Case study: building a competitive edge in the genetic analysis market
A new marketing strategy built on what customers really think
This case comes from Company D, an overseas manufacturer of genetic analysis instruments that we support. Its marketing team first came to us when next-generation sequencers (NGS) were arriving from one supplier after another and the market was shifting fast. Demand for genetic analysis in molecular biology was clearly growing, but so was the number of new entrants and competing products. Company D had unique technology, yet it had not found an effective way to differentiate itself in Japan. The information it got through its distributor’s sales activity did not reveal what researchers really needed, and the team was unsure which direction to take its marketing.
After a briefing, we designed the BioSurvey study carefully. The focus was on uncovering how researchers decide which product to choose. For product specifications in particular, we prepared a comprehensive set of answer options so that detailed demand could be measured quantitatively.
The results gave Company D a new perspective. Much of it matched the impressions it had formed through sales activity, but there were also unexpected findings. What stood out most was the quality of the answers on product specifications: the researchers who took part gave remarkably concrete, constructive views, down to the functions they really needed and their running-cost requirements.
Based on the results, Company D made a series of changes. It produced detailed white papers and other technical materials for each research field and sharpened the messages on its website. These steps went beyond adjusting strategy and led to a review of its whole sales approach.
The effects showed quickly. Inquiries rose steadily and new installations trended upward. Most notable was the improvement in existing customers’ satisfaction, a sign that the new information, optimized for the Japanese market, truly met their needs.
Building on this success, Company D decided to run BioSurvey regularly. By monitoring the market continuously, it can now respond quickly as researchers’ needs change.
“We got candid opinions from researchers, and their quality surprised us,” says S., from Company D’s marketing department. “These insights are changing our business in concrete ways. The detailed answers on what customers expect from suppliers have been especially valuable for our strategy.”
Company D’s experience shows that listening to the voice of the lab leads to better marketing. Understanding researchers’ real needs is the key to winning users for life science research tools, in Japan as anywhere.