Marketing Management Business Plan_My Sweet Creations
Team1 evening business-strategy_milestone1
1. Business Strategy – Milestone 1
Team 1: David Tse
Thomas Klejna
Timothy Malcolm
Kimberly Rocio
2. 23andMe Company Overview
Privately-held, personal genomics company based
in Mountain View, CA. Founded in 2007.
Develops new methods to enable consumers to gain
access to and understand their own genetic
information.
Currently providing genetic links to over 100
diseases, conditions, and traits.
3. Mission & Values
23andMe's mission is to:
Be the world's trusted source of personal genetic
information.
23andMe’s values:
Encourage dialogue on the ethical, social and policy
implications of personalized genetic services.
Protect customers’ genetic privacy.
Give people control over their own genetic information.
Educate users to interpret their data.
4. Service Offerings
Health and Traits
Reports on over 40 different human traits
influenced by genetic factors.
Ancestry
Discover your DNA ancestry for your entire genome.
Relative Finder
Find all other 23andMe members who match your DNA.
Genetic Inheritance
Identify traits you and your relatives share in common.
Community
Network with other 23andMe users.
Contribute to research studies by filling out surveys.
5. Internal Analysis
Core Competencies
Analysis, interpretation & presentation of genetic data.
Technical expertise – scientific advisors.
Technology
Outsources testing of SNP for genetic information.
Interprets data and presents it to the user as health & ancestry info.
Sales & Marketing
Kits sold from 23andMe website only.
Discounts/promotions: DNA day.
YouTube channel.
Recruit celebrities as customers.
Financial Condition
Powerful financial backers (Google, Genentech, J&J).
Large total investment.
6. Strengths
Differentiating features of service:
Breadth of information available.
Gives consumers open and direct access to their data (without
going through their physicians).
Well-funded ($52.6M raised to date).
Better brand recognition than competitors.
Loyal customer base of early adopters.
Strong scientific networking community (key
industry & academic opinion leaders).
Relatively low product price point ($99 + monthly
subscription fee).
7. Weaknesses
Lack of focus in company direction & how projects
connect to company goals.
Poor market research - not targeting potential
customers (i.e., slow growth)
Customers unsure how to take advantage of their data.
Customer service infrastructure to help is lacking.
Algorithm for determining chances of disease are not
fool-proof (industry challenge).
Does not yet have a diverse enough genetic pool for
ancestry data.
Recent downsizing and departure of co-founder.
8. Threats
Currently in “The Chasm”.
Ethical and legal questions.
FDA threatens to impose regulations on interpretation of
genetic data.
Competitors:
Navigenics
DeCode Genetics
Good Start Genetics
GenePartner
ScientificMatch
9. Potential Opportunities
Personal genetic make-ups will become a part of
health care.
New technologies are becoming more cost-
effective.
Gene therapy or drugs targeted specifically at
mutation carriers (do not yet exist).
Market potential is huge.
10. Problem Statement
1. 23andMe has not successfully reached potential
customers with their brand.
Have not convinced “main street” users that they need or
want this service.
2. Lacks clear focus – advertises as a health
diagnostics company, an ancestry company, a
research database.
Customers are overwhelmed and confused by the breadth
and presentation of information.
Very little a person can do to act on the information
provided by genetic testing.
11. Business Strategies
1. Focus on development of an improved user
interface personalized to the needs of the
consumer:
Allow users to customize information that is most important
to them.
Offer customer service to help consumers understand and
navigate their information.
2. Focus on a sales and marketing campaign that
makes product easily accessible & brand easily
recognizable to consumers:
Sell kits that are available in high-trafficked stores and
websites.
Advertise – Internet, TV, etc.
12. Business Strategies (cont’d)
3. Limit company focus to one core emphasis –
health, ancestry, or research
Improve competency in one key area and go after a niche
market.
Once they’ve defined their target market they can better
define how to generate revenue.
4. Create partnerships that allow user to do
something useful with their genetic information:
Genetic counseling partnerships - resource to digest data
and make important lifestyle changes.
Research community and charity partnerships - further
research by sharing information or making a donation.
13. Conclusion
23andMe is a promising company that has run into
problems achieving its vision.
23andMe has potential to achieve:
A large and profitable customer base.
Industry leadership.
Make a real difference in peoples’ lives.
19. Funding
Series A, 5/07, $9M
Genentech, Google, Mohr Davidow Ventures, New
Enterprise Associates
Series B, 6/09, $12.6M
Google, Sergey Brin
Series C, 11/10, $22M
Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, New
Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures
Series C, 1/11, $9M
Johnson & Johnson Development
Funding Total = $52.6M
Editor's Notes
People of African descent tend to have high levels of genetic diversity because of the population's long history. Genetic studies of disease have focused on people of European descent in part because it has historically been easier to study groups that are genetically similar and in part because much of this research is done in Europe and North America, where this group is the easiest to access. More sophisticated methods for analyzing genetic data that have been developed over the last few years make it possible to study more diverse populations. Geneticists have discovered that this diversity can be helpful in narrowing down the particular genetic mutation linked to a disease. However, such studies require very large groups of people. "That's part of the reason we are aiming for 10,000 individuals just to get it started," says Joanna Mountain, senior director of research at 23andMe. In addition, cheaper DNA chips mean that studies of this size are more affordable.The 23andMe project was inspired in part by the company's work with Henry Louis Gates, director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Gates's PBS documentaries use genetics to help people explore their ancestry. "He had been encouraging us to reach out to African Americans," says Mountain. "But I pointed out that the genetic research results to date lack information for African Americans."
single-nucleotide polymorphismConsider noting: Uses gene chips to sample a person’s DNA at a half-million to a million spots among the three billion total possibilities – only samples DNA
Average “main street” user hasn’t even heard of thisInformation overload – Customers can become overwhelmed by all this information, what it means for the lifestyle, and how it is organized for themThere may be some information they don’t want to knowDifferent customers may care about different sections of information than othersMedical company, ancestry company, research company?Trying to be all things to all people?, or simply aiming at people w/ curiosity & spare $?Technology now exists to sequence the entire genome (how much $?), not just SNPsThere are a whole bunch of sites out there that interpret users’ data after they have used 23andme– this speaks to a lack of intuitive and comprehensive data presentation on the part of 23andMe
Ethical and legal questions include:How good is the scientific data behind the tests being offered? What can consumers do with the information?Is it legal for medical information to be provided over the Internet or by mail, without a medical professional involved?Are genetic tests used for paternity or forensic purposes admissible in court?Is genetic information about ancestry misleading? Can it harm an individual’s sense of self?
Partnerships with doctors and healthcare companies could provide customers with “actionable” information.Couple genetic testing with “wellness programs” (fitness, nutrition, etc.) catered to individuals based on genetics, lifestyle and environment – added data point for individuals who want to be in control of their health.“The average lifetime risk of breast cancer is 12 percent,” said Sarah S. Murray, a geneticist at the Scripps Research Institute who took tests from both 23andMe and Navigenics. “My risk is 10 percent. But what does that really mean?”NYC times - Consumers Slow to Embrace the Age of Genomics, By ANDREW POLLACKPublished: March 19, 2010Accuracy in question; Need to develop full genome testing; Gene chip variations can explain only a very small part of the risk of getting most diseases. The predictions are also uncertain. James P. Evans, a genetics professor at the University of North Carolina, sent the same DNA samples to both 23andMe and DeCode. In about one in three cases the results differed, with one company saying the risk of a disease was higher than average and the NYC times - Consumers Slow to Embrace the Age of Genomics, By ANDREW POLLACKPublished: March 19, 2010 other saying it was lower than average.
“Google your genome”Structure it as a search engine & let consumers determine what they want?Or just offer a better search option?Online “chat” options to have a customer service rep help you navigate?Sell on Amazon – make this available and more easily searchableMake full genome screening technology availableUpgrade technology to sequencingMake one section their “focus” and “core competency” – like disease research communitiesPartnerships: counseling, research communities, charities for certain diseases
23andMe is rapidly (and fairly successfully) rebranding itself as primarily a research company rather than a consumer genetics provider. By leveraging its customer database of both genetic and trait information (obtained from online surveys) the company has demonstrated that it can not only robustly replicate known gene-trait associations, but also discover completely novel associations. 23andMe recently published two completely new variants associated with Parkinson’s disease, following on the heels of its 2010 publication of seven new variants associated with non-disease traits. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/personal-genomics-no-longer-just-for-rich-white-folks/
