Branding Jargon 101: Creative Terms Every Biotech Founder Should Know

(Part 1)

Scientists know a thing or two about jargon. After all, the majority of the proteins they work with have acronyms that look like someone spilled alphabet soup on the floor and just went with it.

Every field develops its own shorthand, and when you’re communicating complicated ideas with other people who understand them, that shorthand is useful.

Then you hire a creative team. Now suddenly, they’re the ones speaking another language.

Someone wants your thoughts on the mood board. The sitemap needs to be approved before wireframing can begin. Your messaging pillars need another pass. The hero isn’t working.

You nod thoughtfully. Yes. The hero. Of course.

Branding, design, and communications have plenty of jargon of their own. And while you don’t need to become a brand strategist or designer to build a great biotech brand, knowing some of the language can make working with one a whole lot easier.

Let’s break down some of the most common terminology we use.

What your company stands for

Before we start making things look good, we need to figure out what you actually want people to understand about your company.

1. Messaging

What could this mean?: The words on your website?

What it actually is: The specific ideas you want people to understand, remember, and ideally repeat about your company.

Messaging defines what you want to communicate, not necessarily the exact words you’ll use to say it. For example, one of your key messages might be that your platform can address a biological target that previous approaches couldn’t reach.

That idea might become a headline on your website, three slides in an investor deck, a sentence in a press release, or a talking point your CEO uses in a meeting. The words change, but the overall message doesn’t.

2. Messaging pillars

What could this mean?: Very sturdy sentences?

What it actually is: The major themes you use to organize all those individual messages.

Think of messaging pillars as buckets. One might focus on your differentiated science. Another might center on the patient need. Another might establish why your company or team is going to be successful.

Under each pillar sit more specific messages and the evidence that supports them. Together, the pillars create a foundation for what your company consistently talks about and help keep every new website page, deck, press release, or conference presentation from becoming an exercise in reinventing your story from scratch.

3. Proof points

What could this mean?: Data? Finally, we’re back on familiar ground!

What it actually is: The evidence that backs up your messages.

And yes, data can absolutely be a proof point. But so can publications, partnerships, patents, regulatory milestones, team expertise, financing, or other evidence that shows there’s substance behind what you’re saying.

4. Narrative

What could this mean?: Something from 10th grade English class?

What it actually is: The larger story that connects your messaging pillars all together.

Your narrative answers the bigger questions. What problem exists? Why does it matter? Why haven’t existing approaches solved it? What are you doing differently? Why might your approach work? What have you accomplished so far? And where are you going next?

So wait, isn’t that just messaging, though? Not quite…the difference is that messaging gives you the important ideas you need to communicate. Your narrative, however, is how those ideas fit together to tell a story.

Put another way:

Narrative = the story.

Messaging pillars = the major themes that structure the story.

Messages = the ideas you want people to take away.

Proof points = the evidence that makes those ideas believable.

Copy = the actual words you use to bring it all to life.

What your company looks like

Once we know what you want people to understand about you, we can start figuring out what that should look and feel like.

1. Brand

What it sounds like: Your logo.

What it actually is: Your brand is the larger perception people have of your company. It’s the ideas, feelings, expectations, and associations they connect with you. Your logo is one tool for expressing that brand, but it’s not the only thing.

2. Visual identity

What it sounds like: Your logo. Again.

What it actually is: The visuals that make your company recognizable.

Your logo lives here, but so do your colors, typography, photography, illustration style, graphic elements, and other visual choices. Together, those pieces create a consistent visual language for your company. And consistency is memorable.

3. Mood board

What it sounds like: A Pinterest board created during an emotional crisis.

What it actually is: A collection of visual references and inspiration used to explore the look and feel of a brand before anyone commits to a final design.

Images, colors, typography, textures, and other inspiration can help establish a shared visual language. For example, it can help you decide whether your company’s brand should feel bold or understated, technical or human, established or disruptive.

The point isn’t that everything on the mood board will literally appear in your finished brand. It’s to make sure everyone is heading in the same direction before design begins.

4. Creative direction

What it sounds like: “Can you make it pop?”

What it actually is: The overarching concept guiding the creative work.

Creative direction connects individual design decisions to a bigger idea. Instead of choosing a color because it looks nice or an image because someone likes it, you’re making those choices because they reinforce how you want the company to look, feel, and be perceived. And because messaging and creative direction go hand in hand, the words and visuals should tell the same story. What you’re saying about your company should feel consistent with how you’re presenting it.

5. Brand guidelines

What it sounds like: Wee-woo wee-woo. The branding police have arrived!

What it actually is: The rulebook for using your brand consistently.

Brand guidelines might cover how you use your logo, colors, typography, photography, illustration, messaging, voice, and more. They’re what helps your website, investor deck, LinkedIn graphics, conference booth, and whatever else you create actually look and sound like they came from the same company.

They’re also what prevents someone six months from now from stretching your logo across a PowerPoint slide and turning it purple because “I like it like that.”

Scientists 🤝 creatives: making up words so we can do our jobs

Every specialized field develops its own shorthand. Scientists need precise language to communicate complicated ideas efficiently. Designers, strategists, writers, and marketers do too! The problem comes when we forget that the people on the other side of the table don’t necessarily speak the same language.

You don’t need a design degree to work effectively with a creative team, just like your designer doesn’t need a PhD to tell your company’s story. But understanding each other’s language makes it a hell of a lot easier to get to something great.