Feeding the thing with two brains

What makes someone choose to work in life sciences marketing? Maybe it’s a case of feeding the two brains we’re blessed with — our left and right brains. Almost 30 years ago, I read Robert Ornstein’s The Psychology of Consciousness. Ever since, I’ve been fascinated by how we can approach the world on different planes, from different perspectives — due to the differences in our “two” brains. So how does this relate to life sciences marketing? With apologies to Dr. Ornstein, I will use his framework to explain our own.

First, we life sciences marketers must understand the hard facts of a given client’s science well enough to be able to explain its key benefits clearly to copywriters, art directors and digital programmers. These creative resources then bring these benefits to life in the communications we develop. This processing of scientific facts feeds our left brains (the logical, linear and literal side), while developing communications strategies and executions that work well in the marketplace feeds our right brains (the more spiritual, spatial and subtle side).

There’s more — sometimes the kick that comes from feeding both sides of the brain derives from the client’s offering. Because while the actual research being done in the life sciences is most definitely left brain, its application often falls into the realm of the more creative side of the brain. How? Well, for all of its rigorously tested origins, the practice of medicine is often as much an art as it is a science.

Watching a biotechnology offering evolve can bring this home. For example, one of our clients has a technology that’s being used in two entirely different ways. One way helps researchers find better ways to advance the development of new therapies; the other helps physicians choose the right treatment from existing therapies for their patients.

So the next time someone makes a joke about “the thing with two brains,” ask them if they work in life sciences marketing — and if they’re feeding both brains adequately.