Marketing Strategies for Emerging Companies: Lessons from the Maine Wilderness for Biotech and Biopharma I do not consider a sale complete until the goods are worn out and the customer (sic) is still satisfied.” When Leon Leonwood Bean posted those words in his humble Maine store in 1916 he was executing a marketing strategy that would continue to pay off for more than 90 years. Today his original guarantee still stands. Whether it’s a pair of boots that need new soles after years (or even decades) of wear and tear, or a sea kayak that provided customers with more adventure than they bargained for, if it was bought it from L.L. Bean it can be returned at any time for a full refund or replacement. What can emerging biotech and biopharma companies learn from an early 20th-century Maine shopkeeper about marketing strategy? As it turns out, plenty. See Beyond the Laboratory L.L. Bean’s “laboratory” was the woods and lakes of Maine, where he field-tested his products. But his vision extended far beyond the Maine wilderness. He realized that the market for quality outdoor goods was not limited to his core customer base or to his home state, and he aggressively reached out to those new customers with the catalogs that became so ubiquitous. If he had limited himself to marketing to his fellow Maine outdoorsmen, there is no way that his brand would today be one of the world’s most recognizable — and one that is synonymous with quality. Similarly, it is important that emerging biotechs and biopharma companies, as early as they can, look beyond their initial core audiences — venture capitalists and the financial community — and position their corporate brand in the minds of all their key stakeholders, especially those who will purchase, prescribe, or administer their products. To be successful, emerging biotechs and biopharmas must invest as much time and attention in market analysis and planning as they do in research and clinical trials. Develop a Corporate Identity That Transcends One Product Whether a company is selling rods and reels or life-saving pharmaceuticals, the long-term viability of the company depends on its corporate brand positioning, not just market acceptance of one product. L.L. Bean didn’t just guarantee his flagship product, the ungainly rubber-soled hunting boot. His guarantee extended, and still extends, to everything his company sells. The fact is that any emerging company, in any space, must create an enduring corporate brand that is a trust mark for all of its stakeholders, one that can weather fickle markets, new competition, and product life-cycle challenges. For example, the senior management of Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging recognized that with Cardiolite — the gold standard in cardiac imaging — they had a solid foundation from which to relaunch their corporate brand following the acquisition of the company by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001. The team successfully leveraged the equity Cardiolite created for the company with critical stakeholders to create and promote a new corporate identity in the market. Communicate Your Vision Stating his intentions to his stakeholders (the hunters and fishermen who walked into his store) was simple for L.L. Bean. He just tacked his credo to the wall. These days his guarantee has a prominent place on the company’s home page and is featured in each of the tens of million of catalogs the company sends out every year. Discovery Laboratories, Warrington, Pa., has yet to launch its first commercial brand (that will come later this year when it introduces Surfaxin), but the company’s marketers already recognize that it is not too early to position the company for future growth by establishing and promoting its corporate brand, and to do it now, before the Surfaxin launch. Although much of its energy is directed at the launch of Surfaxin, Discovery Labs already is doing the important work of building its corporate brand and communicating what it stands for: breakthrough respiratory science that saves lives. Discovery’s corporate brand will lend immediate authority to the “science” behind Surfaxin, and, in turn, the success of its initial brand will link back to the company and to its future products. If one needs further evidence that L.L. Bean knew his stuff about marketing, take a trip to Freeport, Maine. As you search, perhaps in vain, for a space in the parking lot, check out the license plates; you are sure to find dozens of states represented. The foundation of his company’s enduring success? A corporate brand firmly positioned in customers’ minds, that their satisfaction is the company’s No. 1 priority. Not bad. And he was a pretty darn good fisherman too. An emerging company must create an enduring corporate brand that is a trust mark for all of its stakeholders, one that can weather fickle markets, new competition, and product life-cycle challenges. Maureen Mangiavas Senior Director, Business Development David Winigrad President The Hal Lewis Group Inc., Philadelphia, is a full-service healthcare communications agency specializing in creating and nurturing brands. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BRANDING May 2005 VIEW on Biotechnology
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