A helpfully practical and authoritative introduction to the marketing of scientific products.
Chabe, a veteran marketing consultant, explains how scientists can effectively sell their ideas commercially.
The author notes a burgeoning trend of “science-driven entrepreneurial ventures,” a trend that poses special challenges for scientists unaccustomed to marketing. She calls this problem the “exposure conundrum,” in which the scientific labor that leads to a new discovery seems categorically different from the work of garnering recognition for it. In order to bridge the gap, the author, with impressive breadth and meticulous attention to detail, sketches a vision of what she calls the “distinct discipline of science marketing”—a comprehensive set of strategies aimed at scientists. She breaks her treatment into three basic “pillars.” First, one must precisely identify a target audience for whom the product is most relevant, she says. Second, one must figure out the product’s “frame,” or the “value vow,” which articulates the needs and desires that the product will satisfy. Thirdly, she concludes, one must locate the best channels to connect with the target audience. Chabe’s discussion is remarkably wide-ranging and covers not only brand storytelling and campaign strategy, but also the basics of website analytics and the opportunities of trade shows. She convincingly advocates for a marketing approach that blends the analytical rigor of science with the creative presentation of “resonant themes,” and she speaks with clarity about the challenges of presenting technically prohibitive ideas to an audience that may not be familiar with them. She keenly understands the peculiar nature of competition in the science world, which includes not only rivals in the conventional sense, but also “indirect challenges,” such as technological obstacles and resistance to innovation.
Chabe is the founder and CEO of High Touch Group, one of the few marketing firms to specialize in science marketing, and she writes confidently from a wealth of experience and obvious expertise. Despite the book’s brevity and concision, it’s almost encyclopedically thorough, which makes it a perfect one-volume reference for newcomers to the subject. The author intends the book to be a practical guide with actionable counsel conveyed in straightforward, accessible language, and she accomplishes all these things. She achieves even more, however, by reflecting thoughtfully on the ways in which superior science marketing not only makes life easier for scientists with products to peddle, but also improves the world at large: “It can galvanize individuals, communities, and even nations to align behaviors and policies with scientifically backed solutions. Marketing amplifies the voice of science, enabling it to resonate in places that matter most—from board room to policy chambers to kitchen tables.” The world certainly has no shortage of popular books about marketing, but very few speak specifically to science marketing while also avoiding vague reductionism and facile formulas. Chabe’s contribution is intellectually rigorous and free of the condescension and hyper-generality that typify so many other books in the genre. Anyone who works at the intersection of science and commerce is likely to benefit from reading this handbook with care.
A helpfully practical and authoritative introduction to the marketing of scientific products.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781642256024
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Advantage Media Group
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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A passionate and accessible guide to humanizing the workplace.
Helbig and Norman present a game plan for making leadership more responsively human.
In this expanded update to The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully by Being More Human (2023), the authors provide “practical strategies for responding to resistance, sparking change, embodying the change we want to see, and moving forward deliberately,” specifically in a business setting. They suggest ways to encourage what they call “changemakers” through the use of five key “plays” from their playbook: Communicate Courageously, Master the Art of Listening, Manage Your Reactions (“shift from automatic reaction to conscious response to stay better connected to yourself and others”), Embrace Risk and Failure, and Design Inclusive Rituals. The goal is to ensure that organizational cultures promote psychological safety, guided by leaders who “walk the talk” by emphasizing their own humanity at every turn. (“We must be the first to share our own failures with our teams, which will start to make it possible for others to do the same.”) This call for example-setting is sounded throughout the book as Helbig and Norman urge their target audience (leaders and would-be leaders) to go beyond mere instruction and instead embody the qualities they want to see in their subordinates, such as continuous learning, active curiosity, and self-reflection. Each chapter includes a detailed “Recommended Reading” section and text with extensive numbered and bulleted points formatted to make the core concepts more immediately digestible. The authors effectively employ clear and empathetic prose to assure readers that psychological safety is slow to build and quick to break, observing that such safety requires steady attention and delivers outsize payoffs as a result. They refreshingly ground a great deal of the material in psychology and neuroscience, pointing out, for instance, that research has demonstrated that the parasympathetic nervous system responds to honest appreciation, which improves creative thinking. Some wistful readers might consider some of the authors’ suggestions beyond the reach of their own organizations, as when group facilitators are advised to “gently intervene when someone dominates the conversation,” but hope springs eternal.
A passionate and accessible guide to humanizing the workplace.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9798993550503
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Crazy Idea Press
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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