Life, Science and Marketing

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 14

Guest: John Kennett, Director of Global Marketing, Brand & Solutions at Forte

John's Background:

• 20+ years in marketing roles across the life sciences industry
• Previous companies include Medaxial, Covance, Envigo, and Labcorp
• Originally studied electronics engineering and made a transition into marketing
• Masters degree in psychodynamic psychotherapy

Key Discussion Points:

• Enjoyment of constant innovation and progress in the life sciences industry
• The importance of storytelling to make complex science understandable
• Building bridges between science and marketing through curiosity and conversations
• Orchestrating marketing messages across teams for clarity and harmony
• Balancing business priorities while still focusing on people

Key Quotes:

• "Our ability to have a strong working culture means that we ought to be thinking about how we compliment one another rather than compete with one another."
• "Go ask dumb questions, because there's no way that I could know everything even people with a doctorate in bioscience don't know everything about someone else's specific research area."
• "Culture eats strategy for breakfast - if you've got a good culture in place, then you can have the best strategy in the world, but if you don't have the culture to deliver on that strategy, forget it."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 13

Guest: Haydn Boehm, Product Marketing Excellence Lead at Agilent Technologies

Haydn's Background:

• PhD in organic chemistry
• Deep technical expertise combined with marketing roles at various life science companies (Sigma Aldrich, Johnson Matthey, Merck, Thermo Fisher, Agilent, etc.)

Key Discussion Points:

• Shift from sales-led to marketing-led organizations due to digital transformation
• Identifying where target audiences go to learn and providing valuable content there
• Perspectives on lead nurturing, inbound marketing, and the rise of outbound outreach
• The promise and limitations of AI in drug discovery processes
• Applying scientific thinking and a problem-solving mindset to marketing strategy

Key Quotes:

• "You don't wanna employ sales people to act as marketers. They need to speak to people who are engaged and say, right, what are we gonna do now?"
• "Assume nothing. And validate everything. And so you look at, so it always gives you quite sort of fresh eyes into a sort of a situation."
• "If people learn to like to learn on their own, it's about putting the right content that's really valuable is a lot rich in terms of education."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 12

Guest: Paul Kippax, Sales Operations Director at Malvern Panalytical

Paul's Background:

• PhD in physical chemistry
• 25+ year career with Malvern Panalytical in various roles spanning product management, marketing, and sales

Key Discussion Points:

• Collaborating deeply with customers to uncover hidden insights and new analysis approaches
• Building cross-functional understanding between technical and commercial teams
• Leveraging scientific knowledge to extract more value from analytical instruments in customer workflows
• Delivering sustained value to your core customer “tribe”
• Continuously experimenting to drive incremental marketing improvement

Key Quotes:

• "I need to do a job where what I do means something."
• "Curiosity drives your interest in the customer. You start asking questions about the customer rather than yourself."
• "If you try to appeal to everyone who doesn't get you, you'll dilute the unique value you could offer."
• "I want the grit. The grit polishes the stone - it reveals the beauty."
• "Most people don't deliberately come to work to do a bad job. Approach things assuming people want to succeed."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 11

Guest: George Fradley, independent marketing consultant

George's Background:

• Started career as a chemist, discovered strengths in understanding patients and cross-functional communication
• 15 years at 3M Healthcare developing and marketing asthma inhalers
• Now an independent marketing consultant across life sciences

Key Discussion Points:

• Transitioning from scientific roles into marketing
• Comparing large vs. small company experiences
• Establishing credibility for visionary industry change
• Using storytelling and empathy to connect with audiences
• Best practices for thought leadership and content

Key Quotes:

• "Understand your value, understand what you're good at, understand what you love, and find a way to do that because it's always value in that."
• "I can spot a ChatGPT article a thousand miles away...it doesn't understand the market, your brand voice, where you're trying to take things."
• "Thought leadership shouldn't just tell people what to think or regurgitate existing ideas."
• "You have to back up claims with honest and consistent messaging."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 10

Guest: Jaleel Shujath, ex-scientist turned marketing expert

Jaleel's Background:

• Ex-scientist with a biology degree and lab experience
• Over 20 years working in life science marketing at GE Healthcare, ATCC, Absorption Systems, and more
• Passionate about science and discovery from an early age

Key Discussion Points:

• Applying scientific principles like hypothesis testing and data analysis to optimise marketing efforts
• Embracing both successes and failures as learning opportunities to improve campaigns
• Tracking marketing data rigorously to showcase value and defend budgets
• Tailoring marketing approaches to each unique company’s needs and market landscape
• Using curiosity to fuel impactful messaging and innovative tactics
• Networking consistently to build relationships and learn from others

Key Quotes:

• "As scientists, we always promote the successes right and the successful experiment, the new discovery...people rarely show the failures."
• "Make sure the data is solid because in science, scientists will always critique each other’s experiments right? And they're looking at it with a hard eye."
• "I think if we were to go to anybody, any marketer...what percentage of your endeavours or initiatives are you know, knockout out of the park type of initiative? If they were being honest...maybe 50 percent, maybe 40 percent."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 9

Guest: Regis Grenier, sales and marketing expert

Regis’ Background:

• 25+ years in sales and marketing roles at companies like Bio-Rad and Tecan
• Now an independent marketing consultant

Key Discussion Points:

• Strategically positioning products or services in the minds of target customers
• Creating content marketing that truly resonates with scientists
• Tapping internal knowledge to guide sales and marketing strategy
• Consistently delivering value to science-driven buyers
• Building trust by leading with credible content rather than aggressive sales pitches

Key Quotes:

• "My daily obsession is 'Am I delivering value?' Especially in technical, scientific areas I constantly challenge myself on that when creating content."
• "The goal is creating marketing that doesn't seem like marketing - valuable content solving problems."
• "Especially in scientific segments, deeply understand the market value of what you're marketing before exaggerating claims. Be realistic - scientists will know if you overstate things."
• "Take advantage too of partners eager to co-market integrations or other strengths once you start sharing those externally."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 8

Guest: Andrew Bertera, Executive Director of Marketing and Sales at New England BioLabs

Andrew's Background:

• Studied microbiology at King's College London
• Started in R&D at Amersham developing molecular biology products
• Now leads global marketing and sales at New England BioLabs for 14+ years

Key Discussion Points:

• Making the transition from R&D to marketing roles
• Taking on combined marketing and sales leadership positions
• Embracing technology while still connecting with customers
• The importance of customer centricity and focus for marketers
• Perspectives on trade shows and maximising value
• Reinvigorating existing products over their lifecycle

Key Quotes:

• "When marketing and sales report to the same leader it's easier to set unified goals and get them collaborating."
• "While digital experiences are important, we don't have the depth of consumer data in life sciences."
• "To me, marketing is about growing the business by developing best-in-class customer experiences."
• "Directly interacting with customers is critical to truly understand them."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 7

Guests: Harrison Waid and Nick Clare

Harrison's Background:

• Co-founder of Succession
• Previously in software sales at Synthego before pivoting to biotech

Nick's Background:

• Co-founder of Succession
• Extensive experience in life sciences and drug discovery having worked with pharma companies
• Currently Interim CBO at Definigen

Key Discussion Points:

• Perception gap between marketing and sales teams
• Confusion over lead qualification terminology
• Marketing content often lacks value for sales teams
• Importance of not distracting sales with customer issues
• Strategies for marketing to gain credibility in sales-driven organisations
• Benefits of RevOps function to align goals
• Adopting a commercial team mentality

Key Quotes:

• "Focus less on categorising leads and more on their level of intent and interest based on actions taken."
• "Provide sales with bite-sized, easily digestible content nuggets rather than long case studies."
• "Adopt more of a commercial team mentality focused on overarching business goals rather than siloed department goals."

Life, Science, and Marketing Podcast: Episode 6

Guest: Noah Konig, Marketing Director at PrecisionLife

Noah's Background:

• Dual degree in psychology and marketing
• 16 years of experience in life science marketing roles
• Recently named “Life Science Marketer of the Year” by SAMPS

Key Discussion Points:

• Combining psychology and marketing training for a career in life science marketing
• Conveying complex scientific concepts effectively
• Reaching niche expert audiences like pharmaceutical R&D
• Balancing confidence and imposter syndrome
• The importance of immersing yourself in your audience
• Blending traditional and digital marketing tactics

Key Quotes:

• "The psychology side provided extensive training in understanding human behaviour, cognition and the underlying neurological processes."
• "I’ve improved audience targeting through directly engaging with key leaders at scientific conferences and events to understand their priorities and pain points."
• "Scientific conferences and events are an irreplaceable platform for engaging such niche groups of busy experts."

Life, Science and Marketing Podcast: Episode 5

Guest: Chris Thorne, Director of Marketing at Asimov

Chris' Background:

• PhD in cancer cell biology from University of Liverpool
• Worked in R&D, operations, and marketing roles at biotech startups like Horizon Discovery
• Experience spanning scientific research, startups, and product marketing

Key Discussion Points:

• Importance of proactive networking and relationship-building throughout your career
• Conveying complex scientific concepts clearly and telling compelling stories
• Overcoming common marketing obstacles like budget constraints and short attention spans
• Taking calculated risks with bold, differentiated messaging to stand out
• Tracking marketing impact with tools while accepting some attribution uncertainty

Key Quotes:

• "Proactively building and maintaining professional relationships provides access to resources, referrals, new opportunities, and other support that aids your initiatives."
• "While having a clear, authentic message resonate with your audience is crucial, I've found that the relationships within a company are also essential to achieve success."
• "My top advice is to keep marketing capabilities sharp, but also proactively nurture your network. The connections you build will always be invaluable, providing support as marketing continues to evolve."