“There are lots of people who specialize in marketing, but as far as I can tell, none of them work for you.”
Those were the words of Larry Page at a talk during the AAAS meeting earlier this year. Upon reading this I felt like getting up and clapping. In my years in the life science industry, especially as a marketer, it has become clear that marketing science seems to be one of the harder tasks out there, and unfortunately, poorly understood. There is a serious intellectual disconnect between products and services developed by the biotech industry and the target audience, whether it be investors, shareholders or consumers.
Larry is right. Business and entrepreneurship is a good thing, and scientists must think big, yet remain realistic. Too many companies have been formed that had no business existing. On the other hand, others remain content thinking small, even when the product could probably expand into something big. Somehow the spirit that defines a company like Google is missing from most companies built on science.
The subject of science and marketing was back on the radar following the publication of an article in Science that talked about how scientists could improve their public and policy relations. The fact remains that marketing, in all its various incarnations, is more important than ever. If your message is not being heard, don’t expect people to understand it. This applies to academics and companies. Unfortunately, most scientists don’t really know what marketing really is. I recommend that everyone should read Seth Godin’s or Kathy Sierra’s blogs (her blogging is sorely missed). They focus on quality and appropriate messaging, not hyperbole or spin. The fact is that science faces some major communication challenges in a world that lives in cycles of “15 minutes of fame”. The pace and complexity of scientific discovery makes it difficult for people to appreciate the beauty of good science, and it is no surprise that people gravitate to scientific discovery with catchy titles, e.g. nanotechnology or synthetic biology.
Over the years magazines like Scientific American have done a lot to bring science to the masses. However, as the printed word gets further away from the kind of material that children (or adults) read, it is important that scientists find other avenues of bringing some of the latest and greatest to the public at large. Yes, that means blogs, good websites, and increasingly video and audio in addition to more traditional forms of marketing. If we can relate to the audience, then the chance of the message getting across is a lot higher. It’s not that hard, really.
Unfortunately at this point of time, I must paraphrase Larry Page again. There are a lot of capable marketers, just not in the sciences.
Marketing Science
“There are lots of people who specialize in marketing, but as far as I can tell, none of them work for you.”
Those were the words of Larry Page at a talk during the AAAS meeting earlier this year. Upon reading this I felt like getting up and clapping. In my years in the life science industry, especially as a marketer, it has become clear that marketing science seems to be one of the harder tasks out there, and unfortunately, poorly understood. There is a serious intellectual disconnect between products and services developed by the biotech industry and the target audience, whether it be investors, shareholders or consumers.
Larry is right. Business and entrepreneurship is a good thing, and scientists must think big, yet remain realistic. Too many companies have been formed that had no business existing. On the other hand, others remain content thinking small, even when the product could probably expand into something big. Somehow the spirit that defines a company like Google is missing from most companies built on science.
The subject of science and marketing was back on the radar following the publication of an article in Science that talked about how scientists could improve their public and policy relations. The fact remains that marketing, in all its various incarnations, is more important than ever. If your message is not being heard, don’t expect people to understand it. This applies to academics and companies. Unfortunately, most scientists don’t really know what marketing really is. I recommend that everyone should read Seth Godin’s or Kathy Sierra’s blogs (her blogging is sorely missed). They focus on quality and appropriate messaging, not hyperbole or spin. The fact is that science faces some major communication challenges in a world that lives in cycles of “15 minutes of fame”. The pace and complexity of scientific discovery makes it difficult for people to appreciate the beauty of good science, and it is no surprise that people gravitate to scientific discovery with catchy titles, e.g. nanotechnology or synthetic biology.
Over the years magazines like Scientific American have done a lot to bring science to the masses. However, as the printed word gets further away from the kind of material that children (or adults) read, it is important that scientists find other avenues of bringing some of the latest and greatest to the public at large. Yes, that means blogs, good websites, and increasingly video and audio in addition to more traditional forms of marketing. If we can relate to the audience, then the chance of the message getting across is a lot higher. It’s not that hard, really.
Unfortunately at this point of time, I must paraphrase Larry Page again. There are a lot of capable marketers, just not in the sciences.
Further Reading
Science Education (Neil Saunders)
Life science hype cycle
Sources
Reuters
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