Establishing strong brand equity must be a central goal of any supplier's corporate strategy. Life science suppliers continue to place great emphasis on the value of their brands, both in terms of developing and maintaining the image of their brands, and in their overall pursuit to create and preserve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Understanding why customers choose one brand of product over another, and the extent to which customers are satisfied with, and loyal to, a brand is crucial to successful branding strategies. Brand equity reflects customers' perceptions of a brand's characteristics, which are based on a combination of their associations and knowledge (whether factual, emotional or otherwise) of both the supplier and the supplier's competition. Based on a 19-question survey of more than 1,500 life scientists, Building Brand Equity in the Molecular Biology Market is designed to help marketers understand what factors play into a scientist's decision to choose one supplier over another when purchasing molecular biology products, such as: • cDNA Synthesis and Cloning Products
• DNA Microarray Analysis Products
• Enzymes
• Nucleic Acid Blotting, Labeling, Hybridization and Detection Products
• Nucleic Acid Electrophoresis Systems, Standards and Reagents
• Nucleic Acid Purification Products
• PCR and RT-PCR Products
• Protein Analysis and Purification Products
• RNAi Products
• Sequencing, Genotyping and Fragment Analysis Products To provide an in-depth look at the market, the results of this study are analyzed both in aggregate-molecular biology products as a whole-and by individual segment based on the above ten product categories. Additionally, this report thoroughly examines the relationship between product attributes, supplier attributes, satisfaction and loyalty, as well as the characteristics associated with corporate brands of life science suppliers. By helping life science executives understand where leading suppliers are positioned in the market, this report will better enable companies to refine their current strategies and develop more effective marketing communications. Respondents in this study answered Questions 4-19 with regards to one of the ten molecular biology product categories for which they indicated that they either use "constantly" (several times a week) or "frequently" (more than once a month). Each product category was answered by the following number of respondents: # of Respondents
• cDNA Synthesis and Cloning Products 165
• DNA Microarray Analysis Products 152
• Enzymes 166
• Nucleic Acid Blotting, Labeling, Hybridization and Detection Products 166
• Nucleic Acid Electrophoresis Systems, Standards and Reagents 164
• Nucleic Acid Purification Products 170
• PCR and RT-PCR Products 168
• Protein Analysis and Purification Products 167
• RNAi Products 142
• Sequencing, Genotyping and Fragment Analysis Products 157
Total 1617 Additionally, in Question 5 each respondent indicated their primary supplier and answered Questions 6-15 as they specifically related to that one supplier. Section 1 of this report graphically depicts the results for the molecular biology market as a whole, and Section 3 depicts the results by product category. Below are descriptions of the types of charts and analysis included in the final report: Brand Image and Brand Strength
Although there are many ways to look at the effectiveness of branding strategies, this report focuses on customer perceptions of corporate brand image and brand strength-allowing one to measure the overall brand equity of leading molecular biology suppliers. Product Attributes
This report closely examines 7 different product attributes with which researchers are most, and least, satisfied and determines the overall importance of each. By identifying those attributes deemed most valued by current customers, suppliers can align their marketing communications with the preferences of the scientific marketplace. Supplier Attributes
This report also looks at 13 different supplier attributes with regards to importance, performance and expectations. Through a pictorial representation, this analysis reveals those supplier attributes that are of greatest importance to researchers using molecular biology products and details areas where suppliers (based on performance) fall above or below expectations regarding those attributes. Report Highlights
Building Brand Equity in the Molecular Biology Market contains over 250 charts and/or tables depicting results from the 19 survey questions. Below are some of the findings derived from just a few of the survey questions. • Over 60% of respondents cited Qiagen as the company they most associate with nucleic acid purification products. (Question 3) • New England Biolabs is the company that most respondents (44%) associate with enzymes. (Question 3) • Respondents describe the leading suppliers of RNAi products as "reliable" and "innovative." (Question 6) • Across all product categories, respondents do not strongly feel that they receive better pricing from their primary suppliers because they are loyal customers. (Question 7) • Less than 10% of respondents are very satisfied (a score of 7 on a 7-point scale) with the value received for the price they pay for their sequencing, genotyping and fragment analysis products. (Question 8) • Overall, most respondents indicated that the accuracy of their shipments and a quality guarantee are extremely important attributes of molecular biology products. (Question 12) • Nearly 50% of respondents will increase their spending on DNA microarray analysis products over the next year. (Question 17)
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