BWS Dialogues is a podcast where we share everything from marketing insights to pharma, life science, and more. As we close out 2025, our last episode for the year looks back on celebrating our 20th anniversary as a B2B, full-service marketing agency in science.
CEO Debra Harrsch and CSO Peter Harrsch share the 20-year journey of Brandwidth Solutions, from our science-driven entrepreneurial beginnings to becoming a full-service digital marketing agency and a trusted partner for pharma, biotech, and life science companies. We discuss how marketing has evolved, the true power of storytelling, our agency’s deep understanding of technical science, and what’s in store for B2B communication and marketing moving forward.
Here’s a brief, summarized version of the podcast episode.
What is Brandwidth Solutions?
[DEB]: Brandwidth Solutions is a life science marketing agency. We are full-service, so we do everything from public relations through advertising, creating and leading strategy, lead generation, marketing operations, and analytics. We support clients who are running their marketing departments, serving as an integral partner or handling project-based needs. And we are B2B focused, covering contract pharma, life science, healthcare diagnostics, and technology, which is software.
What led you to go out on your own and form what is now Brandwidth Solutions?
DEB: After years inside large organizations, including Thermo Fisher Informatics, I realized I wanted something else – that something was missing for me. I had spent time in director and manager roles, worked with research teams, and sat across the table from pharma executives and worked with outsourced marketing agencies.
I respected the agencies I partnered with, but I kept seeing the same gap. Teams could support creative and tactics, but they often lacked the scientific depth that was needed.
That missing piece is what pushed me to start Brandwidth Solutions. I wanted an agency built around science, one that could speak the science language. Early on when we brought new clients on, they told us, “You actually understand the science,” and it confirmed why I started this marketing agency. They didn’t have to slow down to teach us the fundamentals, and that helped us build trust from day one.
What was the first moment you experienced a “Wow, I’m really out on my own in a digital marketing agency? I’m running my own show” moment?
DEB: When I left Thermo in January, I went straight to Pittcon. It was familiar territory, and I still had strong relationships there. I was bootstrapping the business from day one, leaning on my Rolodex and on my husband’s support at home while I focused on getting things off the ground.
At that first show, I pitched nonstop and walked away with two clients. That early traction told me the idea had real weight. From there, it was time to handle the essentials, from forming the LLC to sorting out insurance and the other pieces needed to operate as a real company.
I also took a hard look at what I did well and what I didn’t. Tasks like bookkeeping went to outside partners so I could stay focused on business development and marketing. Storytelling quickly became the core. When companies recognize themselves in the stories you tell, they understand that you get their world and speak their language. That connection is what turns a website or a conversation into a real lead to nurture.
When you think back to those early days of building a marketing agency, what do you remember most about those first few years? What were some of the main client marketing needs at that time, and how do those compare to what clients are wanting now?
DEB: Back in 2005, digital marketing was still in its early stages. Print carried more weight; online ads existed but didn’t drive strategy the way search and display do now. But even with all the shifts since then, one thing stayed steady, and it starts with content. You need something meaningful to offer before anyone will engage or share their information.
Creative campaigns worked the same then as they do now. One example was a project for a company producing a generic version of a well-known [chromatography] column. We built a concept around “making cents,” playing on the idea of logic (sense) and cost savings (cents) because the generic was less expensive than the brand name. So that the fundamentals of creative work, of creating a catchy campaign, haven’t changed.
Certainly, the other piece that I feel hasn’t really changed is maximizing the lead when it comes in. What has changed is how teams capture and follow leads, and maximizing the lead when it comes in. Early CRMs were basic, and marketing automation barely existed. Today the tools are deeper, data is easier to track, and social media plays a real role, which wasn’t really true until around 2010.
Content remains the anchor across formats like blogs, social, PR, and thought leadership. The way we create and distribute it to an audience keeps evolving, but the need for strong stories stays the same. From the start, we focused on an integrated approach, helping clients repurpose content across channels and formats. Digital tactics shift, algorithms change, and new platforms appear, but storytelling and clear, useful content still sit at the center.
Deb, you’ve spoken as an entrepreneur for startups, and at CPHI you spoke on a panel about forming startups. So, thinking back, what were some of the biggest challenges of building and then continuing to manage a B2B marketing agency in the life sciences space?
DEB:
One challenge was keeping up with the technology. Tools were changing fast and staying current mattered. Building the right team mattered just as much. Culture starts at the top, and I’ve always believed a team works best when people trust each other enough to pick up work when someone else has to set something down.
Staying close to the science was another priority. Our clients’ needs evolve along with the science, and we needed to understand their challenges and their customers’ challenges to tell the right story. Through all the changes, one thing stayed constant: It has always been about the client. Their name is known in the industry, but their success is the measure that counts. When they succeed, we do too.
PETER:
Twenty years ago, scientists relied on print media, in-person sales, and trade shows. Marketing teams focused on these channels because online content was limited. As the internet grew, the way scientists gathered information changed. Today, they research products and services online and through social channels. They arrive at purchasing decisions with far more background than before, often well before speaking with a sales rep.
DEB:
That shift didn’t change the customer journey itself, but it changed where people get their information. Buyers still move from awareness to consideration to purchase, but now they do 60 to 70 percent of their research before talking to anyone. That’s why content has to live beyond a client’s website. Being part of larger conversations in third-party publications and [publishing] trend-oriented stories matters.
External factors like global events, supply issues, tariffs, and regulations also play into buying decisions. Our job is to help clients show up where their audiences gather information and to map content to each stage of the journey. Everything that used to be print now has a digital counterpart, which shifts how content must be built and shared.
Visibility demands have increased too. It used to take six to eight touchpoints for a buyer to remember a brand. Now it takes far more and across more channels. The mix keeps changing, but the goal stays the same: help clients stay present wherever their audiences look for answers.
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To continue the conversation in this episode of BWS Dialogues and learn more about Brandwidth Solutions as a full-service digital marketing agency, head over to our podcast page or wherever you prefer to get your podcasts!