Sano Genetics
IN A NUTSHELL
A complex product offering combined with diverse audiences made for a tricky positioning challenge. We arrived at an idea that was so simple it could be explained with a hand gesture.
THE CHALLENGE
Sano’s product suite is designed to help recruit, screen and engage patients for precision medicine clinical trials. But they were finding it hard to explain exactly what they do simply - because they do A LOT…
An overview of some of Sano’s services
It was partly a messaging challenge. But Sano also needed an organising idea to position their brand, so discussions about their respective services would reinforce, not dilute, their overarching proposition.
FINDINGS
Organising and running clinical trials is woefully inefficient. Each step is complicated, siloed and requires multiple parties. And when it comes to precision medicine, every inefficiency is magnified.
For some rare diseases only one in 10,000 people will have the right genetic biomarker for a trial. Systemic inefficiencies (‘leaky buckets’) result in running out of patients or funds - and cures never seeing light of day.
Sano’s end-to-end platform begins to solve a lot of this.
L e a k y b u c k e t s
THE BAD NEWS
Few prospects were looking for an end-to-end platform. Most were focussed on one part of the process at any one time. For example, they were just thinking about the patients they needed right now.
This left the Sano team torn: should they keep pushing their platform story, knowing it was the right long-term play, or adapt their message for each opportunity and audience for short term growth?
A SIMPLE REFRAME
I made a couple of useful observations. First, despite the fact that their competitor set changed from service to service, Sano were always competing with vertical specialists, even if the specific vertical varied.
Second, even if prospects only wanted one of Sano’s services, it was Sano’s end-to-end system that actually made them better at each standalone part—a truth that was easy to prove feature by feature.
So it wasn’t a specific competitor-type Sano needed to position themselves against. Their enemy was siloed thinking and partial information. Whatever the context, Sano’s unique strength was providing a fuller picture.
This fuller picture was Sano’s clear point of difference; an advantage at every step of the process and it represented change that the industry was crying out for. We just needed a relevant way to talk about it.
THE AH-HA MOMENT
Stories bring ideas to life. The perfect story for this idea was the sequencing of the human genome. After all, only by mapping the whole sequence was the full potential of precision medicine unlocked.
This story made Sano’s full picture narrative sticky, and in the blink of an eye other examples surfaced, helping to explain why a full picture is necessary and how Sano’s approach makes it possible. For example…
Examples of Sano representing a fuller, better picture
While all this was taking shape, by divine coincidence, I discovered that, as well as ‘healthy’, the word Sano also means ‘whole’. Thanks etymology gods!
That circle in the name didn’t hurt either…
The idea of a ‘full circle service’ became irresistible. Although we switched the language to “360” for Sano’s proposition statement to make it as immediately understandable to clients as possible.
Initially paralysed by the complexity of Sano’s offering and audience mix, we were arriving at an idea - and a symbol - of utter simplicity: a circle. And in the spirit of simplicity, I summarised the thinking thus:
Never be afraid to simplify
This inspired the line “Connecting dots to accelerate cures” to capture Sano’s ultimate purpose. A flywheel of medical progress, made possible when every step in the system is perfectly joined up.
The circle was also a useful device to highlight Sano’s range of services, while reinforcing the 360° message.
Circles, 360° platforms. You’d be forgiven for thinking this is all a bit obvious. But good solutions often are in hindsight. This idea and symbolism armed Sano with a story that’s distinctive in their category.
Messaging TOOLKIT
A simple shorthand is great, but Sano still needed to see how this idea flowed down into messaging across services and to each of their audiences. Which is what I did next, collaborating with their team.
These painstakingly constructed Messaging Houses gave teams a blueprint for how to talk about every aspect of what the company does, while staying true to the overarching proposition and organising brand idea.
Lastly, I created a tool to help the team prioritise new business leads. It offered a simple way to assess how meaningfully a prospective engagement would reinforce their ‘full circle’ proposition.
““I was thoroughly impressed by Andy’s capacity to grasp the intricacies of our offerings and extract insights from a wide spectrum of stakeholders. His work will truly level up the way we operate internally and the way we go-to-market.””
Final thought
My favourite moment during this project was when Lauren (above) said she had explained Sano’s approach on a video call by making a circle with her fingers. Now that’s a shorthand.