Airing monthly, BioStrata CEO, Paul Avery, engages in insightful conversations with leading science marketing experts from across the globe, delving deep into their life and career story, the areas of science that inspire them, and the marketing tips and tricks they have learned along the way.
Our aim is to provide life science marketers with the perfect resource to help them navigate the ever-changing and competitive ...
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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 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."