CASE STUDY
Cell & Gene Therapy Market Positioning
Repositioning a Bioprocessing Manufacturer for the Cell & Gene Therapy Market Through Strategic Messaging and Content Development.
The Challenge
A manufacturer of cell therapy and bioprocessing single-use solutions was pivoting toward specialized CGT customers but lacked the resources and messaging to effectively target this market. With facilities and product development investments underway, they needed a positioning strategy that bridged their technical capabilities with CGT customer demands—while filling content gaps that prevented them from fully articulating their value proposition.
- Industry: Cell & Gene Therapy / Bioprocessing
- Services: Brand Positioning, Messaging Strategy, Content Development, Market Research
- Timeline: Multi-month strategic engagement
- Company Type: Mid-market manufacturer providing high-touch customization for CGT applications
Company Background
The Company is a manufacturer of cell therapy and bioprocessing single-use solutions that differentiates itself through high-touch customization for its clients. Unlike large-scale suppliers that offer standardized products, the Company built its business model around understanding unique customer requirements and engineering bespoke solutions that address specific technical challenges in biologics manufacturing. This approach allowed the Company to serve customers who needed more flexibility, faster turnaround, or specialized capabilities that commodity suppliers couldn’t provide.
As the cell and gene therapy (CGT) market began to accelerate—driven by breakthrough clinical successes, increasing regulatory approvals, and significant investment from pharma and biotech—the Company recognized a strategic opportunity. CGT manufacturing posed unique technical challenges: autologous therapies required patient-specific production, cell-based products were highly sensitive to processing conditions, and manufacturing workflows were still evolving as the industry matured. These characteristics created demand for suppliers who could provide customized solutions rather than off-the-shelf products—playing directly into the Company’s core strength.
The Business Challenge
The Company decided to make a strategic pivot to target cell therapy customers more aggressively, including making significant investments in facilities and product developmentto offer bespoke CGT solutions. However, this pivot created several immediate challenges that threatened to limit the effectiveness of the strategy.
First, the Company lacked the resources to effectively target, position, and market to prospective CGT customers. While they had technical capabilities and manufacturing infrastructure, they didn’t have dedicated marketing resources, clear messaging frameworks, or content that spoke specifically to CGT customer needs. Their existing marketing materials were generic, focused on broad bioprocessing applications rather than the nuanced requirements of cell therapy manufacturing.
Second, because the strategy pivot was recent, there were gaps in the Company’s content and positioning that prevented them from fully articulating their CGT value proposition. They hadn’t documented case studies showing successful CGT projects. They didn’t have technical whitepapers addressing CGT-specific challenges like cryopreservation, closed-system processing, or autologous workflow optimization. Their website and sales collateral didn’t demonstrate deep understanding of CGT customer pain points or how the Company’s customization capabilities solved those problems.
Third, the Company needed to understand how to align their technical capabilities with unmet CGT customer needs. What were CGT manufacturers struggling with? Where were existing suppliers falling short? Which aspects of the Company’s customization capabilities were most valuable in CGT applications? Without answers to these questions, the Company risked investing in the wrong capabilities or positioning themselves around features that didn’t matter to their target customers.
The Company needed help developing a positioning strategy that combined the technical with customer demands for cell therapy applications—creating messaging that would resonate with CGT customers while filling content gaps that would allow them to compete credibly in this specialized market.
Our Approach
01 | Cross-Functional Discovery & Capability Mapping
We started the engagement with interviews across various company functions—talking to R&D, manufacturing, quality, sales, and leadership to understand the Company’s actual capabilities, recent project history, and what made them uniquely positioned to serve CGT customers. We also conducted an independent analysis of the firm’s capabilities, going beyond what stakeholders told us to assess technical specifications, manufacturing processes, quality systems, and customization workflows. This deep dive ensured we understood not just what the Company thought they offered, but what they could actually deliver that would be valuable to CGT manufacturers.
02 | Competitive & Customer Research
We conducted a review of the competitive landscape to understand how other single-use solution providers were positioning themselves in the CGT market, what messaging they were using, and where gaps or weaknesses existed. We also researched what clients were saying about the Company and how they worked with them—mining customer feedback, win/loss analysis, and sales call notes to identify patterns in how customers perceived the Company’s strengths and where they saw opportunities for improvement. This external perspective was critical for grounding our positioning strategy in market reality rather than internal assumptions.
03 | Unmet Needs Mapping & Messaging Alignment
We worked with the team to identify specific unmet needs in the CGT market—challenges that existing suppliers weren’t solving effectively and where the Company’s customization capabilities could create differentiated value. These unmet needs became the foundation for the new messaging strategy, ensuring that the Company’s positioning wasn’t just about what they could do technically, but about how those capabilities solved real customer problems. We aligned messaging across customer segments (autologous vs. allogeneic manufacturers, early-stage vs. commercial-scale operations) to ensure relevance and resonance.
04 | Content Development & Gap Filling
Because the Company’s strategy pivot was recent, there were significant gaps in content that prevented them from positioning fully. We conducted additional research on CGT manufacturing challenges, regulatory requirements, and technical best practices—then generated content and messaging to fill those gaps. This included technical positioning documents, customer-facing value propositions, internal sales enablement materials, and foundational content that the Company could use to build out more comprehensive marketing programs over time. By providing this content, we ensured the Company could execute on the positioning strategy immediately rather than waiting months to develop materials internally.
The Impact
Clear, Differentiated Positioning
The Company moved from generic bioprocessing messaging to a clear, differentiated CGT-focused value proposition that highlighted their unique ability to provide high-touch customization for complex cell therapy applications. This positioning gave the sales team confidence when engaging CGT prospects and provided marketing with a foundation for building sustained campaigns.
Aligned Internal Understanding
The cross-functional interviews and positioning work created alignment across the organization on how to talk about CGT capabilities. R&D, manufacturing, sales, and leadership all spoke the same language about unmet customer needs and how the Company’s solutions addressed them—eliminating the confusion and inconsistency that had existed before.
Actionable Content Foundation
By filling content gaps and developing core messaging frameworks, we gave the Company immediately actionable materials they could use in sales conversations, on their website, and in marketing campaigns. They didn’t have to wait to execute on the new positioning—they had the tools to start engaging CGT customers right away.
Strategic Clarity on Market Approach
The work helped the Company think more strategically about how to market and serve CGT customers—not just what to say, but which customer segments to prioritize, what types of partnerships to pursue, and where to invest in additional technical capabilities. This strategic clarity ensured that their facilities and product development investments would align with actual market needs rather than internal assumptions about what CGT customers wanted.
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