Guided Growth: How clear priorities and coaching helped scale Icosagen’s marketing [Case Study]
I am honored to introduce you to Icosagen, featuring its Chief Scientific Officer, Mart Ustav Jr., Marketing Manager, Karl Mumm, and the exceptional marketing team members, Lisett, Mari Ann and Marju.
Having had the privilege of working with them in 2023, it’s clear why Icosagen has become such a remarkable success story. They are at the forefront of innovation, continuously seeking ways to grow. A testament to their achievements, Icosagen was awarded the "Business of the Year" award by the Estonian Innovation Center (EIS) in 2023.
Company: Icosagen
Industry: Biotechnology
Team Size: 220+ employees
Location: Tartu, Estonia
Services Provided by Ott: Marketing Audit, Establishing Vision, Strategy and Priorities, Activity plan, Interview Clients, Monthly Coaching
Icosagen is a dynamic biotechnology and pharmaceutical development company with ambitious plans to transform into a pharmaceutical development firm and eventually a drug manufacturing company that can compete with major players in the global market.
Mart Ustav - CSO
In the start of 2023 Mart has been instrumental in leading and building the Sales and Marketing departments while simultaneously serving as Chief Scientific Officer. This is no small feat.
Karl Mumm - Marketing Manager
Karl has evolved from a scientific R&D role to Marketing Manager role, where he has been building the marketing team since 2020. His tremendous growth is a true example of professional development within a large organization.
Lisett, a Senior Marketing Specialist, began as an intern and quickly learned everything on the job. Her keen eye for detail and ability to make complex scientific concepts accessible to everyone are invaluable to the team.
Marju, a Designer, helps to visualize the complex topics of biotechnology and make them quickly apprehendable and pleasing to the eyes.
Mari Ann, the newest member of the marketing team, excels at making Icosagen an attractive partner to work with. Her unique style and creative ideas bring a fresh perspective to their marketing efforts.
What unites them all is their passion for science and its potential to make a positive impact on the world.
Why Icosagen Needed Marketing Assistance
At the end of 2022, Icosagen was thriving—growing, expanding its services, and establishing itself as a global player in the biotech industry. However, with this rapid scaling came certain growing pains.
"As our company expanded quickly, I was in a completely new area of management and struggled to get an overview of our marketing department’s activities and their role in supporting sales and services," said Mart, the Chief Science Officer (CSO) of Icosagen.
Marketing Manager Karl added, “It was a challenging time. Our Business development director had just left, and at the same time we were expanding our service portfolio with numerous new services, each needing marketing material asap. Suddenly everything became a priority and the marketing department was finding it hard to keep up. Ott’s assistance as a consultant and organizer came at a crucial moment.”
Lisett - Senior Marketing Specialist
“The environment was chaotic, because almost everything was treated as a priority. There was no clear vision or long-term plan, and we lacked defined marketing priorities. We needed a new approach.”
The Decision to Hire a Marketing Consultant
"I realized I didn’t possess the expertise regarding the right marketing strategies required for the wide scope of services we were navigating. I needed an external marketing expert’s perspective." Mart explained.
"We required an independent audit of our current situation to identify areas for improvement. I had heard how Ott had successfully assisted other companies, and he had built two marketing departments in the B2B sector. I trusted his honesty and transparency," Mart noted.
The Value of an Unbiased Marketing Audit
When I began working with Icosagen, my first task was to assess their existing marketing efforts. I conducted a thorough audit, involving interviews with each team member and a review of their marketing activities.
"Having an impartial expert confirmed my managerial intuition. We identified our strengths and weaknesses, which helped us determine our focal points. The audit laid the groundwork for developing our strategic roadmap," said Mart.
"Getting an outsider’s view allowed us to map issues in communication between marketing and management, where the message did not go through and needed enhancement," added Karl.
Lisett noted, "An external perspective provided a needed reality check for us."
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Establishing Marketing Priorities
The main insight from the audit was that Karl and Lisett were juggling numerous tasks and all were a priority to someone. To gain perspective and focus, we held a vision and strategy workshop for 2023.
Mart mentioned that the workshop was exhaustive, as he had not engaged with marketing within the larger picture so intensely before. "Looking back, we needed to confront that initial discomfort to chart our path for the company and the marketing team. Going forward, it became an invaluable tool. Our monthly plans aligned with our established priorities," said Mart.
For both Karl and Lisett, it was crucial that Mart attended the workshop to align marketing with company objectives. “It was invaluable to have Mart engaged in the meeting with us. I feel he gained a much better understanding of how marketing is benefiting the company, and we were able to actually put new services into an order in which the materials would be created,” remarked Karl.
"I remember it vividly. Each of us was able to articulate our priorities and collectively identify a common goal. I appreciated being able to craft my monthly and weekly plans based on our core priorities, which also allowed me to gauge my progress and prioritize tasks daily," Lisett added.
The Importance of Visibility and Trust
After establishing a one-year vision and strategy, we concentrated on specific marketing activities that supported these priorities. Our focus was on boosting visibility and ensuring that potential clients could trust Icosagen to address their needs, as well as enhancing marketing to better support sales.
During that time we also had a new member join our marketing team - Mari Ann. She took on the task of social media - LinkedIn in particular.
“Finally we were able to have a dedicated person working on social media and it was no longer a side-thought taking time from our priority tasks. It was also nice to have Ott adding to her onboarding, with sharing current best-practices for LinkedIn and his insights about effective social media posting.” said Karl.
"Looking back, our engagement on LinkedIn has significantly increased. At conferences, people approach me to say they saw our LinkedIn posts, which brought them here. Furthermore, our sales materials—slide decks, white papers, etc.—have greatly incorporated the new services," said Mart.
Learning to Interview Clients for Quality Feedback
To enhance Icosagen's social proof and demonstrate how previous clients benefited from their work, I conducted a workshop focused on effective client interviews. I introduced the “Jobs to be Done” interview method to help the team center their inquiries on the client's situation, motivations, and desired outcomes.
“With most of our clients, we have confidentiality agreements and it was a significant shift in perspective, when we saw that some clients actually agreed to have published client interviews when approached,” said Karl.
For Lisett, the workshop was a turning point in overcoming her fear of client interactions. “I appreciated the practical nature of the workshop, which allowed us to practice with one another. Ott provided us with valuable questions and methods that I can now apply in my conversations with clients,” she remarked.
Mari Ann found the experience both new and essential. “The workshop was invaluable for my interactions at conferences. I used to feel shy and unsure of what questions to ask, but after the workshop, I conducted my first interview, and the quality of responses was impressive,” she explained.
Benefits of Coaching and the Evolution of Icosagen Marketing
“Ott has helped us to develop the right tools to set and communicate clear priorities. I believe a long-term coaching approach is the best path for sustained implementation of this knowledge,” Mart emphasized.
Mart noted significant improvements: “All our marketing metrics have increased, visibility to both new and existing clients has expanded, and the marketing team has become more professional and systematic, having excellent cooperation with the sales team.”
A key factor in this progress was the reporting system that Ott helped implement. “I’ve received positive feedback from the management board and colleagues. Now our marketing team serves as an inspiration for other departments where we aim to establish similar systems,” said Mart.
Mart
“Karl has enhanced his communication skills and embraced a leadership role with great success. Lisett is noticeably happier and has become more organized in delivering exceptional materials to the sales team. Mari Ann has integrated seamlessly into our team and manages our social media with outstanding focus and determination.”
“For me personally, thanks to Ott’s support, I have a much better understanding of marketing and through that I see that I have less to worry about. Our marketing team has evolved to a point where I can step back and trust them,” Mart concluded.
Karl
“The marketing team has made substantial progress. Having Mart engaged with us when setting the vision and priorities and having a report that he is accustomed to gives us both more time to be productive. Our visibility has increased significantly, both internally and externally.”
“The new reporting system we developed with Ott has been transformative. Given our company's size, it has enhanced our overall communication and boosted the marketing team’s effectiveness by clarifying our priorities,” Karl explained.
Lisett
“Thanks to monthly reports, it’s clear that the marketing team’s efforts are now better understood and valued, not only by us, but also by others. The 2023 vision and strategy workshop was a game changer for me. Whenever I’m overwhelmed with tasks, I refer back to our priorities to stay focused.”
Mari Ann: “As a newcomer to the marketing field, Ott’s support was invaluable. He shared his expertise and assisted me weekly in refining our social media posts. Additionally, he taught me how to write blog posts and conduct client interviews,” Mari Ann noted.
Why Recommend Ott to Other Companies?
Mart: “He excels at creating structured plans and ensuring that the marketing team follows through with implementation.”
Karl: “Ott possesses all the essential frameworks, tools and methodologies for developing a marketing team. He is friendly and engaged, making it enjoyable to collaborate with him.”
Lisett: “Ott is both determined and methodical, yet helpful and approachable. Also, he could navigate the complicated world of biotech enough to help us succeed in marketing.”
Mari Ann: “Ott is a mentor with diverse experience who tailors his coaching to fit each individual’s strengths, helping us all stay on the path to success.”
