Approaches to marketing scientific research services

Marketing scientific research and related technical services to industry is of increasing importance to research laboratories facing declining government funding. At the same time, many firms see such organizations as attractive potential resources, including previously inaccessible large-scale research expertise and infrastructure. However, experience of both private firms and government labs in working together is relatively limited. Concepts from services marketing, with its strong focus on customer needs, can help facilitate the linkages. This article shows that these concepts should be applied to marketing short-term R&D and technical services. When marketing longer term research, however, insights into customer needs will be of little help in facilitating alliances to commercialize technologies for which no known market exists. What does the market tell us that is important in finding potential allies? Venture capitalists and other investors considering longer term research as an investment possibility look for a track record, platform technologies, commercially aware researchers, and how convincingly and creatively the research provider helps the investor manage risk.