Marketing to Life Scientists

Is a career in marketing within the life science market a direction that you would like to consider? If not now, perhaps in the future? What is the the pros and cons of making this move? What it is like to move away from the bench into this line of work?

Life science suppliers are increasingly seeking new market opportunities where molecular, proteomic and cellular techniques are being utilized for new applications. Researchers in what are referred to as 'applied markets' frequently use many of the same techniques, and hence products, as their colleagues in the traditional life science market. But their more recent adoption of advanced research technologies suggests they are more likely to be open to learning of the broad array of solutions offered by life science suppliers. This hypothesis places a premium on effective marketing tailored to the unique needs of researchers in applied markets.


The Key Findings

• Molecular diagnostic researchers evaluate or purchase new products slightly more frequently than agricultural biotechnology or biodefense researchers.
• A majority of scientists believe that is important to stay abreast of new products and services that are designed for their research applications but this belief is more pronounced among molecular diagnostics scientists than agricultural biotechnology and biodefense researchers.
• The majority of scientists in applied markets save the printed catalogs that they receive from vendors. However, they prefer to use Web-based versions for their product-information needs.
• Molecular diagnostic researchers spend slightly more time per week than either agricultural or biotechnology researchers visiting vendor Web sites.
• Biodefense researchers receive the fewest pieces of direct mail out of the three profiled markets.
• Agricultural biotechnology researchers are visited less frequently by sales reps than their counterparts in biodefense researchers and molecular diagnostics.