Marketing to life scientists: Fact and fiction from the frontlines

The life science research ecosystem is a multibillion-dollar industry composed of academic, government, and commercial laboratories. Despite the size of this industry, there is little research outside the work of BioInformatics LLC, Hamid Ghanadan and David Chapin describing effective marketing practices specific to companies and consumers working in the life sciences. The goal of this dissertation was to define marketing in the life sciences, describe current marketing practices, understand the unique composition of skills, traits, and experiences that result in exceptional marketing professionals, and refute or confirm assumptions regarding life scientists’ buying behaviors. This qualitative study relies on the insights from 18 interviews with marketing visionaries in the life sciences. Employing purposeful sampling, I recruited participants from key biotechnology industry segments (tools and regent companies, boutique marketing agencies, academics, and publishers) who were diverse in terms of formal education background and professional experience. Using grounded theory, I analyzed the data after each interview, which enabled me to refine, challenge and elaborate on the codes to build towards analytic categories. A framework of 11 key themes emerged from the interview data. These themes flow from the definition of marketing and are arranged into three categories: people, practices, and exemplars. This dissertation shares participant quotes, examines case studies, and discusses the implications of these insights.