January 2008, Issue 1
Welcome to the latest issue of the G2D newsletter!
Newsletter Contents
• Webinar: Marketing to Life Scientists: Capturing Customers' Attention in Applied Markets
• Report Spotlight: Marketing to Life Scientists -- Exploring China & India
• Coming Soon: 2008 Report Titles
• Methodology Spotlight: Markets
• Blog Spotlight: The Challenge of Effective Advertising
BioInformatics will be hosting a complimentary webinar to present key findings from our new report Marketing to Life Scientists: Capturing Customers' Attention in Applied Markets, which examines the trends, needs and purchasing behavior of life scientists in three dynamic markets: molecular diagnostics; agricultural biotech; and biodefense.
Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Time: 1:00 PM EST (10:00 AM PST)
To register for this one-hour webinar, please email webinars@gene2drug.com.
The report examines the preferences of agricultural biotechnology, biodefense, and molecular diagnostics researchers for how they wish to receive information and the types of information they need from life science vendors across a spectrum of marketing communication channels:
We found that scientists working in these applied fields purchase from numerous vendors in order to meet their product needs. Although the most frequently used vendor varied by discipline, Fisher Scientific, Invitrogen, Qiagen, and Sigma-Aldrich are among the top five most commonly used vendors by scientists from all three disciplines.
For more information about Marketing to Life Scientists: Capturing Customers' Attention in Applied Markets, download a complimentary executive summary.
Marketing to Life Scientists -- Exploring China & IndiaMarketing to Life Scientists -- Exploring China & India is a recent report from BioInformatics designed to provide a better understanding of the marketing media preferences in the emerging life science markets of China and India. As life science suppliers who have already established a presence in these countries have come to realize and for those contemplating entering these markets anticipate, marketing to Chinese and Indian scientists requires specific adjustments to both the messages that they have optimized for their North American and European markets and the channels by which these messages are delivered. These adjustments include not only the inclusion of such comprehension aids as text translations, culturally appropriate references, and artwork and photography that is reflective of the region, but also reflect the preferences of Chinese and Indian scientists for how they wish to receive their marketing communications. This report is designed to augment the efforts life science suppliers have already undertaken to tailor their marketing for these two rapidly evolving and distinct markets by offering insights into how Chinese and Indian scientists learn about new products and services.
Toward this goal, the following marketing communication channels were evaluated for their effectiveness in these two regions:
To find out more about Marketing to Life Scientists -- Exploring China & India, download a complimentary executive summary.
2008 Report TitlesInteracting with your clients when and how they want is crucial to establishing long-term customer relationships. Our upcoming market insight reports explore the core issues of customer relationships Ñ from advertising to trade shows to catalogs. We also delve into more strategic issues like customer retention strategies and managing through periods of change. This series of reports comprises a powerful knowledge base for you to differentiate yourselves from the competition and execute a marketing strategy that will drive business growth.
Upcoming Report Titles:
For more information on our upcoming reports, download a summary of our 2008 Life Science Marketing Resource Center.
MarketsSo much can depend on the answer to a single question. Comparing estimates from several "credible" secondary sources can lead to frustration and contradiction, especially if sources are based on different sets of assumptions, foggy explanations, or unfamiliar techniques. With a BioInformatics Market Estimation study, you'll never wonder "where did that number come from?" When an accurate answer really matters, you need the quality and transparency of life science market information that only BioInformatics offers:
When assessing the launch of a new product, you may need to analyze specific analysis of a market that is not available in syndicated market research studies. A Market Attractiveness study analyzes external market factors validated by customer responses. We combine these results with an internal strengths assessment to evaluate the potential market opportunity.
Focusing your marketing efforts on a specific customer segment can give you an important market entry point, but finding the ideal customer can be challenging. The decision is the foundation for quantifying the size of your available market segment, calibrating your growth projections, and targeting your audience with the right marketing messages. A Customer Segmentation analysis clearly identifies your most receptive market segments and characterizes them according to the attributes that matter most to your customers.
For more information on custom research services from BioInformatics, please visit http://www.gene2drug.com/custom/.
The Challenge of Effective AdvertisingThe researchers at BioInformatics, LLC peer through the Looking Glass to report and comment on trends in the life science tools industry. The following is excerpted from http://marketanalysts.lifescienceexec.com/.
The Challenge of Effective Advertising
Posted January 4, 2008 by Bill Kelly
Well the holidays are over and I hope everyone has come back to work rested and refreshed. Here's hoping for a happy and healthy new year for us all! In this post, I'd like to talk some more about print advertising in the life science market.
Research that we've conducted reveals that 62% of scientists cite advertisements as on of the most common ways they learn about new products. But advertising is as expensive as it is important, and the costs of launching an ill-conceived campaign can be higher than not advertising at all. Like consumers in other markets, life scientists are increasingly pressed for time and feel overwhelmed by choice. Given the fast pace of scientific discovery, scientists are often uncertain as to whether or not they have full knowledge of all the tools that may be available to them and are thus likely to be more receptive to relevant, targeted advertising.
The greatest difficulty facing the manager responsible for formulating and executing an advertising campaign is the lack of consensus within the company on an ad's purpose and ultimate value. When various constituencies within a company have different goals and expectations, the resulting message of the campaign is equally confusing to customers.
At some levels within the company, advertising is expected to change customer perceptions, maintain awareness, reinforce brand loyalty, capture new customers and prompt a flurry of purchasing activity. Others want advertising to entertain, intrigue, please or amuse the targeted scientific customer. Such a broad spectrum of goals makes it difficult to derive a consistent set of objectives that can be accepted by all interests within the company -- corporate management, R&D, marketing and sales. Without a consensus as to what the advertising is intended to achieve, it is impossible to set clear objectives. Furthermore, without clear objectives, measuring the success of the ad can become virtually impossible.
An ad's purpose should be derived from the company's overall positioning, marketing and sales strategies and the priorities set within each of these different plans. To ensure that advertising fully supports corporate objectives, a more disciplined, rational approach is needed. In general, ads will be used to support either a "sales-centric" or "brand-centric" objective. The target of a sales-centric advertising campaign is usually the end-user, lab manager or purchasing agent who has a current product need and will respond to an effective message by placing an order. The same individuals are also the targets of a brand-centric campaign, however, they do not have a current need but it is hoped that the ad message will be remembered when a need arises.
In many cases, the corporate brand or the value proposition of a product tends to be driven by how management wishes it to be perceived, rather than by an understanding of the relationship between positioning, the resulting perceptions of the customers and the effect of the message on the purchasing behavior of distinct market segments. This is the point where many campaigns falter. In an effort to stretch the advertising budget to the maximum extent possible, objectives are merged and the clarity of the resulting message is diluted.
When attempting to accomplish too much at once, the message not only become diluted, but subsequent decisions reflect the uncertainty of the company's objectives. Ad copy can become overly long and complex, design and layout loses focus and the list of publications in which the ad is to appear gets broader -- all in the hope that some part of the message will appeal to somebody, somewhere.
To read more, visit the blog at http://marketanalysts.lifescienceexec.com/
Thank you for reading this issue of the G2D newsletter! As always, I welcome your feedback. Send me your complaints, comments, or compliments at a.donathen@gene2drug.com.
All the best,
Amanda
Amanda Donathen
Marketing Communications Manager
BioInformatics, LLC
2111 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 250
Arlington, VA 22201
TEL: (703) 778-3080 x 14
FAX: (703) 778-3081
a.donathen@gene2drug.com
http://www.gene2drug.com
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