Allison Satterfield (00:00)
There's a lot of biotech names that I don't know how to say. And I look at it and I'm like, I don't know where to start. I don't know which vowel I should put emphasis on.
I think biotech has kind of run with that pretty aggressively, And that is something that I am always, every time I see it, I'm like, what, this is tough.
Joachim Eeckhout (00:18)
Today on the Science Marketer podcast, I'm talking about branding and logo design with Alison Satterfield. Getting a brand identity right is not easy, especially in a field like biotech where credibility is essential. So how do you choose a brand name that sticks without being silly? How do you design a logo that doesn't look like any other? That's what I will try to answer with Alison. As the founder and creative director of Particle 31
an agency specializing in brand strategy in the biotech space. She's the perfect expert to talk about this topic. Hey, Alison, welcome to the Science Marketer Podcast.
Allison Satterfield (00:59)
Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Joachim Eeckhout (01:01)
So let's start with the first question and with a bit of background. What's the story behind your agency Particle 31?
Allison Satterfield (01:10)
Yeah, this is a great story. Originally I was in corporate design and communications for seven years. I started freelancing on the side and over that time I realized I was very passionate about my side projects a lot more than my corporate job. And one of those side projects happened to be a biotech for one of my friends that knew someone in the biotech industry. I didn't know anything about the industry.
but I thought like, wow, this is super cool science. I'm so glad these people know how to do these things. And I helped them with designing a logo and a pitch deck. And from that, I got connected with another biotech through their board of directors and just started doing more life science work. from there, I actually quit my corporate job to start freelancing fully on my own. And I launched under the name Alaray Creative, which is, is now legacy. It doesn't exist anymore.
But during that time I was working for a bunch of different industries, life sciences and biotech being one of them. And over those three years, this was in 2021, I really started to see the power of the industry. at the time, right after I quit my corporate job, I unexpectedly lost my mom to cancer. And two months after her passing, I got pulled into a biotech project and they're telling me how it's about cancer.
When I first meet with them, I'm always like, okay, tell me about your science. I have a lot of questions and it's kind of like a lecture of their teaching me what their science can do. And as they start talking about what their science can do with cancer, it is exactly what my mom dealt with. And it was to overcome the exact side effects that she dealt with with her cancer journey. And they started telling me about how this could transform lives, not only patients, but families. And I just...
interrupted and I was like, I know exactly what you're talking about. And from there I was like, okay, I really, really care about this project. I want to see them get funding because I know how this can transform lives. like how the medicine that helped my mom in her journey gave us more time with her. What if I could do that and help them with the next generation on those things? So that's how it began as the life science introduction and really building a passion for in the industry.
And then, like I said, that was in 2021. And then over those three years, our work and expertise just kept growing. So in 2024, we were like, we need to rebrand because the work that we care about, that we're most excited about is life sciences, but our name and our brand doesn't reflect that. So we rebranded to particle 31.
And that name resonates with kind of how everything, the smallest particle of matter is a particle. And we take science and the story of science for our clients. They're smallest amounts and we build matter with them. So that was kind of the basis for the name of taking the smallest parts, making something large and memorable with those. And then we like our core values to reach three areas.
So that's clients, team members and communities. Particle three was already trademarked. And so we see that as one area, three into one. So that's how we got particle 31 in a quick snapshot. Yeah.
Joachim Eeckhout (04:19)
That's a great story. So you've been also working, of course, on your own rebranding, but also on the brand name of biotech startups, Logo, et cetera. So why is naming a biotech company particularly challenging compared to other industries?
Allison Satterfield (04:36)
Yeah, I think it's challenging for a couple of reasons. One is your product of what you're selling or the basis of what your company is doing is science. And normally that science is some sort of very technical term. It's not like we're a restaurant that sells Mexican food or a sunglasses brand and that you can use glasses. It's usually something very technical. So in that name, there's complexity with that.
And with that complexity, you still need a name that stands out. Biotech has a ton of startups in it, or a lot of brands have been acquired by larger brands. So you do have this high rate of lots of companies entering the industry very quickly and exiting. So you also have to stand out against a lot of people are at that start line, maybe more so than other industries and a very competitive space for investors. And you've got to be memorable.
So that's an item that makes it also complex as well. I also think that there is this Usually the scientists want the name to be the science that they're doing or a component of it and That can be really hard for people to to a know how to pronounce spell Can create its own challenges and so? Overcoming that is a hurdle as well
Joachim Eeckhout (05:50)
And do you see any branding difference between kind of the verticals of life sciences? Like, you know, like you have diagnostics, have therapeutics, et cetera. Do you see any difference or is it the same for you?
Allison Satterfield (06:04)
Yeah, our process for wherever our clients are and those verticals is overall a similar process. Like we take them through the same steps. Where things are different that might depend on that vertical is a what's the exit strategy? Are you trying to get acquired? Are you trying to be a leader? Not that that's going to like change your entire name, but that's important to know for the company goals of how we're positioning them and the mission and the values and all that.
the name in there. the other item, that is important is if you're in a vertical, let's say you're in therapeutics, does your name need to have therapeutics? Is there any chance that as your company grows, that you might branch out of therapeutics and it might make sense. like not making sure it makes sense to include therapeutics in your name, if you're in a certain vertical, or it might box you in.
long-term down the road. So once again, thinking about the exit strategy and when you won't want that to happen is really important. And then the other thing that we do, no matter what vertical they're in, we're going to do a ton of competitor research. That's super important. So let's say you're going after a specific disease for therapeutics and no one else is using therapeutics in your competitor analysis in your zone of that area.
do you need to use therapeutics? What are their names? So like really aligning not only the industry, but the vertical and then your specific competition and that vertical is important to know. Not that we're trying to copy them or you should follow the exact same steps you they have done, but you should be informed on what is happening there. So that's where some customization comes in on where they are in that vertical.
Joachim Eeckhout (07:40)
That's very interesting. I never thought about it this way, saying like therapeutics or biologics or diagnostics in your brand name is also a way to reinforce your vision to say, we in this game for the long run. So yes, it's really interesting to think about it from the get go. So let's talk about the process. What process do you use to create a branding strategy for your clients?
Allison Satterfield (08:04)
Yeah, that's a great question. there's usually there's two entry points. So let's say you're a biotech founder, you come to us and either you have an existing name or you don't have a name at all. You want to rebrand or create a brand from scratch. We will send you a form where you will have a lot of homework to do before a discovery meeting. And that's all these questions kind of like,
the long-term, the short-term goals, what's the backstory? What motivated you to start this company? Do you have mission and values? if you don't have that established, we should create those with this story. So we try to get a big overview of the company and every part of it, especially the, not only the science, the science is very important, but.
Why does the science exist and what's the backstory on why they are devoting their lives to this? The founders or whoever is the board of directors, whoever is doing this. So I would say it's kind of like when you're going to bake a cake, we like to get all the ingredients on the counter that goes into what is creating this company. The science is one of them. Maybe like the flour, very key ingredients making a cake.
but also what's the vanilla, what's the milk, what's the eggs? We wanna know all of that. So that aligns with the form and then we do a huge meeting to have those discussions, make sure that we have clarity. Depending on the complexity of the science, sometimes that meaning can kind of turn into a lecture where the scientists are just going into a lot of details because we need to thoroughly understand at a higher level, not at every level.
But not only what their science can do, but the possibilities of where it can go, how it's going to impact people, how is it going to change the world? Because that's all part of that story. So once we get all the ingredients, we take that in. And I would say that's where the particle 31 mixer comes in, where we do more industry and competitor research. Like if all your competitors are using, like going back to what we just talked about, if all of them are using therapeutics,
Okay, let's look at that. Does it make sense for us to use therapeutics in your name? Does it make sense for us not to? We're going to look at their habits. And then is it trademarked? Is there another company that has that name in pharma? Is there another company that has that name in a different industry, but is a dominant leader in that industry? so SEO and website is going to be really hard to stand out. A big one that
honestly ends a lot of names is, that domain available? Can we buy the website address? There has been some wonderful names that I have truly missed because the domain wasn't available or the client didn't have the budget to purchase the domain because it was some astronomical amount. So that all goes into that kind of early on process. And I would say that's where the most important
thorough work is done. And then from there, we'll go through rounds of usually it's two to four of, okay, based off of what the ingredients based off of this other research we've done, here's a proposal of things that we think we can align. And here's why. Usually option one isn't the option it goes through multiple rounds of something like this, don't like that.
And that's how we do the name. Once the name is designed or decided on, then we move to logo, then website, and then other marketing collateral like pitch deck, PowerPoint template, conference materials. I mean, then anything comes on after that.
Joachim Eeckhout (11:30)
And are there specific archetypes that work particularly well in biotech branding?
Allison Satterfield (11:36)
Yeah, another great question. A lot of them, it's the hero archetype of they are, they've discovered something, a drug or a drug platform that can help people. It can change the world. It can save that. So that's the most common archetype for us. The other one is the, the explorer of they have found this new approach that
can transform the way things done cheaper, faster, better. Maybe it's a drug platform or something. And so it kind of links to the hero in a way, but hero and explorer are the main archetypes of the personas of the brands that we create.
Joachim Eeckhout (12:16)
And can you explain maybe how does it translate in terms of style or name or let's take the hero for example. What does it look like when you make a brand based on this?
Allison Satterfield (12:25)
Yeah.
Yeah, I think where that's going to come the most is like through their mission statement and through that missions. So designing a good name, you want that to relate to your mission values, your story in some way. So maybe it's not like hero therapeutics quite like that, but it should when someone asks about the company's name, allow you to get to that.
Joachim Eeckhout (12:34)
Yeah.
Hmm.
Allison Satterfield (12:55)
a story of this is what we're trying to do. We're trying to change the world in this way and align with that mission. And then just like website copy as well, where there can be, maybe there's a play on, so like one of our clients is Cirsium Biosciences. Cirsium is a, Scottish thistle. That is known for just like taking over fields. It's in,
very, a very strong plant. And that's what they want to do for gene therapy manufacturing. one of the parts in their mission is that they are resilient. And this plant,
is insanely resilient. one of their goals is to be for the gene therapy manufacturing is democratizing that and being resilient with what they can offer. So it, it all kind of folds in as you tell that story in different copy on the website, but they also use plants. So we have like a lot of like just like small subtle plant language on their website as well.
You want to be done tastefully. It can be overdone or distracting or unprofessional. Like it can get like to a cheesy point. But when you have those types of things that can reinforce your brand or reinforce parts of it, that's really cohesive brand messaging, kind of in every touch point, whether it's website copy social media, mission, your science, your platform name, any of those.
Joachim Eeckhout (14:14)
What visual elements works best for a biotech logo?
Allison Satterfield (14:18)
Great question. At the very simple, like foundational, what we will provide every single client that we work with at a logo level is a horizontal and a vertical version of their logo and then an icon with that. you know, think about all the places that your logo is going to exist. So at the bottom of a slide deck.
you're going to have a tiny, you're like, your logo is going to exist some aspect of it at a tiny size versus your sponsored a event and you're on a billboard or a pamphlet or the back of a t-shirt, you're at a conference. So having that scalability and maybe it's just the icon, maybe you need a horizontal version or the vertical version, that's super key. Also just black and white versions. And then a color or
maybe multiple color versions, if they have a primary and secondary, but absolute basis, those three formats of a logo.
Joachim Eeckhout (15:11)
And are there any trends in biotech naming that you believe are overused or outdated?
Allison Satterfield (15:18)
I don't know if it's overused. There's a lot of biotech names that I don't know how to say. And I look at it and I'm like, I don't know where to start. I don't know which vowel I should put emphasis on. I don't know which letter is capitalized. Yeah, so I think wrong names that are an invented word, which isn't always wrong, like look at Google. They are the...
best example for they invented a word and it has worked so well. I think biotech has kind of run with that pretty aggressively, especially with tying in scientific terms. And that is something that I am always, every time I see it, I'm like, what, this is tough. Or like writing their email, like did I misspell it? How do I Google this? I think one other thing is that I think might be getting more outdated is when you take two words,
I'm not ending with biotherapeutics or pharma, but two words and you put them together and you have a capital letter and in between. like if cell bio was one word, but they capitalize the B. that gets really confusing for domain email, Googling. if your company's being written about, there is a risk of that being misspelled. Like, will they put the space? Will they capitalize the right letter?
So I would love to see that fade out just for consistency and less risk of error of how the company is portrayed.
Joachim Eeckhout (16:46)
Yeah, I totally agree. think there is a trend in the field of mRNA companies to put RNA in the name somewhere in capital letter in the middle of the name. That's terrible. Yeah. And you don't know how to pronounce it.
Allison Satterfield (16:58)
Yes. Yeah. And you don't know if it's part of the word or it's a mystery.
Joachim Eeckhout (17:05)
Can you share maybe some examples of really good biotech names you know, and also really bad biotech names and explain a bit why you think this is like this?
Allison Satterfield (17:15)
Yeah. it felt unfair if I didn't say, I believe that particle 31 has good names, the work that we do for our clients, but I'm not going to talk about that because that feels really, there's a lot of great names that other people are working on. So I'm going to, I'm going to tell you a story of one that we just came across over the past couple of months, literally, Korte a particle team member, emailed this company and was just like, your branding is amazing.
So there's this company that does sequencing called Plasmidsaurus. And I either saw their name and logo on a flyer or on LinkedIn. I can't remember exactly where I first saw them. And then Korte went to an event and they were there and had like brilliant marketing, had some creative like cereal box item. And
Joachim Eeckhout (17:40)
Yeah, anyways.
Allison Satterfield (17:59)
We like geeked out over their website. Their Instagram is just drawings of dinosaurs. And, but the work that they do, the services that they provide for sequencing is like super fast turnaround, super like their customer service. I haven't worked with them, but they have great reviews and a really, like it sounds like a really great support from their customers. I think their name is brilliant. When I first saw it, I was like, what is going on here? So.
intrigue, memorable, and then how they play that out on their website and their other marketing areas is so different than the normal kind of stock images, lab space, especially because they're doing sequencing services. They got really creative with standing out with other firms that are showing that, not just showing the equipment or something like that. So I would say
that was very memorable. So memorable that we wrote them an email and we're like, hey, you're doing great work. that one, think to say if someone failed miserable, to make that claim for someone, if I don't know their company, feels unfair to them. But a few that I actually Googled this beforehand, there's a company called
cell bio labs, I believe. Okay, three really strong words that can pull any cell, like, what are we gonna pull when we search at Google? There's conferences, there's reports, there's other companies that have cell biodepartments, that type of thing. I think any sort of name that's that generic, I think there's a missed opportunity to stand out in the industry.
Joachim Eeckhout (19:35)
How important is the backstory of a brand and how can companies effectively communicate that story through their brand name and style?
Allison Satterfield (19:45)
Yeah, obviously I'm biased. I work in branding. I help clients tell their story. I think it's insanely important. I think now more than ever out, outside of life sciences in general, people want a memorable and personalized brand. biotech has the, and life sciences has the traditional corporate,
naming that is shifted from Plasmidsaurus being a great example of a shift. And you've got to have a story that resonates, especially with how if you're going if you're pitching and you're trying to get funding.
Maybe your science is transformative in however way that if it's a drug or whatever, it is already life-changing. How do you make that story in your brand resonate of why it's more life-changing than the other scientists that's going for the exact same funding? I think that's where you have to start with biotech and that story is so important. And yes, the science is part of that story.
is the key driver there and you've got to be able to have the data and to show all that. But if you can't tell the story of your company name and get it to be memorable, I think there's a missed opportunity with cohesiveness, a really strong first impression and really showing that you are about what you say and a seriousness of, yes, I'm good enough for you to invest in and I'm running the company and cohesive in all these other areas.
Joachim Eeckhout (21:14)
So the next question, I think we already covered a bit, but maybe you can expand on what are the most common mistakes biotech companies make when they develop their brand?
Allison Satterfield (21:24)
Yes, one where we touched on is you narrow your vertical. I'm not thinking about long-term going with generic terms, missed opportunity or possibly diluting yourself or showing up with other items.
they don't resonate or they're too generic for Googling or they don't look at other people with that name. We were approached by a company, this was four or five months ago and I'm not gonna say their name but let's just say it was VergeBio, that might be a company. This is not about them.
Joachim Eeckhout (21:51)
I think that's what.
Allison Satterfield (21:52)
So this is just an example of two words has nothing to do with the actual company. They were working on their branding a pitch and one of there's another company called verge pharma that had a higher web presence. This is just for the illustration. I don't know if verge pharma actually exists. And I was confused. I was like, is verge pharma part of your they both had blue logos. They both had
stock imagery of a lab on their website. And they're like, no, we don't need to worry about them. They serve a different industry. And I was like, well, when I Googled you, that's what came up first on LinkedIn. That's what came up first on the website. I am confused and I'm, I'm trying to like, I'm researching you. And so I think that's really important of just because a company does something differently.
doesn't you need to have that differentiation for sure. Or consider why you, if you're going to take that risk, know why and where it makes sense.
Joachim Eeckhout (22:46)
Did you advise them to rebrand in this case?
Allison Satterfield (22:48)
yes, yes,
yeah.
Joachim Eeckhout (22:50)
So for startups with a limited budget, what's the bare minimum they should invest in branding?
Allison Satterfield (22:57)
Yep. Great question. Logo and pitch deck. We have a founders foundations package that we offer that does those items because we think they're most important. You can have a really, really simple logo. You don't need to change the world with your logo if you're a founder. You're going to change the world with your science, but you got to get the funding.
to get the funding, need to have a sharp looking pitch deck that tells your story well. To have a sharp looking pitch deck, use the same fonts, use a consistent logo, use the same colors. And you can do that in a really simple way that can be budget friendly. But I think if you jump to just a website or you jump to, we're gonna go all in on some crazy cool merch or something.
when budgets are already tight, think pitch deck is where it's got to be.
Joachim Eeckhout (23:51)
When you say pitch deck, do you only advise them on the design or do you also support the messaging of the pitch deck, the statement, etc.?
Allison Satterfield (24:01)
Yeah,
both. think you can have, can get a template really simple online. If like, let's say you, you really don't have a lot of funds at all. Get a really simple template and stick to those margins, stick to those fonts, stick to those colors. What we do is we'll create a custom one that just ties in as you're telling this. We help them help scientists draft a story and have that really strong imagery and just consistency throughout.
A great example is one of our clients had a really strong message, but didn't convey it well visually. So they were talking about a space that they could impact. I'm going to be vague, but they used a number of 10 to the 12th power. And they just had that written out. And I was like, I don't, I know that that's a big number.
I don't know how big that number is. And so what we did was created a graphic that basically showed the space and one tiny little dot highlighted and say, this is what's been explored in this space. That's huge. 10 to the 12th power. And that allowed them to resonate that so much better. So even just like little items like that of there's an investor. When you say 10 to the 12th power, you know what that means and the potential there.
Does someone who has listened to 10 pitches today understand what that is?
Joachim Eeckhout (25:21)
And what should the biotech founder never do when trying to save cost on branding?
Allison Satterfield (25:26)
make sure that you get the license and copyright to your logo. So there's a temptation to work for, get a really low cost logo done. A lot of those in the fine print will say that whoever did it actually owns that logo. So if your company is successful, goes to sell three to five years later, make sure you own it, have the IP, have that. And then
Be careful of the generators. I'm not a fan of generators. Obviously, this is what I do for my livelihood. But those can create the same logo. There's no accountability on those things. So know your risk. Another company could have those. And that's really important. And then
know that you can have a startup branding that isn't thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars.
Joachim Eeckhout (26:16)
does a branding strategy evolve as a better company grows from startup to scale up?
Allison Satterfield (26:24)
It adjusts to the goal. So when we're working with our founders, their goal is to get funding and to be able to exist. And so yes, the branding is important. But once they get funding and all of that, their goals isn't 100 % focused on investors. Now you're attracting talent. Now you're presenting at conferences and you've got to stay about.
As that grows, you're looking for partners. You're looking to stand out with your competitors and be an industry leader in those different ways. the strategy changes on where that company is in their life cycle and then the marketing funnel of who they're trying to attract. Ideally, you're putting yourself in a position where you shouldn't do those siloed of like, now we go after investors and now we go after talent.
there's gonna be push and pull of, no, right now we need funding and we can't hire anyone until we have funding, but we need to still be putting resources and branding things to attract talent. So that changes. And then a lot of it's data as well on once they get funding and can prove that more and more data, more and more things that they can publish or make public.
Then that gives the opportunity for white papers. That does the opportunity for webinars. There's a lot more opportunity for marketing in how they tell their story and show more of what their company can do. So that evolves too. Or going back to what we talked about about changing verticals, maybe they started out as a platform for one specific drug and then as their company has grown, it goes other ways. Okay, then we're re-evaluating.
who were reaching in the messaging there too.
Joachim Eeckhout (28:02)
So ideally, if this work is done upfront, you don't necessarily to rebrand or change as you evolve. So you need to also take into account, even if you're in a very early stage, you need to take into account, as you said, like hiring talents, partnership, these kind of things.
Allison Satterfield (28:17)
Yeah, set yourself up with a foundation that can be flexible on how you grow.
Joachim Eeckhout (28:22)
What's one piece of advice you wish every biotech founder knew before starting their branding journey?
Allison Satterfield (28:28)
I pulled a quote for this because this resonated really deeply with me. The quote is nothing will be used more often or for a longer period of time than your branding name. And that said by the founder of Lexcon branding and
going back to the science is why the company exists. The science is incredibly important. But if I meet someone, I ask for their email, ask for their company website. If they if you go to it, we work with some VCs, how VCs represent what's in their portfolio, who they're working with is by a logo, usually, maybe it's under a term of therapeutic companies or
G-Therapy Manufacturing. Maybe they have it categorized, but it's represented by a logo. Conferences represented by a logo of who's attending. The first slide of your pitch or of a presentation has your company name on it, has your logo on it.
If someone's talking about your company and they work there, they say, work for particle 31. If someone is talking about a company like Plasmidsausus they're gonna say your company name. It is so important. And I think there's a huge missed opportunity if it's not valued at the beginning of how that is gonna go down the road.
For some companies, when they're coming out of stealth, there's the great opportunity to rebrand. But as you come out of stealth and you get more funding and you maybe enter clinical, a rebrand could really hurt you. So make sure that foundation is set.
Joachim Eeckhout (30:01)
Last question, do you recommend any book or resources on branding for this industry of biotech?
Allison Satterfield (30:08)
Yes, I pulled a few resources. So one is just a general book. It's called Simply Put by Ben Guttmann. I actually asked Ben to speak to Particle 31 and he came on, talked about his book. We read this book as a firm. It is a great overview of marketing and messaging. It inspired our six core value of simplicity.
and telling stories and how it relates to your branding and marketing, but keeping them simple. So this for, I would say a founder or anyone that is starting out, I would really recommend this book. I read it in an afternoon. The other one, this is a generic one. Most marketing people love this one, building a story brand. I would say those are just good marketing fundamentals.
The there's a website called pillar dot VC slash playlist slash templates that has a lot of good resources for people starting out. This is outside of brand naming, but a pitch deck template and non disclosure template. And if you're a founder working on your branding and don't want to recreate all these materials, that's a really great place to start. Shameless plug for particle 31 insight page in our newsletter.
Shameless plug for your newsletter. You have a fantastic newsletter and resources on your page. And then the other one is spend time on LinkedIn and look at what resonates with you as a scientist. what content are you clicking on from other life science firms?
What is catching your eye and when you look at other websites when you look at white papers when you go to a conference and look at presentation and slides What is resonating with you and use that as your own research? because marketing and branding is this Insanely accelerated field. There's always things changing. Everyone has hot takes all the time on what's new Because it is changing so rapidly
I think looking at your field, looking at your competitors, not to copy, but to be inspired. Are they on YouTube? Do they have a podcast? Do they have a newsletter? Is it a really important way of thinking of what should you consider for your company or what are some ideas? then does it align with your goals? it, is it, know, one day it would be nice to have this or wow, their data is really easy to understand in this white paper. We need to do a better job of that.
Be mindful, look around and see what resonates with you. There's a lot more that resonates with us than I think we're aware of.
Joachim Eeckhout (32:35)
Well, that brings us to the end of today's episode. Thanks a lot, Alison, for joining the podcast today.
Allison Satterfield (32:41)
Thank you so much for having me.
Joachim Eeckhout (32:42)
So if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss any updates. And for even more content on science marketing and communication, be sure to sign up to my newsletter at thesciencemarketer.com. Thanks for listening and see you next time.