Web Site Design for Biotech Companies
One of their best lessons biotech companies can learn from today's recessionary economy is the necessity of taking a more sophisticated approach to leveraging the Internet, in general, and their Web site design, specifically, as a business tool. In recent years, biotech companies have become more disciplined about designing sites that are customer-centric and clearly focused on meeting the specific needs of their various audiences in ways that are tailored to how those audiences want information presented.
A Web site is a biotech organization's most public "face." It provides the first impression to potential employees, partners, investors and the media, and serves as a critical information resource to these constituencies on an ongoing basis. Understanding the dual purposes a Web site plays - to both effectively market a company's brand and industry position and serve as an information tool - and then ensuring the overall brand promise remains true to both those purposes is key to designing a site that effectively meets the needs of all its constituencies.
Defining Your Audience and Its Needs
It sounds elementary, but it is essential to talk to your audiences beforehand to assess their needs from your Web site. It's too easy to make incorrect assumptions about your target audiences' perceptions of your organization or how they'll use your site. Conducting preliminary qualitative research is well worth the investment to ensure your site is aligned with the specific needs of your audiences, both from a demographic and psychographic perspective.
The target audience for many biotech Web sites is comprised largely of scientists and researchers. This group is extremely Internet-savvy, has been on the Internet since its inception and is sophisticated in its approach to Web sites. They are interested in research, attracted to hard facts and information and understand how to leverage the Internet to get the information they need.
For these task-oriented audiences, we work with our clients to develop substance-heavy sites with clear user interfaces and easy navigation. No extraneous bells and whistles for this group. If the site is content-rich enough, it should have search capabilities so users can quickly access the information they need. Companies might also consider opt-in email capabilities that enable users to receive important information and updates on an ongoing basis.
Many biotech companies are also harnessing the power of password-protected Extranets to communicate key information on trials, follow up information from conferences, Powerpoint slides, video presentations from key conferences, etc. Extranets are an extremely personalized form of communication to end users and, when executed correctly, can provide a much richer user experience than even the phone can offer.
For sites that are designed to create a leadership position and provide marketing information, keep in mind the FDA has a strong voice in overseeing the marketing content on biotech sites. A biotech company must be mindful of what it promises and how it can deliver against that promise. And the FDA is only becoming more stringent in its reviews of Web sites as it becomes more familiar with the power of the Internet. Chances are good your audience will be more receptive to marketing messages that are factual, clear and jargon-free, anyway.
The use of what we call "eye candy" has also shifted since the start of the recession. Design today must have a direct connection back to the brand and audience needs, and provide a real value to the overall user experience. But this doesn't mean design has to be dull. The use of Flash, for instance, continues to increase. Flash can be a great information source versus HTML because it compresses files and allows for movement to create a message that's more alive in the minds of your audience.
Some Real World Examples: The Site as Information Tool
One of our clients is a fast-rising pharmaceutical company in the Boston area. To support a new drug that was undergoing clinical trials, this company needed to create an online resource for investigators that would allow clinicians and physicians to access information of value to them such as studies, bibliographies and follow-up information from conferences.
We first interviewed the target audiences to understand its psychographic towards the Internet, in general, and the drug and company, specifically. We found strong, positive brand association to both the company and the product. We discovered users wanted to know more about both, and understand the company's perspective during key points in the trial and during studies.
Our research also showed this company's audience was comprised of savvy Internet users who were cynical to marketing jargon and were very task-oriented. In other words, they wanted a clear site that was easy to navigate, information-filled and didn't waste their valuable time with marketing hype.
Our solution included developing a password-protected Extranet that was intuitive and straightforward. The Extranet includes a Flash timeline that offers information on the company and the drug's history and perspective. Because the company also wanted to create a leadership position in the infectious disease field, we built a news feed that aggregates relevant news about infectious disease developments that would help establish this company as an expert source and draw users to the site to increase their knowledge of current events.
Some Real World Examples: The Site as Marketing Tool
In another situation, we're working with a Boston-based biotech start-up to improve and enhance their Web site. This company has a novel proprietary high throughput technology to expand the boundaries of drug form and formulation to add value at every stage in the pharmaceutical value chain, from discovery through product life cycle management.
Our goal in redesigning this company's site was to introduce the pharmaceutical form and formulation space, as well as define the company as a leader in this untapped and under-invested area in the drug development cycle. Our solution illustrates something immediately relevant to the audience: the drug development process and highlights where and how the company impacts and improves the process.
In 1997, we also worked with Genetics Institute (prior to its acquisition by American Home Products) to launch the first biotech e-commerce site on the Internet. Genetics Institute's online ordering site differed from typical pharmaceutical industry sites by providing the medical community with the convenience, security and 24/7 access of online Web ordering. The site's layout was clean and uncluttered, which allowed for flexibility and growth while highlighting Genetics Institute's products, research activities, career opportunities and educational programs.
What's Next?
Biotech companies continue to recognize where the Internet fits in as a marketing tool in its chain of customer touch points. A Web site must be supported, cohesive in a company's overall brand and can't be expected to do everything on its own.
But by knowing your audience and its needs and staying focused on your organization's brand promise (who you are, the core values you represent and how you conducts business) will provide the continuum between serving as a marketing tool and an information resource.
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Chris Klaehn is a partner with Watertown, Mass.-based Corey McPherson Nash. Corey McPherson Nash is an integrated branding and design firm that works extensively with biotech companies across the country. More information on Corey McPherson Nash can be found at www.cmndesign.com.