How to Sell Anything - Including Bacteria!
(Reading time: 3 minutes)
In 1979, Robin Warren, a pathologist from Perth, discovered a strain of bacteria living in the stomachs of patients with ulcers -something supposedly impossible. The few colleagues he told snickered at his claims, so for two years he worked alone on the problem.
Then, in 1981, Warren met Barry Marshall, an enthusiastic gastroenterology registrar. Working together, it took the two men nearly 20 years to prove their theories. After two decades, they eventually convinced the medical community that the mysterious helibactor pylori was the culprit for 80-90% of all stomach ulcers -and that the condition could be cured.
A hardworking but shy pathologist, Warren, although convinced of his discovery, had been unable to get anyone to take it seriously. Marshall was an outgoing, enthusiastic and risk-taking 'salesman' who believed so strongly in their theory that he swallowed a mouthful of heliobactor and deliberately gave himself a stomach ulcer as proof.
Sometimes it seems that a really good idea should sell itself -but really, nothing sells itself. So how did Marshall get the medical community (and the profiteering pharmaceutical companies) to radically change decades-old thinking?
Get in front of your market and stay there: Rather than just going up against pharmaceutical companies and the official medical establishment trying to quash them, Marshall went 'on the road' with their theories. He attended conferences, visited hospitals and spoke to doctors in the field.
Remember that it takes time to build and maintain a brand. Although discovered in 1979, heliobactor pylori was only officially recognised as a cause of stomach inflammation in the mid '90s.
Use the media: Although a product launch or charity sponsorship may not make Time magazine like Marshall, Warren and their impossible bacteria, your industry-specific and local print and web media sources are always ready for stories. Next time you have news, send them a press release and photo.
If Marshall hadn't pushed their innovation, Warren has said that "I suspect I'd still be trying to convince people of it."
Warren made the discovery, and Marshall made it heard. In 2005 they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine -together.
BBeB
