Commercialization: How branding can increase value for life science organizations

It’s a long road from the lab to the market.

The life science industry remains increasingly competitive while shifting regulations further complicate growth. But at the core, there are simply more companies with innovative ideas and services than there are investors and buyers with dollars.

For your innovation to equate to real economic value, it needs to stand out from a crowded field. That’s why branding is critical to the future of life science organizations—even if it hasn’t been fully embraced throughout the industry.

Highly-educated, analytical people are still people

Whether your audience consists of scientists, surgeons, or anything between, they need more than ideas and data—they need a story. The purchasing decisions of all people are a complicated process, and logic does only so much to engage even the most logical audience members.

A great brand combines the cerebral and emotive with a story—the story of your organization. It shows the history, present and future of your value. And if your brand tells a great, succinct story, your audience will believe that you can make their story better, too. In this way, branding enables people to go beyond understanding what you do—it makes them believe in your ability to do it for them.

Real value needs real communication

There can certainly be tension between science and marketing. In broad terms, the former seeks to find the truth; the latter is used to convey an advantageous perspective on the truth. But if your story is true, and your value is real, the core science should be the heart of your brand—the marketing is there to make it vividly and consistently expressed.

And that’s what a great brand does—it establishes differentiation and illuminates unique value—it doesn’t create them.

Tactics need to be united by a strategy 

Every organization has to adopt a variety of marketing tactics if they want to take market share from other players. This means everything from presentations to websites and white papers to printed materials.

Branding unifies all of these communications; great branding creates perceptions that motivate engagement. If your value propositions, logos, theme lines and graphical support are clear, cohesive, and powerful, all of your promotional materials can have a much greater impact—regardless of the channels of distribution and who receives them.

Key Takeaways

  • If you want to be seen in a competitive field, you need to stand out

  • Regardless of audience, your brand should tell your organization’s story

  • Branding enhances all communications and motivates engagement