Supercharging Marketing—the Mission for New Chief Marketing Officer at BIO
Marketing veteran, Melissa von Stauffenberg, to take BIO’s reputation as premier in-person event sponsor and D.C. advocacy powerhouse to next level
Washington, DC – The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) has appointed Melissa von Stauffenberg as Chief Marketing Officer, effective February 1, 2021. The newly created position emerged from a recent reorganization aimed at driving a bio revolution through advocacy, education and collaboration that can equitably cure patients, protect the climate and nourish humanity.
With over 20 years of experience in digital marketing, strategic consulting, data science and marketing analytics for biopharmaceutical brands and influential membership associations like AARP, von Stauffenberg will guide the organization’s marketing efforts as it operationalizes the five pillars of the strategic vison.
“Melissa’s vision and experience are what we need as we communicate and execute our strategic plan,” said BIO’s President & CEO, Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath. “As we move from virtual events back to in-person, you can expect to see reimagined, robust and exciting concepts that reflect a post-pandemic world.”
As with all live and in-person events during the COVID era, BIO’s premier, worldwide biotechnology conferences have gone digital. BIO’s virtual events have drawn record attendance and facilitated over 37,000 business partnering meetings throughout 2020. While BIO will continue to dominate the virtual convening space in 2021, the new CMO signals a new and reimagined future for live, in-person events in late 2021 and beyond. von Stauffenberg will spearhead this effort.
In addition, she will manage BIO’s overall marketing strategy highlighting the group’s role as a champion of science, its important work advocating for the industry on Capitol Hill and in state capitals, its thought leadership within the sector, and why BIO membership is vital to research and development companies working in the biotech ecosystem.
von Stauffenberg comes to BIO after having worked at Wunderman Thompson Health for nearly a decade, rising from Associate to Senior Vice President and worked at AARP for over five years managing partner marketing campaigns targeting members. During her tenure, she has represented a diverse array of clients including Pfizer, Bayer, Female Healthcare, Sanofi Aventis and Optum, to name a few.
“I am both humbled and excited to help advance the reputation of an industry and organization that is today literally saving lives and developing biotech solutions to diminish hunger and stop global warming,” commented von Stauffenberg. “I also recognize that BIO’s premier partnering and education events are second to none—whether virtual or in-person. While we await the return of in-person events, I will work to evolve BIO’s events model to fit the business engagement pattern of the future.”
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