C&EN BrandLab - Branding Perception in the Chemical Sciences

1. 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

2. 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

3. PART I: Exploring New Brand Research from C&EN

4. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 4 779 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

5. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 5 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 EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN Senior-Level Researchers; Actively Involved in the Purchasing Process Respondents

6. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 6 ▪ 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. EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN 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.

7. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 7 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 EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN Based On Our Findings, This is How We Define The Attributes of a Successful Brand.

8. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 8 EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN 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

9. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 9 + EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN 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

10. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 10 PURCHASE DRIVERS Innovative, consistent performance, strong customer service RECOMMENDATION DRIVERS Consistent performance, strong customer service, focus on sustainability EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN 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.

11. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 11 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. EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN Topline Brand Performance We analyzed performance against investment in branding

12. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 12 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. EXPLORING NEW BRAND RESEARCH FROM C&EN Key Research Takeaways What did we learn from our study?

13. PART II: The Importance of Brand Building to Drive Purchasing

14. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 14 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

15. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 15 ▪ 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 THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND BUILDING Competition is at an All-Time High

16. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 16 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 THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND BUILDING 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

17. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 17 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 THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND BUILDING Break Through With a Strong Brand We’ve witnessed brands achieve results by investing in both short and long-term branding

18. PART III: Tactics for Building a Successful Brand

19. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 19 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

20. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 20 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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

21. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 21 • Social Marketing • Influencer Marketing • Sponsored Content • Executive Branding • Customer Engagement TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND Tactics For Building a Strong Brand Aside from the traditional marketing tactics that have demonstrated results, how can marketers reach these influential buyers?

22. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 22 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.

23. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 23 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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

24. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 24 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.

25. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 25 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.

26. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 26 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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

27. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 27 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND The Rising Influence of Well-Known Scientists Following Scientist Via Social Media (Trended) Social Media Used to Following Scientists (Trended)

29. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 29 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND How Other Brands are Utilizing Influencer Marketing For Success Organic Endorsement Customer Testimonial Customer Testimonial

30. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 30 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.

31. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 31 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.”

33. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 33 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.

38. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 38 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND 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.

39. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 39 TACTICS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL BRAND Life Science Websites Are Increasingly Evolving, Employing Sophisticated Tools For Tracking Customer Activity.

41. PART IV: Understanding Individual Brand Performance

42. Copyright © American Chemical Society. Confidential and proprietary. 42 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

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

C&EN BrandLab - Branding Perception in the Chemical Sciences

C&EN BrandLab - Branding Perception in the Chemical Sciences

Wait! Exclusive 60 day trial to the world's largest digital library.