CELLERO SUCCESS STORY

Confident brand launch leads to $38M acquisition

Key points

Astarte Biologics and Key Biologics merged in 2018 to become the leading provider of research- and clinical-grade human immune cells, blood products, and related services to biopharmaceutical companies and researchers.
The leadership team chose Clarity Quest to create a new brand identity for the combined organization that would make a big splash in the cell and gene therapy industry.
Clarity Quest built the new Cellero brand from the ground up, including messaging, naming, visual identity, e-commerce website development, and brand launch strategy.
Because of our life sciences marketing agency’s long and successful history growing Astarte Biologics’ revenue by 5X, Clarity Quest was the natural choice to execute the new branding initiatives.

Less than two months after launching the Cellero brand, Cellero was acquired by Charles River Laboratories for $38M.

Cellero provides high-quality biomaterials, characterized immune cell products, custom assay services, and collections expertise at every stage of drug development and cell therapy from research through compassionate patient care.

Company size

Small to enterprise

Marketing services provided

Visualizing the potential for success

The merger brought together two successful companies serving different sectors of the life sciences industry. Seattle-based Astarte Biologics was a leading provider of cryopreserved immune cell products and research services to pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, and academic institutions throughout the world.

Key Biologics was a well-respected industry leader in supplying fresh leukapheresis and plateletpheresis blood products and related collection services to companies conducting clinical trials and manufacturing cell and gene therapies.

The two companies had an undeniable synergy and limitless potential.

From concept to reality

Clarity Quest facilitated a full-day, intensive brainstorming session with stakeholders from Astarte Biologics, Key Biologics, and their investment partner. After clarifying all parties’ strengths, weaknesses, and visions for the future, our marketing team put the desired direction of the company into words to form the foundation of the new marketing direction. We provided:

Corporate messaging
Product and service messaging
Persona targets and positioning
Value propositions

The new marketing language positions the company as a comprehensive product and service provider across all stages of the cell and gene therapy discovery and development lifecycle.

Constructing a new identity

When combining two or more companies, there are many variables to consider for the brand architecture. We decided to retain the Key Biologics name as a sub-brand for a smoother transition, which called for a new parent brand name and identity.

The leadership team decided on Cellero as the new company name. We took inspiration for this name from the Latin word meaning accelerate/speed, which fits with the company’s mission to help customers accelerate advancements in new treatments and cures. The name also incorporates the word cell, which speaks to the company’s primary product offerings.

Once we had a name, we quickly executed a new logo, tagline, color scheme, and comprehensive brand style guide.

Beauty, brains, and brawn — all in one website

Our team developed and designed a new search engine optimized website for Cellero, combining the requirements of both Astarte Biologics and Key Biologics to ensure an optimal online experience for all customers and ease of use for employees.

The new Cellero brand style comes to life on the website with fresh, crisp imagery and lively colors. The scientific and fulfillment teams at all Cellero locations across the country required seamless, real-time interaction with online orders and requests. We created an enhanced back-end inventory management system synced to the e-commerce website and implemented a consistent user experience across all product inventory and custom request pages.

The result is an attractive, functional website that makes life easier for customers and employees alike.

“I just want to express my gratitude for all the work the CQ team put into getting us to launch. We are all very excited about our new brand, and appreciate your team’s leadership and facilitation of brand design and messaging. It is very rewarding to have a unifying brand for our team and our stakeholders to rally around. Thank you!"

Jeffrey D. Allen, President & CEO | Cellero

Introducing Cellero to the world

Our job doesn’t stop after creative; detailed strategic planning and execution are essential to successfully launching a brand. We created a comprehensive brand launch calendar that kept all parties informed and accountable for pre-launch and post-launch deliverables related to communications, creative, digital, and business development, including: