FSH Fisher Scientific

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- While scientists routinely exhibit similar product and technology preferences, how they prefer to find out about these offerings varies according to market segment, age, years of research experience, job position and gender. A new report from market research and consulting firm BioInformatics, LLC (http://www.gene2drug.com/) explores the media preferences of more than 2,000 life scientists who answered a 49- question survey relating to Web sites, product catalogs, email marketing, advertising, direct mail and exhibits at conferences. "Suppliers to the life science market routinely practice segmentation when introducing products for specific applications," observes Tamara Zemlo, Ph.D., MPH, Director of Syndicated Research at BioInformatics, LLC. "But it's less common for them to use segmentation when developing their marketing communications strategy." "Marketing to Life Scientists: Navigating Channels Through Segmentation," is the latest edition of an annual survey that first began tracking customer preferences and the performance of corporate marketing in 1997. For the first time, it utilizes the results of CHAID analysis (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector), an advanced statistical technique used for identifying the key drivers or influences in defined markets. "We created a survey that would allow us to examine the data by any combination of survey variables: demographic, behavioral or attitudinal. The results of these analyses will help suppliers determine which communications channels and messages appeal to which niche markets," says Zemlo. The report clearly demonstrates the complexity of marketing to life scientists. While on one hand scientists strongly indicated their preference for Web sites, the traditional channels of exhibiting at scientific conferences, printed catalogs and direct mail remain the most common ways scientists learn about suppliers and their products. "The need to allocate resources across multiple channels is very clear, and understanding customer media preferences helps deliver the right message to those most inclined to take notice," explains Zemlo. "For example, of the respondents who would read email messages from vendors, 27% would most like to receive an announcement about discounts, while another 28% want to hear about new products. We also observed trends in their preferences such as the fact that last year, 28% of scientists surveyed said that they would throw away a catalog that they had not requested -- this percentage has risen to 40% in 2005." The scientists also ranked the effectiveness of their suppliers' marketing programs in terms of "best" Web site, print catalog, exhibits, print advertising and sales force. While hundreds of companies were mentioned, market leaders such as Bio-Rad (AMEX:BIO), Fisher Scientific (NYSE:FSH), Invitrogen (NASDAQ:IVGN), Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL), New England Biolabs and VWR International all received exceptionally high rankings in multiple categories. Zemlo concludes, "Segmentation in support of marketing is going to become increasingly important as communication channels proliferate. The respondents to our survey submitted more than 60 pages of comments in response to an open- ended question about new media such as blogs, podcasts and videocasts. As a new generation of scientists emerges, vendors will have to integrate new and traditional media into their marketing campaigns." For a complimentary Executive Summary of this report, please visit http://www.gene2drug.com/reports. ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC BioInformatics, LLC is a market research firm located in Arlington, Virginia. BioInformatics supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published research reports, custom research and consulting. BioInformatics sponsors the world's largest market research panel of scientific customers -- The Science Advisory Board (http://www.scienceboard.net/) -- which consists of more than 27,000 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries who participate in surveys that address emerging technologies, test customer reactions to new product concepts, measure brand awareness and assess advertising effectiveness. For more information, please contact: Amanda Donathen BioInformatics, LLC 2111 Wilson Blvd., Suite 250 Arlington, VA 22201 703.778.3080 x14 (phone) 703.778.3081 (fax) http://www.gene2drug.com/ DATASOURCE: BioInformatics, LLC CONTACT: Amanda Donathen of BioInformatics, LLC, +1-703-778-3080 x14, or Web site: http://www.gene2drug.com/ http://www.scienceboard.net/

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