Biotechnology marketing: Insider and outsider views

Abstract

This paper explores biotechnology marketing as defined, performed and organised in small biotechnology companies. Prior research has argued on the one hand that marketing-related deficiencies could explain the lack of commercial success in biotechnology. On the other hand, it has been suggested that biotechnology marketing could be different from what is considered marketing in other industries. This raises the question of whether there are deficiencies in biotechnology marketing or whether the meaning of biotechnology marketing remains unexplored with the survey-based research designs used in earlier studies. This paper is based on a novel qualitative methodology combining the insider and outsider views in the study of five cases of biotechnology marketing. The findings do not suggest that there is substantial lack of marketing effort and competence in biotechnology companies. Instead, the findings provide new knowledge on the specific nature of biotechnology marketing produced by a combination of the insider and outsider views.