The Situation

Awareness surrounding the consumer genetic testing market reached new heights in 2007 through the exposure of company’s like DeCode Genetics, Knome, and Navigenics. As the number of companies in this space grew, so too did public interest in the consumer genetic testing (CG) business. Yet, despite this rise in CG testing, many companies continued to struggle with defining a sustainable business model; a problem that only persisted following the FDA’s probe into several CG service companies.

With those looming threats in mind, in November 2010, service provider 23andMe opted to move their Personal Genome Service (PGS) offerings from a flat service fee business model to a subscription-based one. From a business perspective, some experts viewed this change as a smart one on the part of the company. In theory, it would offer 23andMe more stability with a steadier revenue stream, and by proxy, the capacity to avoid those financial pitfalls, which tended to gut other CG testing companies. Following this new model’s introduction, most customers were generally accepting of the change. Others who initially disapproved came to begrudgingly accept it since they assumed its implementation would not have a severe impact on their use of 23andMe’s PGS. Those assumptions would later come back to haunt them, however, after a series of miscommunications between 23andMe and their user would go on to become a key source of controversy in early 2012.

The Move

Near the end of December 2011, 23andMe updated its FAQ page to include clarifications on the conditions of its subscription policy. As these details explained, for either those PGS members whose original yearlong membership had expired or those users who opted to cancel their subscription, they would:

“No longer have… access to [the] hundreds of comprehensive reports that interpret your genetic data, continual updates to those reports based on the latest research discoveries, [the] ability to share and compare results with friends and family, and tools to discover new relatives and learn about your ancestry.”

The policy clarification goes on to explain that users will still able to download their genetic data after canceling the subscription. The site FAQ reads as follows:

“Canceling your subscription means you no longer have access to features that rely on your genetic data. [It] has no effect on features that do not rely on your genetic data, such as user-to-user messaging, 23andMe Community, Family Health History, Research Surveys or Research Snippets.”

At first, the company made no announcement that this clarification had been implemented, leaving many customers to discover it for themselves through word of mouth. More importantly, it was only mentioned on the FAQ page, but not within the company’s Terms of Service. As word spread, so too did dissatisfaction over the matter. According to certain 23andMe users, this clarification directly flew in contradiction to what they had been told in the past by company representatives. One such example of these contradicting stories can be found on the “Your Genetic Genealogist Blog.”  It is worth noting that the site also appears to be the first source to note the change before 23andMe’s official statement was released a few weeks later in the New Year.

The Result

As news of the policy clarification reached the public in late December, some of 23andMe’s most committed community members – from genealogists to everyday subscribers – banded together in their disapproval over the company’s decision. From their perspective, 23andMe was retreating on its previous promises made in 2010.

Initially, this frustration went through a brief gestation period, during which the public first learned of the clarification and voiced their outrage in return. An official statement from the company on the matter would not be released until January 5^th 2012 via its co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, roughly 2 weeks after the changes were first noticed by customers.

The frustration levels even reached a point where many customers felt compelled to file an online petition requesting the company adhere to “its previous commitment to let customers who discontinue its Personal Genome Service (PGS) retain their existing Relative Finder matches as long as the customers fulfilled their PGS commitment.”  The goal of the petition was to garner 500 or more signatures from service users; however, they never had the chance to see the matter go that far. The petition closed with only 345 signatures, shortly after Wojcicki took to the company’s online blog, The Spittoon, within days of posting their January 5th letter to customers. In this updated address, the company directly tackled the source of their customer’s frustrations by offering solutions both parties could find agreeable. Examples of updates included:

“No changes will be made to any accounts until July 31, 2012. If your subscription is set to expire before then, you will continue to receive updates and will not be charged for the additional time. For those who have continued commitments, those will continue. After July 31, 2012, if your account has met it’s commitments, you will have the option of subscribing, buying a Lifetime subscription or canceling your subscription;”

and

“If you choose to cancel, you will be able to download your Raw Data but will not be able to use the Browse Raw Data feature.”

To read the full list of updates from 23andMe, click here.

Our Perspective

We have often espoused to the notion that a brand’s traits and values are only real when the consumer believes in them. Typically, one hears this idea stated thusly, “A brand is not what you say it is; it is what they say it is.” In other words, consumers dictate what a brand stands for, not the company. Using the case study of 23andMe’s recent, albeit brief fallout with customers, we see a clear example of just how critical a role that notion plays in a brand’s success. More importantly, it says a great deal about how a company can overcome its mistakes, retain the approval of its consumers and still press forward in achieving of its primary goals.

One cannot deny the merit either parties’ arguments. On one hand, you have a group of consumers (genealogists mostly) who feel they were deceived by 23andMe. Couple this sentiment with the fact that 23andMe did not make an official statement until two weeks later, and it only adds fuel to their fire. On the other, you have a company that is desperately struggling to make a profit for the first time since its inception.With a current subscriber base of approximately 125,000, there is still plenty of market potential yet untapped. Naturally, attracting new users requires a more attractive service, but as it stands the company cannot be expected to continue at this pace, constantly reducing prices without a steady revenue stream to stabilize their business and finally generate a profit. Throughout these ongoing efforts to develop a sustainable business model, it is to be expected that some procedural shuffling will take place.

Regardless of the direction 23andMe chooses to take their business in the near future, and in spite of the methods it implements to move one step closer to those goals, communicating the policy changes to their users sooner – preferably immediately – would have gone much farther in allowing their brand to save face with the public as opposed to quietly making the change and leaving it for users to spot on their own. Keep this in mind: For a company that performs little to no marketing activities, 23andMe has garnered mostly positive feedback from their users while simultaneously building a lot of awareness around their brand. Due to the absence of such activities, it stands to reason that word of mouth marketing must have truly helped make the company as publicly recognized as it is today. Therefore, when mistakes such as this recent PR snafu takes place, one cannot help but jump to the conclusion that the presence of a dedicated marketing team might have gone a long way toward preventing the situation altogether. That being said, recent news suggests that the company is finally moving in that exact direction. According to a Business Insider article, 23andMe is in the process of building a dedicated marketing team, which is exciting news indeed.

For a short while, it looked as though 23andMe was putting its brand reputation in jeopardy. But thanks to their handling of the situation with calm and poise, the company emerged from the situation relatively unscathed. Now with a dedicated marketing team on the way, it appears that 23andMe has not only learned from its mistake, but plans to finally latch onto that accrued positive brand awareness and start reinforcing those traits with both new and prospective customers.

Timeline

• April 2006 – 23andMe founded by Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey
• Nov. 2007 – 23andMe begins offering services directly to consumers with sequencing kits that start as high as $1000.
• Nov. 2010 – 23andMe introduces a new subscription based business model
• June 2011 – 23andMe surpasses 100,000 users
• Dec. 2011 – 23andMe clarifies service policies on FAQ page; users grow upset with the change; start online petition requesting that 23andMe rescinds its changes.
• Jan. 5th 2012 – Anne Wojcicki releases a letter on 23andMe’s blog explaining the policy change and the company’s attempt to address the problem
• Jan. 8th 2012 –23andMe announces their plan to address recent user complaints over policy clarification
• Feb. 2012 – 23andMe surpasses 125,000 users; kickstarts marketing team development

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The class, titled “MM 0010: Defining and Positioning a Brand” is one of the many courses being offered at SDSU this semester for individuals pursuing a Professional Certificate in Marketing and Media.  Classes will run for a total of 4-weeks, from January 25th through February 22nd.  All those interested in branding and marketing, or just plain curious about both fields, should take the opportunity to sign up for the classes today.

Visit the SDSU “Find a Course” page for more information on how to register.

Today, at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, two giants of the genetic testing and research market revealed two new products whose releases mark a historic day for the genetic analysis industry as a whole.  Thanks to Illumina and Life Technologies (via Ion Torrent), the long-held dream of the $1000 genome has finally become a reality.  Both companies used their moment in the sun to spotlight each of their soon-to-be-released genomic sequencing instruments: the Benchtop Ion Proton from Life Technologies and the HiSeq 2500 from Illumina.

The Ion Proton is the official successor to Life Tech and Ion Torrent’s already well-received PGM, which was released back in early 2011.  The HiSeq 2500 is an extension of Illumina’s popular HiSeq product line of sequencing systems. The Ion Proton is anticipated to cost approximately $224,000 in total ($149,000 for the system itself and $75,000 for the necessary server).  Pricing for the HiSeq 2500 has not yet been made official, but some reports suggest that the list price for the device will be roughly $740,000.  Both devices are expected to be available by mid-2012, and Life Tech is already said to be taking orders on its system.

What makes these dueling announcements so monumental is that both systems not only promise researchers the ability to sequence the human genome for a mere $1000, but they are also able to do so in only a day.  With the ability to sequence genomes in only a day as opposed to weeks or months, the value of these devices with regard to their potential clinical applications becomes much more pronounced.  The prices, especially, could make the widespread adoption of these systems much more plausible for scientists, physicians, and researchers in the near future.

To read more on these announcements from Illumina and Life Technologies, please click here.

The article recaps interesting analysis points from a recently released report on the state of the global life science from consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle.  JLL’s report covers an assortment of information, including established and emerging life clusters across the globe, trends, and factors which have impacted the industry as of late.

Based on the report, the Americas – and the US in particular – are shown to have the largest life science market in the world, holding both the largest number of successful established clusters globally as well as the largest number successful emerging clusters globally. In total, 10 emerging clusters are spotlighted in the report for the Americas.  Of those 10, 7 sites are located in the US, while the remaining 3 locations cover Brazil, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The major US cities noted on the list of emerging clusters are: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Florida, Houston, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis.  The article from GEN correctly points out, however, that some of these clusters have flourished well past the point of being considered “emerging” any longer.

Despite the increased interest in these areas, their growth is still being actively challenged by the largest biotech clusters.  In particular, there has been a greater amount of consolidation within the two largest regions of the US biotech industry, California and Massachusetts.  In part, this consolidation between the California and Massachusetts seems to be taking place due to a slight hesitancy of trying out emerging clusters.  They seem to view these emerging locations as risker propositions for their business, especially in light of the fact that they already have established “homes” in the aforementioned major US regions.

For access to the PDF report from Jones Lang Lasalle, click here.  To read the article from GEN, click here.

The first study gathered information from over 18,000 individuals, mostly men aged 50 and older who use the MyHealtheVet online service.  The survey was conducted for a little over a month via the same online service.  When the results were tallied, researchers found that approximately 79% of the respondents were interested in sharing the information found in their medical files with “family members, caregivers, and non Veteran’s Affairs, healthcare providers.”

The second study surveyed 110 participating primary care physicians, 63 non-participating physicians, and 37,856 patients. Counting all three groups together, more than 38,000 individuals participated in the survey.  Once all the data that had been gathered, between 92% and 97% of patients who responded thought it would be a good idea if they had access to their personal medical notes written by their physician.  A majority of physicians also agreed that this would be a good idea, although this group had more points of dissension than the patients did.

Although both physicians and patients seem to be in general agreement about the potential benefits offered by sharing these medical notes with patients and other third parties, it would appear that the second study in particular has sparked slightly more concern within medical circles.  Some feel that patients would be unable to handle the information found in their charts, while others believe that giving patients access to this information could actually encourage them to take up a more active role in matters concerning their own health.

Detailed results and discussions for both research surveys can be found on the Annals of Internal Medicine website.  Click here for access to the study concerning granting personal health record access to third parties, and here for the study on granting patients access to their doctor’s notes.

Ready for a new challenge in graphic design, with a fast moving, international branding and communications agency? If you have a passion for graphic design: send us your resume today!

Audacity is the only branding + marketing communications agency that builds high-performance life science brands with heath care providers, key opinion leaders, labs, pharma and patients, by creating brands and brand experiences that tangibly impact markets’ behaviour in their favour, through our proprietary C.O.D.E. approach. Clients include Sony, HP, Samsung, Philips.

Job Description:

Create and produce digital and print communications tools, including brand identity, naming, advertising, digital experience, packaging, print experience, environmental, show + events

The successful candidate must have/be:

• Fast in creation and execution
• Highly creative [concept development]
• Professional with strong work ethic
• Highly organized
• Responsible and dependable: “do what it takes” attitude, high integrity

Qualifications:

• Proven advanced skills in Adobe Creative Suite
• Degree in web/graphic design or equivalent experience/achievements
• Knowledge of WordPress and Html/CSS a plus
• San Diego, CA based [no relocation]

Contact Information:

Use our contact form.

Interested? Send us:

1. Link to portfolio
2. linkedIn profile
3. Twitter handle
4. Resume

Hurry and seize the opportunity!

* No Phone Calls * No agencies *

Audacity is looking for an exceptionally creative Art Director with an amazing portfolio to join our globally connected agency (An E3 Agency). If you can create thought provoking, radically differentiated experiences, read on!

You will work together with the creative team to design innovative concepts that will shift our clients markets’ perceptions and behavior. You will never develop “me-too” brands! There is plenty of room to grow if you are passionate about design and making a high-impact difference for the brands we work for! You have to be ready to hit the ground running and move extremely fast!

What

For a variety of client and agency digital and print projects:

• Art direction
• Project management
• Graphic design
• Team management

How

• Develop and design thought-provoking concepts based on precise strategic guidelines
• Manage projects successfully from idea to delivery
• Collaborate with brand strategist, creative director (CD), account executive / project manager and inform of any deviations in timing, cost or creative direction
• Manage creative process within the agency with account services
• Manage creative process outside the agency with photographers, illustrators, and all other suppliers
• Co-manage clients to ensure their creative needs are met and to successfully “sell” edgy concepts that will fall outside of clients’ comfort zone
• Manage, inspire and motivate a creative team with positive attitude, total dedication, and passion for radical differentiation
• Assist with the selection, recruitment and training of new creative talents
• Develop client presentation materials
• Lead client presentation for all stages of the design process
• Research and organize contemporary visual trends globally to ensure true innovation

Profile

• Top-notch, industry-leading design skills
• Mastery of CS Suite, specifically Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Dreamweaver
• Familiarity with CMS web technologies, specifically WordPress
• Understanding of marketing communications
• Excellent speaking and writing skills
• 4+ years design experience in agency
• 2+ years managing design team
• Degree in fine arts / creative direction
• Ability to multi-task
• Experience with mobile apps a plus (iPhone, iPad, Android)
• Highly organized
• Stellar interpersonal skills – a true “people person”

Compensation

• Full time position with competitive annual base salary

Location

• Audacity Global HQ’s in beautiful San Diego

Path

• Direct path to creative director (CD)

Life

• Our studio features an open space, modern kitchen, great outdoor area, team lunches, and celebrations for every occasion!

Balance

• Producing high quality results requires balance. We offer a competitive and rewarding time off package.

Agency

Audacity is the only branding + marketing communications agency that builds high-performance, radically differentiated life science brands with healthcare providers, key opinion leaders, labs, pharma and patients, by creating brands and brand experiences that tangibly impact markets’ behavior in their favor, through our proprietary C.O.D.E. approach.

We excel in unconventional brand launches and refreshes (product and corporate) and merger/acquisition brand management.

Our solutions include brand research, brand positioning and architecture, naming, design, corporate identity, branded experience, brand management, and brand tracking, for both digital and traditional media. Current/past clients include leaders in medical imaging, medical instruments, biotech, genetics and genomics, as well as electronics and software. To name a few: Siemens, Samsung, Illumina, Kodak, Hewlett Packard and Sony, plus a range of ambitious start-ups.

Ready

Want to know more? Check us out at www.audacitygroup.com

DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY. Apply HERE

Make sure to include (if available):

• Link to portfolio
• LinkedIn profile
• Design awards
• Twitter handle

Audacity is a nonconformist branding and communications agency focused on life sciences – Medical imaging, biotechnology, genetics/genomics and medical instruments and devices. We engineer ultimate brands, by bridging the gap between strategy and creativity.

As a new breed of agency, we fill the vacuum between design shops and Madison Avenue brand consultancy firms. As an independent agency, we deliver true innovation. As a boutique agency, we devote the best of our team to every client.

Our suite of superior branding solutions help maximize brand equity creation. They include integrated solutions, such as brand revitalization and creation, and “a la carte” solutions, including brand audits and brand positioning, for corporate, division and product levels.

Current/past clients include leaders in medical imaging, medical instruments, biotech, genetics and genomics, as well as electronics and software. To name a few: Siemens, Samsung, Illumina, Kodak, Hewlett Packard and Sony, plus a range of ambitious start-ups.

We are currently seeking a highly motivated Account Manager / New Clients Acquisition to join our growing agency presence in EU markets. In this role, you will ensure that our revenue growth plans are met.

This is a fast-paced role with high potential in a growing agency. This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference, and be rewarded for it!

What

acquisition of new clients

How

Manage existing prospects in database
Select and pursue new prospects
Convert prospects into clients
Participate in selected networking events
Perform calls and face-to-face meetings to pitch

Profile

Extremely comfortable over the phone
Never take “no” for an answer
“Do what it takes” attitude
Outgoing and positive personality with a passion for relationships
Excellent speaking and writing skills
3-5+ years sales in agency environment
Degree in business / marketing / advertising / graphic arts / life science preferred
Proven track record of success in revenue generation and goal achievement
Ability to work outside of normal business hours as workload requires

Compensation

Contract position with commissions on sales

Location

France (South) – Sophia Antipolis – Audacity’s EU Studio.

Ready

Submit your resume, through Talentzoo

Incl. compensation history, and any other helpful information such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn profiles today.

Philips

Following in the footsteps of Siemens, Philips will be the second company to market with a dedicated PET/MR imaging system known commercially as the Ingenuity TF.  What makes Philips’ system an innovation compared to Siemens’ system is that it essentially gives the purchaser 3 systems instead of just one.  Although the Ingenuity TF lacks the single system hybridization of Siemens’ Biograph mMR, Philips has found a way to integrate these two modalities in a way that effectively allows clinicians to perform standalone PET scans, standalone MRI scans or a PET/MR scan. This is accomplished by connecting both scanners approximately 10 feet apart from one another via a rotating table.  After the patient has received one scan, they can be subsequently transitioned to the opposite scanner without changing their position.  Afterward, the images taken from both devices will be merged together via specialized software.

Now that the company has received FDA approval for the device, expect the Ingenuity to become a prime alternative to the Biograph mMR for those looking to secure hybrid imaging devices but still want to perform PET and MRI scans on their own.

Siemens

While most attendees will probably dwell on Siemens’ attention to PET/MR, PET/CT, standalone CT and ultrasound technology, we found the company’s healthcare informatics system updates to be the most discussion worthy pieces on the floor this year.

To our surprise, this particular application – which seriously has the potential to change the way procedures are conducted in operating rooms without compromising sterility – may not even be released commercially.  Of course, we are talking about Siemens’ use of Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensor device to allow for hands-free PACS image viewing.  A demonstration of the software in action can be found here.  Looking at the video, it is hard not to be impressed.  We can only hope that this technology eventually sees the light of day in operating rooms in the near future.

GE

Although GE presented a wide range of new products for its RSNA lineup, their major standout product focused on improving imaging procedures in the interventional radiology department.  Although the device has yet to receive full approval from the FDA, the new angiography system, better known as the Discovery IGS 730, represents a significant leap forward in IR.

Easily, the most intriguing feature of this new device is its mobility.  The conventional method of performing interventional imaging requires that systems either be mounted to the floor or the ceiling.  As a result of these restrictions, physicians, radiologists, and researchers often encounter a difficult decision which forces them to compromise on issues concerning patient comfort, mobility or image quality.  GE aims to eliminate that difficult decision-making process with the Discovery IGS 730, a first-of-its-kind wheel mounted device designed to capture the best features of both floor-mounted and ceiling-mounted imagers. The integrated cable management, GPS and laser-guided system allow the device to scan rooms for obstacles and position itself accordingly.  Moreover, the device does not sacrifice image quality for the sake of mobility.  Thanks to the WideBore 3D, the attached C-arm of the device, Discovery is more accessible to heavier patients and capable of achieving steeper angles for imaging procedures.  With all of these advantages in mind, GE has certainly presented one of the biggest leaps for interventional radiology at this year’s show.

Toshiba

For Toshiba, the big piece of news from their booth concerned updates to their already quite robust ultrasound product line.  These new introductions to the Toshiba family – specifically the Aplio 500 – are said to carry “revolutionary” features found only on Toshiba’s platforms.  These advancements are called Smart Fusion and Fly Thru technology.  Smart Fusion is an application that displays both ultrasound and CT images side-by-side on the same screen. The program then syncs the two images, which aids the physician in locating hard-to-find lesions and reduces the need for additional CT scans.  Fly Thru offers them the ability to view the interiors of ducts and vessels in 3D and 4D using 3D volume rendering techniques.  These advanced features are only available on the Aplio 500 model.

If each of these advances sparks even the slightest adoption rush in in each of their respective markets, look for 2012 to be a bright year in the medical imaging industry.  Remember, RSNA 2012 will be here before you know it.

Here at Audacity, we aren’t ashamed to admit that the waterworks immediately go into overdrive the moment we see most life science and healthcare ads.  That’s right, we cry a lot at the office; there is no shame in saying so.  The constant laughing is probably what causes it.

Wait…  You didn’t seriously think we were crying out of sadness, did you?

Let’s be clear: the only “sad” thing we see is the utter lack of differentiation being perpetuated across today’s life science and healthcare marketing.  The industry’s creative direction, collectively speaking, has become one big joke.  It is so cookie-cutter conventional and painfully lifeless that just seeing certain pieces now carries enough weight to bring us to tears from incessant laughter.  And frankly, regardless of whether you represent an agency or one of the afformentioned companies focused in the medical space, you should probably be laughing with us too – not to mention a little mad.  You heard us correctly – agency or company – you have no one but yourselves to blame for this fiasco.  Don’t worry though; life science and healthcare marketing is not beyond redemption.  If negligence and redundancy created this mess, a little partnership pow-wow and radical differentiation can get us out of it.

TO AGENCIES: Don’t be afraid to do your job.

Lots of agencies like to complain about their clients as if they were the second coming of Caligula.  Without skipping a beat, they go into a tirade the second projects derail and the client begins to make demands with the fervency of a spoiled toddler.  They scream for something “different” only to later disregard their agency’s suggestions out of fear surrounding potential market, investor or peer backlash.  As frustrating as this situation can be for some, when a client makes poor judgment calls like the one above, a portion of the responsibility rests with the agency for failing to ease their qualms.

Companies hire agencies to boost their ROI, plain and simple.  This end-game explains why smarter companies are so vigilant about finding the right agency for their brand. So, when they select your agency as a partner, your task is to fulfill those expectorations, no matter what.  When agencies do their job correctly, clients won’t even indulge second thoughts about whether or not to explore “radical differentiation”; the benefits of its use would prove so obvious from the beginning that any later dissension would only be viewed as absurd and a waste of time for everyone involved.

Agencies should never be hired or take on a job to simply provide “more of the same.”  Too many life science companies already use and reuse their collateral ad nauseum.  Product beauty shots and the basic blue and white websites have all but taken over the industry at this point.  The last thing your agency needs to do is give clients a reason to keep recycling weak ideas.  Rather than struggle to make life science companies fit a worn-out mold, you should be helping them find ways to break it.  Take a peak at our most recent self-promotional campaign, “Overuse,” and you’ll get what we’re talking about.  Truly passionate agencies make a point to look out for their clients’ best interests.  They won’t serve clients a piece of “$#!*” and tell them it’s chocolate cake.  Any agency with the nerve to go that far deserves first consideration on a client’s chopping block.

TO COMPANIES: Start demanding differentiation and holding your agency accountable.

As we said above, companies rarely succeed in differentiating themselves due to fear and an unwillingness to stray from conventional marketing practices.  They see the word “radical” and freeze faster than a glass of water at absolute zero.  So, companies wind up playing it safe and decide to give their customers the same crap they have grown accustomed to seeing.  To make matters worse, the final product is often indistinguishable from most marketing materials used by other players in the industry.  Almost assuredly, before a shred of the collateral ever reaches the public eye, one can expect it will contain the usual cold, sterile and humorless drivel.

We don’t deny that radical differentiation poses certain risks.  However, ignoring it altogether in an effort to conform poses an even greater risk.   By taking that route, you – life science companies – are essentially giving up on your business before it even gets started.  Defeatist thinking like that is how brands become lost to history.  Overcome your fear of radical differentiation, and embrace the need for a change in your marketing strategy.  Radical differentiation is not about finding a “smart” feature or benefit idea on which to focus your communication; it’s about doing things differently.  If you truly want to make an impact… If you truly want your customers to take notice… If you truly want to build a better brand, your company needs to change the way it presents itself, and those changes begin at the agency relationship level.  Across the board, life science companies must stop nitpicking for the wrong reasons and start challenging their agency for the right ones.

When you work with a branding or marketing agency, part of their job is to help you carve out a niche market for your business, developing strategies and tactics that will inevitably get your brand recognized.  A good agency recognizes when adjustments are in order, so it is best in those instances to stand back and let them do what you paid them to do.  At the same time, if an agency is not doing all they can to differentiate and build awareness for your brand, you have every right to demand it of them. After all, that is what you hired them to do.  If they don’t live up to their end of the commitment, letting go of that agency might be in your brand’s best interest.

Radical differentiation may represent uncharted territory for most life science and healthcare companies, but that is what makes incorporating it into your marketing such a strong strategy.  To agencies, we say take charge.  To life science companies, we say let them take charge, and don’t be afraid to take a stand if they refuse to deliver.  Take our advice and explore these creative grounds sooner rather than later.  Surely, the last thing you want to become is a laughing stock.