Day 2 – The Excitment Continues

The electricity continues to flow. Julian Stubbs, Founder of the global advertising firm Up, There Everywhere and veteran life science marketer started the day off with a sprint when he tackled the issue of the value and risks of balancing company branding versus product marketing. Among the tactics was the CRISP strategy (Consistent, Relevant, Intimate, Simple, Persistent) that Up,There Everywhere uses to keep brands top of mind with scientists.

Differentiation and commercialization, 21st-century style

From 4 decades of developing sales and marketing strategies for consumable and instrument companies and bringing instruments and service from concept to market, Jack Ball, President of Tyball associates, emphasized the dramatic nature of change brought on by the Internet. Emphasizing that the vast majority of customers were sold (or not) on a purchase prior to meeting a rep. Jack went on to outline the processes that were under a vendor’s control and how these issues had to be understood and applied throughout an organization in order to successfully close a deal.

Guy Page, Founder of The Pacific Biomarketing Group, followed with insights into content marketing strategy for life science organizations. While including examples from various industry segments, Guy highlighted important issues of a scientist’s selling cyle as an example of the type of information that needs to be organized, assessed, and applied as part of creating a content marketing strategy.

Davis Taylor, Founder of TAI Incorporated, a leadership development firm, occupied several C-level positions in various indus
tries over a decades-long career, but grew concerned with the increased frequency of short-sighted and less-than-courageous decision making he saw throughout his career, including a stint with the now defunct energy firm, Enron. Following his heart and a deep calling, he created a training program for professionals at all levels that encouraged asking the truly tough quesitons of yourself and those who set the tone at an organization. There was no mistaking that the messages resonated with the audience.

Social media in commercial life science

One of the much-discussed panel sessions of the meeting did not disappoint. Great content mixed with spirited audience participation to put all the social media cards on the table. Led by Darrell Gunter, Founder of the Gunter Media Group, whose experience includes launching the thought-leader social media network Collexis, the panel dove deeply into the what, why, and how’s of currrent social media activity in the industry. Social media innovator Mary Canady, Founder of Comprendia, a longstranding force behind some of the most successfully content strategy and social media programs in the life science space, discussed tools and tactics and how these needed to fit into a comprehensive plan. Similar points were driven home by Tamsen Webster, who leads the content activation and digital strategy efforts at Allen & Gerritsen, a leading digital advertising and public relations firm.

Luis Gutierrez and Tom Sellig, executives with more than 50 years of combined experience who have worked through most any imaginable project involving contract-research and clinical-research services for biotech or big pharma companies then summarized the events of the meetings.

Annual Meeting 2014

An exhausted but extremely enthusiastic crowd remained after the last presentation to discuss what topics they wanted to see at next year’s Annual Meeting and where it should be held. Several locations were proposed, and while the final site is still being discussed, the climate will be as warm as the topics will remain hot.

Alan Gerstein