Online communities for Pharma
I just happened upon a few good examples of social media being used in the pharma industry. being rare beasts, I thought I’d share the examples and ask – how should drug companies take part in social media?
Pharmaceutical firms have been relatively slow to adopt social media marketing. In large part this is because of the onerous legislation on pharma firms when it comes to making marketing claims. The big concern has to be that someone in an online community might give incorrect advice that is then taken as being instruction from the pharmaceutical firm itself.
As a result there are currently fewer examples of healthcare firms using social networks to drive word-of-mouth and fewer examples of them building their own online communities. I suspect the industry is years away from consensus on how best to take part in social media. Do you have any ideas or expectations?
Social media marketing in healthcare examples
Gardasil – “Take A Step Against Cervical Cancer” is a branded Facebook page that visitors can join, thus triggering news feeds and advocating the brand’s messages. Gardasil is a Merck product and they have chosen to focus their social media efforts at Facebook – it fits their target demographics very well. They have created a Facebook group and over 50,000 people have joined.
As discussed before, Facebook is a great tool for accessing a large social media audience all at once. On the downside, you have to work within the confines of the Facebook tool set, which for effective community management is especially constrained. Perhaps that’s why in Phase2 of their social media strategy they seem to have started bringing together other aspects in a more united online community found on their website. Either way, Merck have done a great job at getting their message out.
AlliConnect - Alli is a weight-loss drug. They have built a support community where people can share their success stories and discuss issues with other community members.
Being Girl – This is not the product of a drug company, however it’s related and a great case study. P&G set up BeingGirl to help them engage with young women as they were going through puberty. The online community has created an excellent and engaging space for open conversations about otherwise embarrassing subjects. It has helped P&G research their market, get to know their audience and build brand awareness.
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Some more reading
- Jumping Into Social Media (mediabullseye.com)
- Social Media Transparency and Real Transparency (yoono.com)
- Social Media Marketing – what marketers will do vs. what they should do (thecustomercollective.com)
Scott:
Thanks for the post. I live and breathe this stuff as a digital strategist who works with a few pharma/healthcare clients.
Another thing to note: users who can create free-text (audio, video or photos too) content within a social network have the potential of posting an adverse event. To the uninitiated, an adverse event is basically a side effect: “I took X and now I have hives.” By law, credible adverse events must be reported to the FDA within a given time frame. A lot of clients are afraid of the amount of time it would take to police user comments to locate adverse events and report them.
A larger issue is controlling the message. The lack of ability to control the brand and image of a product takes many pharma marketers waaaaay outside their comfort zone. Here’s another good post on the topic: http://www.doseofdigital.com/2009/01/myth-adverse-event-reporting/
That being said, there are certainly ways for pharma companies to play in the social media space, and frankly, it would be beneficial for both the companies and the people who use their products.
29 January 2009, 3:00 pmJonathan Richman:
Good story. I actually found this through Twitter and then later in the day got a message that there was a link back to my site (doseofdigital.com). A small world after all.
The Gardasil page is excellent and shows exactly how to use Facebook. It follows what people expect on Facebook, but also follows FDA’s rules as well. Another slightly smaller one is ADHD Moms (http://www.facebook.com/ADHDMoms), which I usually give credit to for being the first pharma Facebook group, but I haven’t been able to fully confirm.
29 January 2009, 8:00 pmLouis Coiffait:
This is an interesting article and as a former Merck employee (external affairs) and current FreshMinds one touches on some issues I have a keen interest in.
I guess my two points are that firstly, despite recent mutterings of consolidation, Pharma still has deep pockets with incredible marketing clout. Secondly, the different regulatory regimes for each country force pharma companies to adopt bespoke strategies. As a relatively strict market, with no direct marketing or promotion to customers, the UK is the perfect place for pharma companies to generate demand by providing ‘information’ on their products. This is especially the case when tied into the new ‘choice’ agenda. Those that do it well will be sitting on the next blockbuster drugs.
30 January 2009, 11:46 amJake Griffiths:
I totally disagree about pharma lagging on social media. I think you are probably confusing Direct to Consumer (DTC) pharma with Precription customers.
Pharma firms were amongst the first to adopt this kind of marketing, but they did it to doctors (who are their customers in the first instance) not to patients. Check out Univadis (www.univadis.co.uk) or doctors.net – both link straight into doctors and are either run or supported by the pharma industry. The technology that pharma firms use feeds directly into their salesforce stats, marketing and targeting of doctors, and is far more advanced than any consumer-driven industry which I’ve encountered.
Pharma is also heavily involved in the Expert Patients Programme (www.expertpatients.co.uk) which seeks to directly involve patients in decisions about their medication.
Yes, the industry is highly regulated and does not typically market direct to the public. This tight framework has actually made many pharma marketeers innovate rather than discouraging them.
30 January 2009, 12:22 pm