Why We Should Build Strong Life Science Brands
Kasia Hein-Peters, MD
Bestselling Author of the Innovation Planner | Innovating in Healthcare, Pharma, Biotech, Med-Tech, AI & Public Health | Innovation360 Licensed Practitioner & Gold Partner | Speaker | Board Member
“Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind,” said Walter Landor, a designer, and branding guru. But why should we care? Isn’t the healthcare industry mostly focused on data and the quality of products, not emotional connections with brands??
We should first turn to science to answer the “why we need brands” question. Neuroscientists who study consumer behavior say that we are bombarded with 11 million bits of information through our senses every second. However, our brain only lets us notice 40 of them (that’s 0.0004% for you non-mathematicians). The brain works very hard to prevent information overload, so we are wired to overlook most data our senses register.
What if your company isn’t in that 0.0004%? (Honestly, it probably isn’t and you may have to change it)?
Secondly, people are hardwired to avoid pain more than to seek pleasure. This creates a barrier for new products because we prefer the comfort of the familiar, even if it’s not perfect.?
And thirdly, both the cognitive and emotional brain must be involved in processing brand information, otherwise, the buying decision never happens. Brands are subjective, not objective experiences. They are symbols that signal expectations of outcomes based on our past beliefs and impressions. But the rational brain must validate our feelings, and it’s even more important in healthcare where buying processes enforce the analysis of many data points (for example, think about the health technology assessment multi-page documents that payers receive to review new products).?
In summary, the reason why we need brands is to switch customers’ thinking processes from slow? (conscious and laborious) to fast (intuitive and automatic). We cannot avoid the slow thinking process when the product is launched and is mostly unknown, but we want fast thinking to kick in as soon as possible, to help with the product repeat prescribing, purchase, and increasing the market share.
The question is how to do this.?
Influencing Customer Behavior
There are seven steps to change behavior and all of them must be followed to create a strong brand:
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Brand Design
We typically associate a brand with its image. Branding is an emotional expression of product positioning, so logos and images must be aligned with it. Let me show you how two human papillomavirus vaccines aligned their brand logos with their positionings in the market. Gardasil? is a brand owned by Merck and Cervarix? by GSK. Both are designed to prevent cervical cancer, which is almost entirely caused by human papillomavirus. Yet vaccine compositions, clinical development programs, and product positioning in the market were very different.?
Both vaccines protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which are the most common types causing cancers. In addition, Gardasil? also protects against types 6 and 11, the most common cause of low-grade lesions and genital warts. Even though HPV types 6 and 11 didn’t cause serious diseases, they were responsible for costly treatments and unpleasant procedures. Broader product profile, combined with clinical development that included more cancers and other HPV-related diseases made Gardasil? suitable for both men and women, and led to success over the competitor.?
Both companies aligned their brand images with their product positioning, but only Gardasil?’s strategy led to global success.
In summary, brands should be created with care and as soon as the company starts communicating with external stakeholders. Otherwise, you will miss the opportunity to create a desired image in your customers’ minds and instead will have to rely on them guessing what your brand is about, risking the lack of consistency and low impact. Well-designed brands are stronger, command more attention, and ultimately lead to more sales.?
Every Business Is Unique - Including Yours
Dr. Kasia Hein-Peters is the Founder of the SciencePreneur Academy in Las Vegas, NV. Every business has its own challenges in developing its brand. Dr. Hein-Peters can show you how to create an impactful brand for your medical product or service. Get on her calendar here.
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