How To Manage Multiple Life Science Brands
Introduction
In case you missed it, I’ve been sharing the news about separating my company, Lauren Perna Communications, from my personal brand, Mentally Fit Founder. Like most marketing and business decisions, this one was based on a combination of data and gut instinct.
I felt like it was time to separate the two brands into their own unique but related identities. While the two brands are aligned in their focus on human health (because mental health is health!) and storytelling, their core missions are very different.
Lauren Perna Communications helps life sciences companies tell compelling stories about improving human health. On the other hand, Mentally Fit Founder is my platform for mental health advocacy—raising awareness and supporting people living with mental illness so they know they’re not alone. I created this brand to amplify my long-time desire to help people living with mental health issues realize they are not alone.
Below, we dive into the concept of multi-brand strategies in the life sciences industry and how you can implement one effectively.
Understanding Multi-Brand Strategies
The concept of multi-brand strategies is certainly nothing new. It dates back to the 1960s when the Father of Modern Marketing, Philip Kotler, began discussing brand architecture in his landmark texts.
Without delving too deeply into marketing theory, let’s examine the various approaches companies can take to managing multiple brands.
House of Brands: Take Johnson & Johnson. They own everything from Band-Aid to Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Abiomed—but unless you dig into labels or websites, you might not realize they’re all under the same corporate umbrella. This approach is great for large corporations that have the infrastructure to manage distinct brands.
Branded House: Other organizations, like IQVIA, take a “Branded House” approach, where the master brand is integrated into all sub-brands. This is common in academia, too—think Harvard or Tufts University.
Hybrid Approach: Then there are companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific, which use a blended approach. They’ve acquired many smaller brands, each with its own identity, but still clearly housed under the Thermo Fisher umbrella. To take another example, we worked with a company called Predictive Monitor and their product OverShield. The company and the product had their own related but separate brand identities.
These examples are traditional multi-brand strategies, but marketing isn’t about tradition. It’s constantly evolving. As Mr. Kotler himself says, “the digital revolution produced a radically different breed of customers AND marketers.” These days, customers and marketers are often one and the same: the influencer, the entrepreneurial marketer, and the personal brand.
That means the lines between company and personal branding are increasingly blurred, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. For many companies, a C-suite executive’s personal brand effectively becomes a sub-brand, particularly when expertise or reputation is tied directly to the founder.
One example: in a recent project with a company called Ionic, the CEO’s personal presence became a powerful part of the brand story. Even in larger companies, the C-Suite’s personal brand can be a critical part of brand identity. We manage several executive LinkedIn accounts as part of larger company strategies.
Brand Messaging Challenges in the Life Sciences Industry
Multi-brand strategies in the life sciences industry present unique challenges and opportunities. One reason is that life sciences companies regularly rely on external innovation to meet market demands and unmet patient needs. In other words, business growth strategies include acquiring assets through mergers and acquisitions, purchases, joint ventures, or licensing opportunities.
According to a Deloitte report, 60% of companies surveyed have relied on external assets since 2020. This means the opportunity for multi-brand strategies is ripe.
Consider the development of one of the COVID-19 vaccines—a joint effort by Pfizer and BioNTech. This was a classic co-branding effort, where two distinct entities came together under one product. While some companies take this integrated approach, others take one of the other approaches mentioned.
Regardless of structure, developing a multi-brand strategy in life sciences requires a nuanced approach. The industry is highly regulated, requiring a sub or personal brand to follow the rules established by various regulatory bodies and remain compliant. This means brands, co-brands, and personal brands must:
Avoid certain words or phrases in their posts and articles.
Steer clear of downplaying risks, making sweeping promises, or using patient information.
Address multiple audiences with differing scientific and healthcare knowledge levels and goals.
Ensure every claim, statement, and component of the brand is scientifically accurate.
These challenges might be daunting if you’re trying to manage multiple sub-brands. But with the right tools and information, you can create a cohesive brand with complementary sub-brands, co-brands, or personal brands.
Developing a Unified Brand Messaging Framework
Determining the brand architecture is the first step in developing a unified brand framework. This is important because it “lays the foundation for an organized, intuitive branding strategy.” Just as you wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, you don’t want to build a brand without brand architecture to guide you.
In some cases, identifying the brand architecture is straightforward. In my case, it meant simply separating a personal brand from an organizational brand. But if it’s more complex, including various products or partnerships, you’ll need to dig deeper.
How can you make this decision? Start by auditing your existing brand and communications work. Gather data from past campaigns, sales collateral, feedback loops, and internal stakeholders. This information will help you understand which messaging and branding resonates with people and where they are getting confused.
Once the architecture is clear, the next step is strategic positioning. This is conducted through stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, and other research. Strategic positioning helps define each brand’s purpose, target audience, and competitive edge.
As HubSpot's Sujan Patel says:
“Brand positioning is bridging the gap between what customers need and the unique solution you offer that fulfills them.”
You want to understand the unifiers and the differentiators, so you can easily answer the questions:
What ties these brands together?
How does each one stand out?
What is the goal of each brand?
How do they all ladder up to the company’s overall mission?
This work also helps define brand boundaries. For example, at LPC, we talk about mental health in the context of scientific research and client storytelling. But my personal mental health journey? That belongs to the Mentally Fit Founder. Setting those boundaries creates clarity for your audience and your team.
Aligning Brand Values and Mission
Each brand or sub-brand may have its own goals and audiences, but they should all point toward a shared “North Star”—your company’s overarching mission and values. By keeping those elements at the forefront of each sub-brand, you create an aligned multi-brand strategy.
And when your brands are values-aligned, you:
Create stronger brand recognition and trust
Build loyalty among customers and stakeholders
Make internal decision-making more efficient
Establish a consistent brand culture
Brand Consistency Across Digital Channels
Once you have your multi-brand strategy, one of your toughest challenges is ensuring brand consistency across all channels. Especially in global organizations, it's hard to keep everyone on the same page (literally and figuratively!).
Brand consistency isn’t just important for internal purposes–it’s also a revenue booster. A report by Marq, shows that revenue can increase between 10-20% when brands are consistent across all channels.
That’s why you should take the opportunity to educate internal and external stakeholders. Help them understand the brand unifiers and differentiators so that brand consistency is part of the company culture.
Don’t just police the brand—teach it.
Consistency goes beyond logos. It includes:
A full brand identity suite (fonts, colors, imagery)
A brand messaging framework (values, mission, voice)
Editorial guidelines for tone, language, and compliance
You want to make sure these documents are accessible and easy to understand, so that you can ensure brand consistency across all digital platforms.
Open and effective communication with your stakeholders, internal and external, is also key to ensuring a multi-brand strategy works. Also, remind all involved parties to follow the values—if the values are always leading the way, the opportunity for subbrand friction is minimal.
Personal Branding vs. Company / Organizational Branding
The concept of brand value alignment is also applicable to personal brands, particularly for highly visible individuals within a company. Executives and entrepreneurs want to make sure their personal brand aligns with their company.
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, like if you’re earlier in your career or exploring new opportunities. Then you have more flexibility. But if you aspire to be in leadership at your company, alignment is actually a power move, even though we might call you a kiss-up. (Kidding, of course).
Highly visible C-Suite executives should largely follow their company’s values and mission. Otherwise, audiences may get confused or, worse, lose trust.
Let’s take our friend Eric Haas, the CEO of Ionic. He’s an expert in cytometry and leads his company’s scientific innovation. If his personal brand focused only on his love of gardening (nothing wrong with plants, of course!), his audience would lose the connection to his cytometry expertise.
Of course, we encourage authenticity, so if Eric mixes in a few posts about plants, it’s not the worst thing. Overall, a strong personal brand should reinforce, not contradict, your company brand.
How Lauren Perna Communications Can Help You Manage a Multi-Brand Strategy
A strong, human-centered brand is critical in today's world of oversaturated markets and AI-driven content. If your company has multiple brands or if you’re thinking of developing a personal or sub-brand, it's critical to align them under one clear vision.
A unified multi-brand strategy helps your audience understand what you do and why you matter.
Thinking about launching a sub-brand or personal brand in the life sciences? Let’s talk. The LPC team can help you build a clear, cohesive brand strategy that connects all the dots and makes a lasting impression.
