Essentials of Marketing for an Academic Research Laboratory: The Marketing Mix
Arun Shanbhag, PHD, MBA
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, BOSTON MA
Laying the Groundwork:
Medical and basic science researchers are some of the most highly
educated people with multiple advanced degrees. These highly motivated professionals
master a variety of technical skills in their chosen area of interest. They constantly
read, learn new skills and are at the forefronts of efforts to generate new knowledge.
In additional to their technical prowess, academic researchers also manage laboratory
enterprises which include overseeing personnel hiring and termination efforts, mastering
interpersonal communications skills and budgetary decisions. Despite this pervasive
requirement of management skills, only a handful of researchers ever consider general
management training, which would seem very obvious to the business counterpart.
The important concept that researchers need to clearly understand is
how their activities fit into a business framework. In a business setting, 'marketing'
is a very important activity which can make or break your business. Over centuries of
trade, business managers have thus honed marketing to a high science. Managers discuss
selling a product in terms of a Marketing Mix – a combination of four crucial activities,
whether selling soap, aircraft or medical devices. The four elements are 1) Product,
2) Promotion, 3) Placement, and 4) Price; and are commonly referred to as the "Four P's"
of marketing (Figure 1). In this brief report, I have redefined the different elements
of the marketing mix as it would apply to an academic research laboratory.
Product:
What is it that we offer?
The product of the research lab is 'knowledge.' It could be
the identification of a novel genetic mutation/marker, development of a new
material with altered properties, a surgical technique, identification of the
mechanism of disease, markers in the progression of disease, etc. Our customers
are primarily governmental agencies such as the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Defense (DoD).
An important customer base includes private biomedical research foundations
such as the Whitaker Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Corporations
such as pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies routinely support
academic research as well. Customers pay for the knowledge with financial
grants and other sources of funds.
Our laboratories deliver this knowledge "product" in the form
of written publications or oral presentations. Specific details of research
are first published in peer-reviewed journals, followed by topical reviews,
and subsequently as chapters in books. Research details are also published in
written Abstracts or Proceedings of Annual Meetings of National Scientific and
Clinical Societies such as the Orthopaedic Research Society, the Society for
Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering Society or any other similarly appropriate
forum. These societies also provide a form of peer-review of the quality of
the science. Oral presentations are made at meetings of these societies, or
researchers may be invited to present their findings at Symposia and Workshops.
Teaching in the classroom to undergraduate students, graduate students, medical
trainee residents and clinical training fellows also represents a delivery of
our core product.
Promotion:
How do we advertise our products?
As in any business, good products promote themselves.
Published articles convey to the reader the necessary medical and
scientific details, and also provide a testimonial to the quality
of our work, the infrastructure at the institution and the research
philosophy of the lead investigator. If the topic and quality meets
the approval of the reader, they will seek out other published articles
from the same laboratory. Writing reviews and book chapters disseminates
our findings to a wider audience and is usually associated with leadership
in a niche area of study. Oral presentations at conferences, workshops and
symposia also promote our studies. Podium presentations at large national
society meetings surely propagate the generated knowledge to interested
parties, and also make an attractive case for the investigators to
potential customers. With added prestige associated with conference
presentations, there is no doubt that large research labs invest a lot
of funds and resources to ensure their papers are accepted at specific
conferences. Host institutions also use the number and quality of
publications to evaluate the researchers for promotion and, less
frequently, pay raises. Publications are used to convince granting agencies
of the quality and productivity of the research labs. Teaching also acts as
a promotion for the laboratory. Among classes of students working on advanced
degrees are potential highly-skilled candidates for lab personnel. Newspaper
coverage of laboratory development has a very high impact in terms of promotion
of the research activities.
Placement:
How do we distribute our products?
Journals, conferences, workshops and conferences where
studies are presented, represent the distribution channels for our
knowledge. Thus the types of journals for article submission are carefully
selected depending upon readership within the area of research. This is
similarly true for conferences, which have spawned an increasing number of
niche workshops. As in the business world, there is interaction and overlap
between the different elements of the Marketing Mix. While published articles
represent our product, they also promote the labs and institutions. Similarly,
teaching students in the classroom or physicians at a continuing medical
education session serves as a product of our activities, and simultaneously
promotes the laboratory and institution. Very reputed journals have a high
'impact factor' representing the number of readers who cite the articles.
This permits journals to be highly selective in accepting articles, forces
research labs to improve the quality of their research and is also used as
a promotion criterion by host institutions. In a departure from business
practice, even though journal publications act as promotion, such advertising
cannot be purchased – it has to be earned with quality of the product.
Price:
How do customers pay for the knowledge?
Customers who seek the knowledge pay for the research using
a variety of mechanisms including research grants, sponsorships and research
contracts. Governmental agencies generally give grants based on unsolicited
submissions of grant applications. These grants generally cover very basic
research investigations and further our knowledge for the betterment of
humanity. Corporations usually give grants in the form of research contracts.
The focus of such contracts is more closely tied to the products that the
companies sell. Corporations may also provide consulting arrangements to
harness the 'promotional' aspect of working closely with stellar academic
researchers. Funding for academic research can also come from gifts and
endowments. More recently, royalties and licensing agreements for developed
technologies also represent an attractive source of funding.
Summary:
In an academic research laboratory, the different elements
of the marketing mix are very tightly integrated. Understanding the
interconnections between the different elements, and the specific roles that
they play in different settings is crucial to developing an appropriate
strategy to enhance and sustain the competitive edge of the lab. In the
laboratory, customers [sponsors] and the products represent a central axis
along which the other marketing elements provide the support for executing
a successful long-term relationship (Figure 2).
As we survey the field of academic researchers, we notice
that successful investigators are also successful marketers of their research.
Most may not have the formal training in this ancient business art, but they
have innately honed it to a high science. For the remainder, adapting these
skills from our business colleagues is worth attempting for future success.
Notes:
Dr. Shanbhag is Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School and Scientist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Please address correspondence to:
Arun Shanbhag, PhD, MBA,
Biomaterials Research Laboratory
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-724-1923
Email: shanbhag@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
|
"
authorName = ""
authorTitle = ""
bgTile = ""
volume = "volume6"
%>