Orientation Marketing at the Chester Tech Meetup
A summary of the Orientation Marketing talks from the Chester Tech Meetup.
Last week, Orientation Marketing were hosted by Searchability at their offices for the quarterly Chester Tech Meetup. Chris Lawson and Gareth Roberts spoke from Orientation Marketing and provided insights on the history and growth of the agency, as well as some insights into B2B digital marketing.
Below is a summary of the talks provided.
Talk #1: Orientation Marketing: Defying Industry Norms
Born from frustration with the lack of value and dynamism in existing agencies, Orientation Marketing set out to create something different: An agency that delivers first-class service, deep sector expertise, and measurable impact for every client, regardless of budget.
Our journey
2015 – Founded with Catalent Pharma Solutions as our first client.
2016–2019 – Expanded services beyond media consultancy into inbound marketing, creative, content creation, and digital campaigns.
2020 – Navigated the challenges of COVID-19 by supporting critical clients, including Catalent (Moderna vaccine manufacturing) and Schott (global vaccine vial production).
2021–Present – Continued growth, adding PR, strategy, SEM, communications, and events. Expanded into the US market and grew to become one of the top three agencies in our sector.
Today
Team: 20 permanent colleagues across the UK and USA, supported by 10 specialist contractors.
Clients: A strong and growing global portfolio, with long-standing relationships across leading pharma and biopharma companies.
Revenue: Projected to reach £4 million in 2025.
Leadership: Recently welcomed two senior industry executives (from Catalent) who bring unrivalled client-side experience.
Our future
Service Excellence – Scaling without compromising quality.
Growth – Expanding further in the US market and exploring acquisitions.
Innovation – Continuously evolving our services to stay ahead of client needs.
Our ethos
At Orientation Marketing, we believe that hard work, persistence, and integrity drive success. As one industry contact put it: “You guys are absolutely everywhere.”
Or, to paraphrase golfer Gary Player: “The harder we work, the luckier we get.”
Talk #2: Dos and Don’ts of B2B digital marketing
In B2B marketing, particularly in pharma and biopharma, building long-term trust and credibility is essential. Buyers are cautious, professional, and often make decisions through complex networks of stakeholders. Marketing in this space must therefore be strategic, respectful, and value-driven.
Key challenges in B2B marketing
Complex Decision-Making – Multiple stakeholders (procurement, compliance, R&D, marketing, legal) involved in lengthy, high-value deals.
Relationship-Driven – “Who you know” still plays a big role in reassuring buyers of reliability and compliance.
Avoiding Bad Practices – Loud, reckless, deceptive, or overly aggressive tactics damage credibility.
Tracking & Privacy – Data collection is useful, but “creepy” remarketing or intrusive sales follow-ups erode trust.
Strategic Priorities for Effective B2B Marketing
Tracking
Collect data on your prospects but avoid doing anything that is so clever that it makes people uncomfortable.
Recommendations based on your last visit/read or based on job title are fine but don’t remarket for the sake of remarketing
Analytics
Don’t rely on vanity metrics - but if you don’t measure, then it won’t grow.
Align KPIs with sales for closed-loop marketing that tracks the entire buyer journey.
Content
B2B content must be comprehensive, professional, and engaging (not boring or overly safe).
Use content strategically to answer buyer questions at every stage.
AI can support with ideation, optimisation, and repurposing — but not yet full content creation.
Personalisation
Move beyond basic demographic targeting.
Tailor messaging to job roles (CFOs focus on cost and efficiency, CTOs/CSOs on science and technology).
AI is well-suited for optimisation and scaling personalisation.
Targeting
Define and prioritise audiences — avoid broad targeting, especially in paid media.
Use company/contact lists and refine segments mid-campaign based on performance.
Channels
Choose digital platforms that align with audience behaviour (LinkedIn, TikTok, niche networks).
Test new, experimental channels for learning and innovation.
Combine digital with high-impact physical channels to strengthen relationships.
Artificial Intelligence
Use AI as a productivity enhancer and strategic assistant, not as a replacement for human creativity or relationship-building.
AI is powerful but still at an early stage — apply it carefully for insights, optimisation, and efficiency.
Successful B2B marketing in pharma and biopharma is about balancing innovation with trust. AI and digital tools offer powerful ways to optimise targeting, personalisation, and analytics — but the foundations remain the same: credible content, strategic execution, and relationship-based trust.
The talk also included a series of interactive polls that allowed the audience to select their preferences within a hypothetical scenario. The audience was tasked with finding a marketing agency to support their activities, and the responses gained would be used to determine a suitable approach to reach them, formulated by AI. The results and marketing approach/plan can be found here.
Please find the presentation slides below.
