As Executive Marketing Director at Genentech, Gina Noh leads strategic brand and customer marketing for the biotech company’s inline portfolio and future pipeline of therapies in Rare Blood Disorders. Fueled by a personal passion for improving patient health and quality of life, her 20-plus-year career in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry spans multiple disease areas, global markets, and functions including market access, B2B strategy, and sales and marketing through roles at Amgen, Pfizer, and Genentech.
With expertise in transforming complex challenges into purposeful action, she’s built deep experience in shaping go-to-market strategies, product launches, and maximizing impact across the lifecycle. Named to our Marketers to Watch list in partnership with The Wall Street Journal, Noh spoke to us about embedding AI into healthcare marketing, her philosophy of “empathetic curiosity” in leadership, and her approach to transformative and authentic storytelling.
What book or podcast do you recommend to marketing leaders?
I love the HBR on Leadership podcast. It gives clear and practical perspective and insights grounded in common challenges that leaders face every day. Dare to Lead is another great podcast; it reminds me of the power of vulnerability and courage, and I find it very helpful in thinking about change. I also strongly recommend one of my favorite books, Radical Candor by Kim Scott, which offers a powerful and simple framework for being both “real” and empathetic while building relationships and sharing feedback
How are you and your team currently using AI?
We’re exploring AI to amplify both strategy and execution – everything from analyzing customer insights faster to creating derivative content for campaigns. While it’s still early days, our approach is grounded in enhancing our team’s creativity, enabling us to respond to market dynamics with greater speed, and improving how we get the right content to the right stakeholder at the right time. We’re also focused on ensuring our teams are upskilled and AI-literate so they can confidently integrate various platforms, such as Gemini and Notebook LM, into our workflows and daily tasks. Overall, it’s been a learning journey. But adoption doesn’t require perfection – just the willingness to explore, adapt, and stay ahead of the curve!
What’s a prediction you have for marketing over the next few years?
Marketing in healthcare means navigating unique dynamics and limitations. Because we have to comply with strong requirements on promotional regulations and patient privacy, we need to operate in tighter constraints than most other marketers. We also have to reach and speak to many different audiences at once, because decision-making is so distributed in our space.
I believe we’ll see an even deeper focus on predictive personalization and experiential marketing in the years to come. I think, and hope, we will see much richer use of data, AI, and behavioral insights to more deeply understand and profile our customers, as well as to shape and deepen the experience that we can provide them. The future of our space is to embrace a true omnichannel approach and curate connected experiences that empower our customers with awareness and education of their treatment options. Doing that faster and at scale, while maintaining customer trust, will be everything.
What’s the most innovative or exciting project you’ve worked on recently?
The disease area that I have the privilege to work in is Hemophilia A, a genetic bleeding disorder where the blood doesn’t properly clot due to missing clotting factors. In rare diseases, as you can imagine, caregivers/parents play a pivotal role in providing care for their child. This year, with an elevated focus on how we drive higher engagement with this important segment, my team with our agency partner, 21GRAMs, launched a new campaign anchored around celebrating and honoring the resilience and triumphs of caregivers.
Called ORBIT, this short film chronicles the first decade in the life of a young patient with hemophilia A, uniquely told through the perspective of his mother. My team dedicated over 200 hours interviewing more than 50 mothers who care for children with hemophilia A to as accurately capture their collective experiences with heartfelt authenticity. The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, with viewers calling the video “powerful,” “compelling,” and “authentic.”
It’s been incredibly rewarding to witness how resonant storytelling can forge deeper connections with our audience and highlight the transformative impact our product and brand has on the lives of the patients and their families. The campaign and film was also recently awarded the GRAND PRIX at this year’s Lisbon Ad Festival! I’m super proud of our team’s work.
What’s the most pressing business challenge you’ve faced in the last year and what have you done to solve it?
We are going through an organizational shift as we explore embedding AI in our core marketing and business model. In doing so, we’re navigating real hurdles across data, systems, talent, and culture. Our systems weren’t built for AI, so building new systems and improving data integration has been foundational.
On the talent side, we’re bridging gaps in AI fluency and equipping teams to not just use new tools, but also to understand when and how to apply them strategically. Culturally, the shift has been deeper, shifting job accountabilities and how work gets done, so we’ve focused on tapping into our talent to help shape our approach, and creating psychological safety, and a shared ownership of how AI can complement our existing expertise. Leading through this change has meant constant communication, a bias for learning and setting new cultural norms and a new mindset, as we build the future in real time.
What leadership muscle is most important for marketers to exercise?
There’s this quality I sometimes call “empathetic curiosity.” This means, first, having an extreme orientation toward learning in a space that really demands it, because there is so much to learn about the shifting market, emerging technologies, changing customer needs, and so on. This keeps you agile and innovative. To be of the most value, connect that curiosity to empathy and you lead with a real commitment to understanding the people we empower and support.
What’s the most game-changing piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
“If you’re not making someone uncomfortable, you’re probably not leading.” That advice flipped a switch for me. As someone who values harmony and inclusion, I often viewed discomfort as something to avoid. But strength in leadership means challenging the status quo, surfacing hard truths, and pushing teams and priorities into healthy tension, especially in moments of change. This still takes intention for me, but I now see change and discomfort as a signal that growth is happening for me, my team, and the business.
What gives you energy and inspiration outside of work?
My husband and three kids are my daily reminder of resilience, joy, and presence. I also find energy in any outdoor adventures from beautiful hikes to family skiing, and also connecting with friends and family for much-needed food for the soul!
Marketers to Watch is a recognition series to spotlight highly innovative and forward-thinking marketing leaders in the community. If you have someone you’d like to nominate for the series, apply here.
