C&EN BrandLab - Branding Perception in the Chemical Sciences

Understanding Buying &
Decision Making:
How Brand Perception Influences Buyers
in the Chemical and Life Sciences Space
November 2019
Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary.
Stephanie Holland
Director, Global Advertising
Sales & Sponsorships
American Chemical Society
Bill Kelly
President
BioInformatics
Andrew Hanelly, Moderator
Partner
Revmade

Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 2
AGENDA
Part I: Exploring New Brand Research From C&EN
Part II: The Importance of Brand Building to Drive Purchasing
Part III: Tactics for Building a Successful Brand
Part IV: Understanding Individual Brand Performance
Q&A
What We’ll Be Reviewing Today

PART I:
Exploring New Brand
Research from C&EN

779
10
Total Respondents
Total Number of
Cohorts Analyzed
EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN
Categorization scheme utilized to examine drivers in five categories:
Our Research Methodology
Organization
Visibility
Product
Performance
Product
Innovation
Corporate
Citizenship
Customer
Experience

63%
Of Respondents Are Involved In
The Final Purchasing Process
150MM+
In Potential
Buying Power
24%
Of Respondents Have An Annual
Budget Of At Least $250,000
91%
Of Respondents Directly Involved
In Laboratory Research
Senior-Level Researchers;
Actively Involved in the Purchasing Process
Respondents

▪ Brand familiarity tested to examine general awareness against
level of branding investment.
▪ Likelihood of purchase and recommendation tested to judge a
set of experiences and interactions against a brand, product or
service.
▪ Our data determined how key buyers and buying teams actually
think and feel about the largest brands in our industry.
Brand As Underlying Aspect of Study
We studied 23 brands across the chemical and instrumentation
industries to determine how they fared in the eyes of consumers.

Product
Innovation
Organizational
Visibility
Product
Performance
Customer
Experience
Corporate
Citizenship
Positive Event
Presence
Consistent
Performance
Ease of
Purchasing
Customer Service
New Product
Development
Thought Leadership
Sustainable
Manufacturing
Based On Our Findings, This is How We Define
The Attributes of a Successful Brand.

Which Drivers are Most Predictive of Someone
Purchasing Your Products?
We tested 14 drivers to find what stands out to buyers in today’s market.
Here are the 5 that make the biggest difference:
#1
The brand develops
new products that
I am excited to
try in my lab
#2
The brand makes it
easy for me to
purchase their
products when
I need them
#3
The brand makes
products that
perform
consistently
#4
The brand
teaches me about
how product
innovations will
change my work
#5
The brand is helpful
when I ask them
questions about
how to use their
products

+
Which Drivers are Most Predictive of Someone
Recommending Your Products?
We tested 14 drivers to find what stands out to buyers in today’s market.
Here are the 8 that make the biggest difference:
1. This brand makes products that are always free of contaminants
2. This brand is a positive presence at industry events and conferences
3. The brand makes an effort to manufacture its products in a sustainable way
#1
brand develops
new products
#2
easy to
purchase
#3
perform
consistently
#4
teaches
me
#5
helpful with
questions

PURCHASE DRIVERS
Innovative, consistent performance,
strong customer service
RECOMMENDATION DRIVERS
Consistent performance, strong customer service,
focus on sustainability
Selecting the Most Relevant Drivers to Meet Your Goals
While all purchase and recommendation drivers are critical to success, marketers must
determine which priorities to focus on to ensure a consistent message is being
delivered to consumers.
VS.

HIGH PERFORMING BRAND IN
INSTRUMENTATION SPACE
LOW PERFORMING BRAND
IN CHEMICAL SPACE
▪ Clearly established widespread awareness across key buying
segments in the market.
▪ Consistently performed well on purchase and
recommendation drivers, i.e. the most important factors that
influence decision-making.
▪ Outperforms those in its cohort, as well as those
across the industry.
▪ Due to lack of awareness, respondents were generally
indifferent in their likelihood to purchase and likelihood to
recommend.
▪ Not recognized by respondents as an innovative company,
i.e. the largest driver of purchase.
▪ Unable to claim a differentiated position within the cohort
or across the industry.
Topline Brand Performance
We analyzed performance against investment in branding

1. Due to peer-to-peer interactions,
branding matters more in the chemistry space.
2. Upstarts can beat entrenched brands –
if their brand is innovative.
3. Despite spend, bad products and services can
tank a brand.
Key Research Takeaways
What did we learn from our study?

PART II:
The Importance of Brand
Building to Drive Purchasing

ConsciousImportance
Unconscious Importance
Low
High
High
Competitive
Price
Product
Quality
Lab Manager Laboratory Spending Trends Report, 2013
Shipping Costs
Loyalty
Discounts
Easy
Ordering
Process
Avail. From
Contracted
Mfr.
Quick Ordering Process
App.- Specific Prod. Feats.
Past Experiences
Quick Delivery
Sales
Representative
Brand Reputation
Mfr.
Marketing
THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND BUILDING
Brand Building is the Key to Purchasing

▪ With the explosion of digital marketing and accessibility to the
internet, marketers have many numerous ways to reach
potential customers.
Scientists experience information fatigue due to the influx of
information being shared through these channels.
But scientists are constantly seeking trustworthy and accurate
information. Having a strong brand and valuable resources can
break through the noise.
Internet’s Barrier To Entry
Continues To Decline
Rapid Increase In
Information Distribution
Competition is at an All-Time High

Unearthing behavioral patterns among thousands of
influential purchasers:
▪ Influence on buying is pervasive and hard to pin
▪ A healthy dose of skepticism (balanced with curiosity)
▪ Voraciously researching new products, suppliers, and services
▪ Eager for new technology and approaches, but risk-averse and budget conscious
▪ Focused on solving a specific problem, on their timeline
In B2B Markets, A Buying Team Means
Branding Is Even More Important
56%
21%
Respondents who indicate 4+
members on buying team
Respondents who indicate 7+
members on buying team

CREATE VALUE
75% of B2B buyers want branded content that helps
them research business ideas, but 93% of brands
focus their content on marketing their own products
and services.
BE CONSISTENT
The greatest negative impact of inconsistent brand
usage is the creation of confusion in the market,
reported by 71% of study participants.
Time
RevenueGrowth
Long term branding efforts
(i.e. corporate branding)
Short term activations
(i.e. product branding)
The Effects Of A Dual Approach To Branding
Break Through With a Strong Brand
We’ve witnessed brands achieve results by investing in both short and long-term branding

PART III:
Tactics for Building a
Successful Brand

TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND
Preferences For Personalized Content Across the Customer
Journey
FIND
• Product announcements
for new lab equipment,
instr. & cons.
• Email offers and discounts
• White paper about a topic
of interest to you
• Industry news about
companies whose
products I use
DECIDE
• Literature citations of
research conducted with
vendor’s products
• Peer-based endorsements
• Names of colleagues at
organization using products
of interest
• Information about vendor’s
virtual seminars
• Notification of sales rep
visit to your organization
BUY
• VIP discount valid for any
future order
• Peer-based endorsements
• Personalized sales materials
• Current order status
• Automatic reminder to
reorder specific
consumables
USE
• Protocol updates or
refinements
• Novel applications of
vendor’s products
• White paper about a topic
of interest to you
• Access to vendor’s virtual
seminars
• Notifications of supplier-
sponsored training events

Formulating a Successful Digital Marketing Strategy
Earned
Media
Paid
Media
Owned
Media
Mentions
Shares
Likes
Reposts
Retweets
Reviews
Followers
Pay Per Click
Banner Ads
Paid Influencers
Sponsored
Content
Social Media Ads
Hosted Webinars
Website
Mobile Site
Blog
Social Media Company Pages
Quality content and SEO
drive traffic and sharing
Encourage engagement and sharing with paid promotion
Use SEO and PPC to
drive traffic

• Social Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Sponsored Content
• Executive Branding
• Customer Engagement
Tactics For Building a Strong Brand
Aside from the traditional marketing tactics that have
demonstrated results, how can marketers reach
these influential buyers?

TACTIC #1: Social Marketing
Websites and applications that enable users to create and
share content or to participate in social networking.
▪ Social media continues to evolve, and life science suppliers are challenged
to keep up with the medium and demonstrate a Return On Investment.
▪ Scientists have been using the Internet to exchange ideas well before the
introduction of the Web. It should come as no surprise then that they
continue to use a variety of social media platforms to connect with others,
learn about new opportunities and increasingly to elevate their personal
brand in the sciences.

Social Marketing
How frequently are scientists utilizing social media and science-oriented social media sites?
Social Media Sites Scientists Use Each Week Science-Oriented Social Media Sites Used for Research/Work

Response to Life Science Suppliers Advertising
in Social Media Feeds
2019
(n=726)
2017
(n=850)
Do not notice it
Like it
Do not care
Hate it
25%
46%
20%
9%
33%
40%
16%
10%
• Our findings show that the percent of
scientists who welcome messages in their
social media feeds has substantially
increased.
• The key to being welcomed on social
media is cultural relevance.

TACTIC #2: Influencer Marketing
A type of marketing that focuses on
using key leaders to drive your brand's
message to the larger market. Rather
than marketing directly to a large group
of customers, you instead inspire / hire
/pay influencers to get out the word for
you. This approach takes your native
brand promoters one step further.

TACTIC #2: Influencer Marketing
The current situation marketers are facing requires
new tactics in order to succeed.
• Trust in brands at an all time low
• Increasing use of ad blockers
• Bots now account for 56% of all Web traffic
• Scientists trust colleagues more than suppliers
• Scientists make purchasing decisions based on
the opinions of others

The Rising Influence of Well-Known Scientists
Following Scientist Via Social Media (Trended) Social Media Used to Following Scientists (Trended)

Level of Interest in Content Posted by Scientists Followed
on Social Media

How Other Brands are Utilizing Influencer Marketing For Success
Organic Endorsement Customer Testimonial Customer Testimonial

TACTIC #3: Sponsored Content
Material in an online publication which resembles the publication’s editorial content
but is paid for by an advertiser and intended to promote the advertiser’s product.

The Effectiveness of Sponsored Content
Usefulness + Believability of Supplier -Generated White Papers/Case Studies Customer Segments Regarding Online Content
“I consider supplier-created content to be trustworthy.”

Case In Point: Milliporesigma + TheScientist Partnership

TACTIC #4: Executive Branding
Executive branding is when senior
leaders at a company elevate and
promote their visibility for the benefit
of the company. Their industry
expertise, beliefs and commitment to
their customers are highlighted across
multiple media and become the
personification of their brands.

Who Has The Greatest Credibility When
Speaking About Their Company’s Products?

Awareness of Life Science Executives and Their Companies

Information of Interest from Senior Executives

Case in Point: Francis deSouza

Tactic #5: Customer Engagement
Real, lasting and durable relationships aren’t just
transactional, but more complicated and
contextual that are part of the virtuous cycle of
customer engagement.
▪ The company website is the centerpiece of all digital
marketing efforts and as such, it should be as dynamic as
your company is with new content continually added to
drive traffic from customers and prospects alike.
▪ Your website isn’t just being compared to ThermoFisher’s
and MilliporeSigma’s – you’re being compared to the best
online shopping platforms in the world.

Life Science Websites Are Increasingly Evolving,
Employing Sophisticated Tools For Tracking Customer Activity.

Case In Point: New England BioLabs

PART IV:
Understanding Individual
Brand Performance

UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL BRAND PERFORMANCE
Brand Health Checklist
Determining company performance
against brand drivers
We’ve developed a checklist that
incorporates our findings and provides a
simple way to test how your company is
performing, according to our survey
respondents.
HIGHEST IMPACT DRIVERS
1. We make sure to regularly exhibit deep expertise to
scientists in our product space Y/N
2. Our customers tell us that, once purchased, our products
perform consistently Y/N
3. My company has a process for understanding scientist
needs and aggressively launching new products that are
exciting to them Y/N
4. Once a purchasing decision has been made, scientists find
it easy to find and buy our products quickly and efficiently
Y/N
5. Scientists report that our customer service is helpful
when they have a question on how to use a product
Y/N
OTHER IMPACT DRIVERS
1. My company shares a clear
message in market about our
mission Y/N
2. My company makes it a point to
be a positive presence at industry
events and conferences Y/N
3. We’re proud to make products
that are high quality Y/N

Q&A
Stephanie Holland
Director, Global Advertising
Sales & Sponsorships
American Chemical Society
S_Holland@acs.org
Bill Kelly
President
BioInformatics
B.Kelly@bioinfoinc.com

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