e came to the conclusion that the Life Sciences market provides a
textbook example of the importance of building "brand equity," and this has
enormous implications for managers seeking to maximize the impact of their marketing
efforts. Brand equity is defined as the customers' perception of a brand's value, and is
generally considered to be composed of five major elements:
Brand awareness
Brand loyalty
Competitive advantage
Perceived quality/Value
Brand association
n the Life Sciences market, brand equity grows from your customer's
successive satisfactory experiences with your products and services, supported by the
recommendations and experiences of colleagues. In time, a true brand becomes the
"only" source of a product in the mind of the customer. Moreover, if brand
equity is developed and managed properly, it is far easier to introduce new products to
the market successfully.
marketing program designed to build
brand equity has important ramifications for your overall positioning strategy. Many
professionals in the Life Sciences market often mistakenly refer to commonly-used products
as "commodities." A true commodity, however, is a raw material where only
availability affects the market price, and market share invariably migrates to the lowest
cost supplier. What are commonly referred to as commodity life science products (e.g.,
restriction enzymes or classical media), should be referred to as "mature"
products.
his is not a semantic difference.
When a marketing manager treats a mature product as a commodity, he or she may feel the
only option is to compete on price. But if one examines the mature products in the Life
Sciences market, it becomes apparent that there are wide discrepancies in prices, profit
margins and market share. This would not occur in a true commodity market. In fact, what
is being observed is brand equity at work. Some vendors are able to charge far higher
prices than others, for essentially the same product, simply because of the perceptions,
beliefs and behavior exhibited by their customer base. As products mature, effective
marketing designed to build brand equity becomes all the more critical.
e came to the conclusion that the Life Sciences market provides a
textbook example of the importance of building "brand equity," and this has
enormous implications for managers seeking to maximize the impact of their marketing
efforts. Brand equity is defined as the customers' perception of a brand's value, and is
generally considered to be composed of five major elements:
n the Life Sciences market, brand equity grows from your customer's
successive satisfactory experiences with your products and services, supported by the
recommendations and experiences of colleagues. In time, a true brand becomes the
"only" source of a product in the mind of the customer. Moreover, if brand
equity is developed and managed properly, it is far easier to introduce new products to
the market successfully.
marketing program designed to build
brand equity has important ramifications for your overall positioning strategy. Many
professionals in the Life Sciences market often mistakenly refer to commonly-used products
as "commodities." A true commodity, however, is a raw material where only
availability affects the market price, and market share invariably migrates to the lowest
cost supplier. What are commonly referred to as commodity life science products (e.g.,
restriction enzymes or classical media), should be referred to as "mature"
products.
his is not a semantic difference.
When a marketing manager treats a mature product as a commodity, he or she may feel the
only option is to compete on price. But if one examines the mature products in the Life
Sciences market, it becomes apparent that there are wide discrepancies in prices, profit
margins and market share. This would not occur in a true commodity market. In fact, what
is being observed is brand equity at work. Some vendors are able to charge far higher
prices than others, for essentially the same product, simply because of the perceptions,
beliefs and behavior exhibited by their customer base. As products mature, effective
marketing designed to build brand equity becomes all the more critical.