Trends in Advertising to Life Scientists
bioinformatics, LLC announced the publication of its latest report, "Advertising to Life Scientists: Resolving the Print vs. Online Dilemma." The report is designed to assist companies advertising in the life science market in understanding how scientists use and react to advertising in both traditional and online media.
"Print and online advertising are the only true 'mass media' available to companies trying to reach scientists working in university, biotech and pharmaceutical labs," observed Dr. Tamara Zemlo, Director of Syndicated Research and Analysis for BioInformatics, LLC. "Advertising plays an equally critical role in establishing a company's position in the market as well as promoting its products."
The more than 1,200 life scientists from around the world indicated that print ads are more effective in increasing their awareness of products than they are in generating name recognition for suppliers - a finding that could challenge some strongly held assumptions about advertising to scientists. "It's not necessarily an either/or situation for advertisers but rather a consideration that must be made within the context of the company's overall marketing strategy," says Zemlo.
Another area where companies must strike the right balance is in allocating advertising dollars between traditional print scientific publications and the ever-expanding array of online channels. The use of a search engine is the most common means by which scientists search for products related to their research and Google is the choice of 97% of those surveyed. Indeed, ads appearing in search engine results are considered by scientists to be more informative and more likely to capture their attention than standard banners ads. "Search ads are an important component of an advertising program, but the results of this study point to the overarching importance of the supplier's Web site and direct email."
The study also asked respondents which suppliers regularly publish ads that capture their attention. Although more than 200 different companies were mentioned, more respondents ranked Invitrogen as the supplier with the most memorable ads, with Bio-Rad Laboratories and Sigma-Aldrich also ranking highly.
According to Dr. Zemlo, "A unique element of this report is that we compare the first-hand perceptions of vendors as to what works to the experiences of their scientific customers. The results show that companies that utilize channels trusted by scientists and who design their ads to contain or link to valuable information will have greater success with their advertising strategies."
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