must be prepared to share a quick snapshot of your work, to get people interested in learning more. Watch the two elevator pitches below. Do you understand what they are doing and why they believe it is a good idea? Did they miss anything? Are you interested in learning more about their work?
spotLESS Materials Elevator Pitch
spotLESS Materials Elevator Pitch
PR & Media Storytelling
PR & Media Storytelling
As you continue to develop your innovation, you will want to attract awareness for your work. Remember that your goal should always be to get your message in front of your target audience. If you have a new product that creates a super slippery toilet (see spotLESS Materials above), do you want to have your story in front of high school teachers? It depends - perhaps you have identified that teachers and students can drive adoption of your product across the school building. This may also be a waste of time. Teachers may not understand why they are learning about such a solution. Equally as important is the channel in which individuals receive your message. How would a teacher react if they saw the same article on Facebook versus a newsletter from a curriculum resource provider?
As you start to develop your PR & Media strategy, consider three things:
Goals
Why are you trying to drive awareness of your work? Is it to generate customer leads or sales? Is it to gather customer feedback? Is it to establish yourself as a thought leader in the industry?
Channels
Where is your audience (for example, Facebook vs TikTok), and how do they prefer to receive their news or learn about new solutions? Who does your audience listen to and respect?
Content
What type of content, if any, does your audience like to consume? What value can your content bring to your audience (this is called content marketing)?
Defining Your Audience
Defining Your Audience
In this section, we will walk through how to define your target audience. We’ll also talk about best practices for public relations (PR), including how to write a press release to announce your team as a finalist, and tips and tricks for communicating with media and guidance on how to create your own media kit.
First, let's hone in on your target audience. Specifically, who is going to benefit from learning about your story? What kind of stakeholders or partners would you like to be engaged with? See this 2021 LP - Comms Tools Part 1 PDF for tips on this process, as well as some assignments that will give you the tools to connect with, and pitch your story to them.
Assignments: Choose 3 local news websites, newspapers, university news sites, blogs or magazines that you would ideally like to have your innovation featured in and share a brief statement on why you chose them based on how you defined your audience.
Once you've identified these news sites, it's time to write a press release announcement! Use this template to try your hand at writing a press release announcing your team as a Biomimicry Global Design Challenge finalist.
2021 LP - Communications Tools Part 1.pdfCreating Value Statements
Creating Value Statements
Your value statement illustrates your stamp on industry and the world. It helps convey the importance of your innovation to your particular industry, as well as the broader benefits to the global community and economy. It should clearly articulate why someone would want to write about your story, invest in your company, partner with you, or share your work with other influencers.
Review this 2021 LP - Comms Tools Part 2 PDF for guidelines on how to develop value statements about your innovation.
Try the following exercise to put together your value statements:
Identify all the benefits your innovation offers to targeted stakeholders, the local community, your industry, the Earth, etc.
Describe what makes these benefits valuable.
Identify your audience’s main problem.
Connect this value to your audience’s problem.
Differentiate yourself as the best provider to offer this value.
Assignment: Write 3-5 value statements and upload to your GDrive folder.
2021 LP - Communications Tools Part 2.pdfHow to Communicate about the Biomimicry Institute
How to Communicate about the Biomimicry Institute
The purpose of the Biomimicry Institute is to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design. We rely on the generous support of donors to offer programs that support innovators like you. This support is critical to our mission, and our mission is helped when you bring us into the conversation.
When communicating about the Biomimicry Institute, Global Design Challenge, Biomimicry Launchpad, or biomimicry as a practice, please consider the following talking points:
The Biomimicry Institute provides tools to develop sustainable solutions for a healthy planet, inspiring and equipping people of all ages and industry backgrounds to learn and apply nature-inspired strategies in design.
Biomimicry is a practice that mimics biological strategies. Using nature as a model, mentor, and measurement tool for sustainability, we can create similar solutions to solve human design challenges.
See this 2021 LP - Comms Tools Part 3 PDF for more information.
As you tell your story, please connect with us and tag us where relevant! We’ll make every effort to share your stories on these channels and repost your own channel’s communications.
Biomimicry Institute Website: https://biomimicry.org
AskNature: https://asknature.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biomimicryinstitute/
2021 LP - Communications Tools Part 3.pdfAssignments
Assignments
Complete the Your Biomimicry Story form above.
Upload the following to your GDrive folder:
Identify 3 local media outlets and provide a brief statement on why you chose each.
3-5 value statements.
Completed Press Release Announcement about your team's status as a Biomimicry Global Design Challenge Finalist, using the Template provided.
BONUS CONTENT!
BONUS CONTENT!
Guide to Virtual Interviews
Guide to Virtual Interviews
Take a look at the materials below, for some helpful information about best practices for doing virtual interviews, webinars, and other online media appearances and events.
Virtual interviews and webinars are an increasingly valuable way to market your innovation, share your mission, and leave a lasting impression on potential customers and industry players. These guidelines were developed to help you engage with media outlets, journalists, industry players, and other stakeholders via virtual interviews in the most effective way possible.
2021 LP - Guide to Virtual Interviews.pdfPage updated
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