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 asked Allison Satterfield in my latest podcast interview. As the founder and creative director of Particle31, an agency that specializes in biotech brand strategy, she's the perfect expert to talk about this topic.
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– Avoid generic names, capital letters in the middle of your name, and names that might box you into a particular vertical.
– A good brand name should support your company's mission, vision and values.
– Storytelling is the key to making a brand memorable and helping with funding, hiring and finding partners.
The interview below is a transcript of our conversation, edited for clarity and conciseness.
The story behind Particle31
What's the story behind your agency Particle31?
Allison Satterfield: I was in corporate design and communications for seven years. I started freelancing on the side and over that time, I realized I was a lot more passionate about my side projects than my corporate job. And one of those side projects happened to be in a biotech. I didn't know anything about the industry, but I thought like, wow, this is super cool science!
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. Then, I actually quit my corporate job to start freelancing fully on my own.
From 2021 and during the next three years, 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 about cancer.
As they started talking about what their science could do for the side effects of cancer, I realized it was exactly what my mom dealt with. And from there I really cared about this project. I wanted to see them get funding because I knew how this could transform lives. So that's how it began as the life science introduction and really building a passion for the industry.
In 2024, we decided to rebrand because the work that we care about, that we're most excited about, is life sciences, but our name and our brand don't reflect that. So we rebranded to Particle31. Like particles forming atoms, we assemble the elements of our clients' stories into a compelling narrative. 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: clients, team members and communities. We see that as one area, three into one. So that's how we got to Particle31.
The challenges of naming a biotech startup
Compared to other industries, why is it so difficult to name a biotech company?
A.S.: I think it's challenging for a couple of reasons. One is that the basis of what your company is doing is science and 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. It's usually something very technical. So in that name, there's complexity, and with that complexity, you still need a name that stands out.
Biotech has a ton of startups in it and a lot of acquisitions. So you do have this high rate of companies entering the industry very quickly and exiting. You also have to stand out against a lot of people who are at that start line in a very competitive space for investors. You've got to be memorable.
I also think that usually, the founding scientists want the name to be about the science that they're doing or a component of it, and that can be really hard for people to know how to pronounce or spell, and this can create its own challenges.
Do you see any branding differences between the various verticals of life sciences? For instance, diagnostics, therapeutics, etc.
A.S.: Our process for those verticals is overall similar and we take them through the same steps. Where things might depend on the vertical is when we ask what's the exit strategy? Are you trying to get acquired? Are you trying to be a leader? Not that that's going to change your entire name, but that's important to know for how we're positioning them and the mission and the values.
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” in it? Is there any chance that as your company grows, you might branch out of therapeutics, and it might box you in long-term down the road?
So, thinking about the exit strategy and when you want that to happen is really important. And then the other thing we do, no matter what vertical they're in, is a ton of competitor research. That's super important.
Let's say you're going after a specific disease for therapeutics, and no one else is using “therapeutics” in your competitor analysis, do you need to use it in your name? What are their names? Aligning not only with the industry, but the vertical and your specific competition is important. Not that we're trying to copy them or you should follow the exact same steps, but you should be informed on what is happening there.
How to create a branding strategy
What process do you use to create a branding strategy for your clients?
There are usually two entry points. Let's say you're a biotech founder, you come to us, and either 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. The questions are like, the long-term, the short-term goals, what's the backstory? What motivated you to start this company? Do you have a mission and values? We try to get a big overview of the company and every part of it, not only the science, but also why the science exists and what's the backstory on why they are devoting their lives to this.
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, a very key ingredient in making a cake. But what's the vanilla, what's the milk, what's the eggs? We wanna know all of that.
Then we do a huge meeting to 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 it at a higher level. Not only what their science can do but also the possibilities of where it can go, how it's going to impact people, and how it is going to change the world because that's all part of that story.
Once we get all the ingredients, we take that in, and that's where the Particle31 mixer comes in, where we do more industry and competitor research. If all your competitors are using “therapeutics”, 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? 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?
A big one that honestly ends a lot of names is, is that domain available? Can we buy the website address? There have 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.
That all goes into that kind of early on process, that's where the most important thorough work is done. And then, from there, we make a proposal and we go through two to four rounds of review. And that's how we do the name. Once the name is designed or decided on, we move to the logo, then the website, and then other marketing collateral like pitch deck, PowerPoint template, and conference materials.
Common brand archetypes in biotech
Are there certain archetypes that work particularly well in biotech branding?
A.S.: For a lot of them, it's the hero archetype. They've discovered something, a drug or a drug platform that can help people. It can change the world. That's the most common archetype for us. The other one is the explorer. They have found this new approach that can transform the way things are done, it can be cheaper, faster, and better. 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.
Where that's going to come the most is through their mission statement. When designing a good name, you want that to relate to your mission, your values, and your story in some way. When someone asks about the company's name, it should allow you to get to that story and tell what you’re trying to do. We're trying to change the world in this way and align with that mission.
Take the example of one of our clients, Cirsium Biosciences. Cirsium, or Scottish thistle, is a plant known for taking over entire fields. This plant is insanely resilient. The goal of this company is to democratize gene therapy through transformative manufacturing methods and they are very resilient about this mission.
So it all kind of folds in as you tell that story on the website, and we also have used a lot of small subtle plant language on their website.
You want it to be done tastefully. It can be overdone, distracting, or unprofessional. It can get 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.
Good and bad examples of branding in biotech
Can you give an example of biotech branding that really stands out to you?
A.S.: There's this company that does sequencing called Plasmidsaurus. I think their name is brilliant. When I first saw it, I was like, what is going on here? It creates intrigue, it’s memorable. Their website and their other marketing areas are so different than the normal kind of lab space stock images. They got really creative with standing out from other firms in that sector.
Their Instagram is just drawings of dinosaurs, but the work that they do, the services that they provide for sequencing are super fast turnaround, and they have superb customer service.
And do you have an example of bad branding too?
A.S.: There's a company called Cell Biolabs. Three really strong words, what are we gonna pull when we search on Google? There are conferences, there are reports, there are other companies that have “cell bio” departments, that type of thing. I think any sort of name that's that generic is a missed opportunity to stand out in the industry.
The importance of brand storytelling
How important is a brand's back story?
A.S.: I think it's insanely important. I think now more than ever, people want a memorable and personalized brand. Life sciences has more traditional corporate naming, but that is shifting, Plasmidsaurus being a great example of a shift. You've got to have a story that resonates, especially if you're trying to get funding.
Maybe your science is transformative, but how do you make that story in your brand resonate, why it's more life-changing than the other scientists who are going for the exact same funding? If you can't tell the story of your company name and get it to be memorable, there's a missed opportunity with cohesiveness and making a really strong first impression.
How does a branding strategy evolve as a company grows from startup to scale-up?
A.S.: 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, their goals aren't 100 % focused on investors. Now you're attracting talent. Now you're presenting at conferences. As that grows, you're looking for partners. You're looking to stand out from your competitors and be an industry leader in those different ways.
The strategy changes depending on where that company is in its life cycle. Ideally, you're putting yourself in a position where you shouldn't do those siloed branding strategies of, like, now we go after investors, and now we go after talent. There's gonna be push and pull: 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.
Common branding mistakes in biotech
Are there any trends in biotech naming that you think are overused or outdated?
A.S.: There are a lot of biotech names that I don't know how to say. I look at it, and 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. I think biotech has run with that pretty aggressively, especially with tying in scientific terms.
One other thing that I think might be getting more outdated is when you take two words, you put them together, and you have a capital letter in between. Like CellBio, for example. That gets really confusing for domain name, email, and Google search. If your company's being written about, there is a risk of that being misspelled. Will they put a space? Will they capitalize the right letter? So I would love to see that fade out just for consistency and less risk of error in how the company is portrayed.
What are the most common mistakes biotech companies make when developing their brand?
A.S.: One we touched on is when companies narrow their verticals too much because they’re not thinking about the long term. Another one is going with generic terms.
And last is differentiation. Four or five months ago, we were approached by a company, and I'm not gonna say their name, but let's just say it was “VergeBio” for the illustration. They were working on their branding, and there's another company called “Verge Pharma” that has a higher web presence. I was confused, is Verge Pharma part of the same company? They both had blue logos, they both had stock imagery of a lab on their website. They told me, “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. I am confused, and I'm researching you. So, we advised them to rebrand.
Branding on a limited budget
For startups with a limited budget, what's the bare minimum they should invest in branding?
A.S.: 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’ve got to get the funding. To get the funding, you 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, and use the same colors. And you can do that in a really simple way that can be budget-friendly.
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 your story. We help scientists draft a story and have that really strong imagery and just consistency throughout.
A great example is one of our clients who had a really strong message but didn't convey it well visually. They were talking about a space that they could impact and they used a number of 10 to the 12th power. And they just had that written out. I was like, that's a big number, but I don't know how big that number is. So we created a graphic that basically showed the entire space, and one tiny little dot highlighted what's been explored in this space. And that allowed them to resonate so much better.
When it comes to saving money on branding, what should biotech founders never do?
A.S.: Make sure that you get the license and copyright to your logo! There's a temptation to 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. And be careful of the generators. Obviously, this is what I do for my livelihood, so I'm not a fan of generators. But those can create the same logo. There's no accountability on those things. So know your risk. Another company could have the same logo.
A key branding advice for biotech founders
What advice do you wish every biotech founder knew before starting their branding journey?
A.S.: I pulled a quote for this because it resonated really deeply with me. The quote is, "Nothing will be used more often or for a longer period of time than your brand name,” and that’s from David Placek, Founder and President of Lexicon Branding.
If I meet someone, I ask for their email, and ask for their company website. VCs represent what's in their portfolio with a logo. Conference attendees are represented by a logo. 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, 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.
As you come out of stealth, and you get more funding, and you maybe enter clinical trials, a rebrand could really hurt you. So make sure that the foundation is set.
Recommended resources for branding
Do you have any recommendations for books or resources on branding?
A.S.: So one is called Simply Put by Ben Guttmann. It is a great overview of marketing and messaging. It inspired our six core values. This is for, I would say, a founder or anyone who is starting out. It’s short, I read it in an afternoon.
The other one is Building a Story Brand, by Donald Miller. Most marketing people love this one; it is just good marketing fundamentals.
This website has a lot of good resources for people starting out. This is outside of brand naming, you can download a pitch deck template, non-disclosure template, etc.
