When Strong Science Still Struggles
The Hidden Meaning Problem in Emerging Markets
I’ve been in marketing and communication work for more than 35 years and spent most of that time in markets that didn’t quite exist yet.
Interactive entertainment before gaming systems. Early digital before the dot bomb. Enterprise technology before it was called SaaS. Wearable neurotechnology before most people knew where to place it. Women’s health before it was cool.
Different industries. Different constraints. Different acronyms.
The pattern, however, has been remarkably consistent.
The Challenge of Building Without Category Language
When you’re building something the market doesn’t yet have language for, traditional marketing doesn’t just underperform — it misfires.
Not because the product is weak.
Not because the science isn’t sound.
But because there is no shared schema yet. No mental shelf where the product neatly fits.
I’ve sat in rooms where the mechanism was airtight and the team was brilliant, and still felt the air shift — not hostile (ok maybe a little hostile), not dismissive, just unanchored.
Investors nodding but not leaning in.
Customers curious but not committing.
Teams subtly explaining the same product three, four, five different ways.
That moment used to frustrate the heck out of me. Now I recognize it almost instantly.
It’s Not A Marketing Execution Problem.
It’s A Meaning Problem.
Why Emerging and Pre-Category Markets Create Friction
In emerging or pre-category markets, customers don’t know how to categorize you. Investors don’t know what to benchmark you against. Teams feel the strain of constantly re-explaining the core. The friction shows up everywhere — longer sales cycles, repeated deck rewrites, high education load, traction that feels heavier than it should.
Over time, I stopped chasing channels and started studying belief. What must be understood before someone can act? What must feel safe before someone can change behavior? What story has to make sense before adoption becomes obvious?
Why This Work Matters More In Frontier Health
That shift is what pulled me toward frontier health.
“Because in regulated innovation, clarity and precision isn’t cosmetic—it’s ethical.”
When you are building something that touches the body, the nervous system, a diagnosis, or a long-term outcome, narrative coherence isn’t optional. It shapes trust. It shapes behavior. It shapes access.
What Happens When Mechanism, Meaning, And Market Align
When mechanism, meaning, and timing align, momentum feels different.
Clinicians stop hesitating.
Investors stop asking you to “simplify.”
Early adopters don’t require exhaustive explanation.
And downstream of that alignment, something more important happens.
Patients gain access sooner.
Babies get healthier.
People live longer.
Quality of life improves in ways that never, ever show up in a marketing dashboard.
That’s the part I care most about — not impressions, not noise, not clever positioning for its own sake. Impact. And, you can't have impact if meaning doesn't land.
If you’re building something clinically sound but commercially heavy, I’m always open to a quick conversation about where that friction may be coming from. Sometimes a 30-minute calibration surfaces what months of execution haven’t made visible.