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Social Media Working Knowledge
Using Social Technology in Pharma Marketing 1
Introduction
Brand marketers of different product categories have started to embrace social media.
Still, a few industries are conspicuously not taking advantage and have yet to take the
first step: pharmaceuticals is one of them.
While pharma is desperately trying to find new ways to engage consumers, they have yet
to figure out how to use social media. The reason: Pharma marketers fear that user-gen-
erated content will include complaints about injuries caused by their drugs’ side effects
and lead to advocacy of generics. The law requires these ‘adverse events’ to be reported
to the FDA. The FDA’s adverse-event databases are regularly scouted by lawyers looking
for potential class-action suits. Thus, social media is quickly ruled out as an option and
all customer interaction is kept to an absolute bare minimum.
Lately there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the pharmaceutical industry and
social media. There is chatter to be found in forums for web strategists, industry blogs,
health and wellness communities, among many other places. Why is that? There is
something more going on than natural conversation at the intersections of popular topics
(i.e. digital tools and trends, and healthcare in the U.S.).
There is something fascinating about the simultaneous allure and apprehension of the
mix of pharma and social media.
Let’s see what’s going on.
and good starting points for firms in an industry that is too large and wealthy to be urged to
do it properly. They are going to where the people are. Good, but it’s not enough.
The virtues of social media ought to be acknowledged and respected, because mere flirtation
with them is only minimally effective in nurturing real progressive change. The real problem,
in short, is that the pharma-social media connection could be so much more powerful and
useful. In the end, everyone would be better off.
because it allows one to search comments that mention any specific brands; it also allows
one to search comments left by particular people. If “JohnDoe123” is constantly criticizing
your company, BackType will provide relevant and customizable alerts. Marketers can use
BackType to discover if public contributors are genuine customers with valid opinions or
malicious perpetrators. This can help prevent abuse in social media campaigns and ought to
give internal policy enforcers some relief. There are continuously evolving tools in the social
sphere that can be deployed as tactical measures in pharma’s social media endeavors.
The second opportunity for pharma is to truly ‘go where the people are’. It is important
to reach out to the consumer where they already are, where they already feel safe in their
search for health information. The key values that are emphasized here are transparency
and contextual relevancy. Simply put, be honest and clear, and speak to issues with
understanding and objectivity. It is only through nurturing these values that pharma can
become a credible participant in online conversations and networks. Certainly, it will require
a decent level of courage and stamina to tolerate negative commentary; internal policies
will have to adapt to include greater flexibility that will enable employees to respond quickly
and appropriately.
Cephalon is a good example of a company that is communicating in a relatively transparent
fashion with its stakeholders. It has launched the website ADHDbalance.net, which features
blogs written by parents, psychologists and others who have tips for people caring for
children with ADHD. Other examples include GSK setting up of a blog alliConnect to support
its over-the-counter weight-loss aid alli, which is a lower-dose version of their prescription
drug, Xenical.
Social Media Working Knowledge
Using Social Technology in Pharma Marketing 7
The third opportunity for pharma is to develop physician social networks around brands.
By hosting a smart, useful and robust community, it becomes possible to build a potential
marketing platform. Pfizer is teaming up with Sermo to create a social networking site.
Pfizer can now have access to Sermo’s 31,000 licensed physicians and can interact with
them directly. All users in the network remain anonymous and any Pfizer doctors who ask
and answer questions are identified as being from Pfizer.
The average face time of a pharma rep is around 2 minutes and most reps carry a laptop
or tablet around with a Sales Force Automation / Customer Relationship Management app
with Sample Management and Call Detailing which they desperately try to get in front of
the MD or practice member. Imagine if it is linked to a physicians’ social networking site,
while conforming to the strict requirements of PDMA and 21 CFR Part 11. According to a
study done by healthcare research firm Manhattan Research, physicians who participate in
online social networks are writing 24 more prescriptions per week than physicians who do
not. This is an untapped opportunity for pharma, as long as it can explore creative ways to
incorporate this channel into its brand strategies.
There are interesting results waiting to be discovered if we can bring heightened digital
socialization to the knowledge base of medical research and health information. An organized
collective database of online bookmarks related to particular disorders or diseases could be
particularly useful. Medical journals and publications could be accessed through Delicious
bookmarking services or Google Reader and related products. Distributing meaningful
information to consumers would be made much easier, with far greater opportunities for
personalization, in turn supporting more positive experiences.
We are enjoying a phase of intense experimentation on the Web, with unprecedented
openness and access. Portals can be generated around aggregated public content, with
fascinating possibilities to visualize content that include – and reach far beyond – tag clouds
and other familiar features. Technologists are collaborating in interesting unions every day,
producing innovative tools and services that manipulate and harness data for positive
results. Once we apply Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, StumbleUpon, and other
popular utilities and services, the permutations are virtually endless.
Perhaps we will derive meaningful streams of information that would inevitably self-organize
and align itself with the global mind. Perhaps we’ll recognize significant patterns and trends
that will have a valuable impact on a certain topic. To take it a step further, by opening up
research data and providing custom interactive and social applications, we can enhance
pharma’s horsepower with a public sandbox driven by organic solutions. The opportunities
are out there.
Social Media Working Knowledge
Using Social Technology in Pharma Marketing 8
We are navigating a maze with no clear rules or guidelines. At this time, there is no FDA
guideline or regulation that specifically covers the content of online discussion in a way
that is different from the reporting of adverse events or information derived from any other
source. Current FDA guidelines stipulate four parameters for submitting information about
adverse experiences: The pharmaceutical company should have knowledge of
1. An identifiable patient;
2. An identifiable reporter;
3. A specific drug or biologic involved in the event; and
4. An adverse event or fatal outcome.
Any pharmaceutical company considering an entry into the social media space must address
the discussion of adverse events. Since there has not been significant activity in the space,
we do not know if consumers have a propensity to share adverse experiences online. Does
social media monitoring trigger the reporting requirements for adverse effects? There is still
no definitive answer.
The pharmaceutical industry is and will continue to be one of the most highly-regulated
industries, and justifiably so. We are dealing with people’s health, and sometimes, even life
and death. In time, the FDA, OIG and DDMAC will evolve their policies to adapt to the times
and provide better, clearer and more comprehensive guidelines for pharma companies,
enabling them to use social media responsibly and for the benefit of consumers. In the
meantime, expect many more pharma companies to start experimenting with social media
by taking baby steps up the on-ramp.
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Using Social Technology in Pharma Marketing 9