Report considers nine instrumentation categories - from basic instruments to cutting-edge technologies - and determines which suppliers have the strongest brands among scientists
The life science instrumentation market is characterised by sectors with varying levels of competitive intensity, but across the market as a whole, a number of suppliers have established dominant brands, including Applied Biosystems, Beckman Coulter, Bio-Rad, GE Healthcare, and Agilent Technologies.
To help life science executives understand where companies are positioned in the market, BioInformatics has published 'Brand Perceptions of Life Science Instrumentation Suppliers'.
Based on a survey of more than 1800 life scientists, the report provides an in-depth look at nine instrumentation categories - from basic instruments like centrifuges to cutting-edge technologies like DNA microarray and high-throughput screening instruments. "The benchmarks provided in this report will help suppliers identify those core elements that contribute positively to their overall brand perception and where they are performing relative to both their competitors and customer expectations.
"With this information, steps can be taken to address any weaknesses that are likely to contribute to customer defections and lost share or it may be used to help exploit the weaknesses of their competitors", said Bill Kelly, president of BioInformatics. One area that scientific researchers are less than satisfied with is the level of post-sales support they receive from their instrumentation suppliers - specifically instrument calibration, technical support, replacement parts and service, and warranties. This finding suggests that while suppliers may view a sale as a culmination of a customer relationship, customers view the sale as the beginning of a relationship and have unmet expectations. To increase satisfaction and customer loyalty, suppliers should strive to have ongoing interactions with their customers and offer considerable assistance in the optimal use of the instrument for each customer's unique applications.
The survey also finds that customers have varying degrees of loyalty to their suppliers of instrumentation, and in some sectors, there are signs that current leaders are facing pressure from competitors.
For example, based on who customers believe they will purchase instruments from in the future, Agilent appears to be poised to challenge Waters, a leading supplier of chromatographs, and Applied Biosystems appears to be generating improved brand awareness for its DNA microarray instruments, placing pressure on the current leader, Affymetrix.
Another indicator of changes in the competitive landscape stems from an analysis of the suppliers scientists associate with different types of instruments and those companies they predict they will purchase from in the future.
For example, although Beckman Coulter is the supplier most closely associated with cell analysis systems, BD Biosciences is both the current top supplier and most frequently mentioned future supplier in this category - an indication of the strength of the BD Biosciences brand.
As another example, few respondents (7%) associate Thermo Electron with mass spectrometers; however, Thermo was tied with Applied Biosystems as the most often mentioned future supplier of these instruments.
This analysis can be used to spot competitive threats as well as measure the effectiveness of a company's brand strategies.
"The results of this survey confirm that brand perceptions affect the success of commercial suppliers in the instrumentation market.
"Innovations and advanced technology are undoubtedly important to life scientists, but performance is the measure by which instrumentation suppliers are most often judged.
"Strong brands help simplify the choices a customer needs to make by providing reassurance that the progress of research will not be impeded by sub-par performance by a supplier and its instrumentation", concluded Kelly.
