How "Real" Can Social Media be in the World of Pharma?

One comment that was left in response to AdPharmBlog's post "How to Win New Business with $11 and a Blog" raises the question "how can we use social media in a highly regulated pharma world in which every word must be approved by a lawyer, MD, regulatory pro and PharmD?"

At first I thought the question was kind of silly. There are PLENTY of examples out there where pharma has successfully used social media.

But then it got me thinking....outside of corporate blogs or Twitter pages, how many examples of are there of pharma using real social media are there - and by real social media, I mean online media that allows a back and forth conversation between various parties.

This back and forth conversation, and the ability to change, respond, influence, and engage with the people who create the content we read online is what makes social media so exciting to me.

But when I think about the examples of pharma dabbling in social media that are out there today, like the ADHD Moms Facebook page, I think it is a noble attempt and I have a lot of respect for J&J for the effort (after all, somebody had to try!). But it doesn't get me excited because it is missing the most essential part of social media - the conversation.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and mother of a child with ADHD, Katherine Ellison wrote an op-ed piece in The L.A. Times about the ADHD Moms Facebook page, which launched last July and was created in response to research that showed mothers who have children with ADHD feel isolated and also tend to use Facebook. The article dissects the pros and cons of the Facebook page (which of course doesn't allow for ANY interaction between its 8,000+ fans), and ultimately concludes the following.....

"Alas, there's still no such thing as one-click parenting. Our choices about how to treat our children's emotional and mental travails surely shouldn't be as lonely, painful, costly or shaming as they are today. But virtual "friends" aren't the answer."

As I said before, I think the ADHD Moms page is a noble attempt at social media given the hurdles it is up against, but I agree it doesn't solve the problem it set out to solve - which was to help Moms feel less isolated and to be a trusted resource about ADHD.

This article raises the question - what could be done by pharma to tackle this problem? And could it be done using social media?

Suggestions are welcome. I will also be thinking of some potential solutions (and if I come up with any, I will post them here!).

How to be more HUMAN on the web

This morning a couple of things came together for me. The first, was that I unfollowed a company/individual on Twitter because the volume they were producing felt automated and not human even if there were college interns manually updating it (or maybe just a script). It just didn't feel right. The second was reviewing a deck where it talked about the need for "being human" on the social web. But it didn't get into how exactly, and that's where my gears started turning.

Right now the biggest challenge to being successful on the social web is through high quality micro-interactions with high quality human beings. But organizations will find this difficult to embrace. The industrial revolution has taught us to mass produce and move away from human dependency. ATM's have replaced the need for that local bank teller in most places and call centers are known as cost centers, so companies face a bit of a problem here. But if they can figure out a way to make the numbers work, organizations who put a human face to themselves stand to become the industry leaders in a space that's still in it's early phases. Here's a few ways to be "more human".

Don't Automate

Automated interactions are done by machines and people know it. Right now, we're flocking to the social web because we can get a personal touch that cannot be gotten elsewhere. While the "masses" deal with terrible automated phone services etc, we feel privileged to be able to interact with the real people behind an organization. This presents scaling issues to the organization, but the the average customer we just like it and will come back for more.

Don't Strive For Perfection

People aren't perfect, and that's expected in the social web. In fact, the more perfectly something is written, produced, or executed—the more suspicious it becomes. Communication and interactions on the social web should be similar to those in real life. Imperfect, messy, spontaneous, and occasionally personal. Zappos understands this well. After a conversation with one of their representatives from their call center, we received a handwritten note that referenced something personal that was discussed during the call. You don't get more human than that.

Talk Back

In a scene from "I Am Legend" Will Smith talks to a mannequin to try to emulate human contact. Of course this fall short and it's exactly the same dynamic that exists on the Web when organizations refuse to talk back to the people who they want to talk to. The substitute doesn't work and all that's left is something that looks alive from a distant, but really isn't.

Talk Like A Human

People can spot robots, artificial intelligence and a fake a mile away. Talking like your legal team, your PR agency or a computer will get you unfollowed, unfriended or ignored. If we wanted to hear from machines, robots or legal eagles, we'd watch more advertising or interact with your organizations mainstream touch points. We're on the social web because we want to connect with other human beings and we want them to act like them. Being human means talking like a human. Conversational style trumps dictation because human beings only dictate when we're in very specific situations. If people walked around all day dictating as opposed to being engaged in human conversations, it would come across as very odd. Interestingly enough, many organizations don't have people who know how to communicate like this. In the coming years, you may have to find some.

Avoid Artificial Additives & Preservatives

Until someone invents the perfect android, there's not much that's artificial about being a human being—we make mistakes, are fragile and the good ones know when to say "sorry" and try harder. Anything else comes across as artificial and less than human. Being more human on the social web means doing all of these things because it's likely that you'll make mistakes and that's part of the process. It's OK, because you'll be interacting with other humans who also make them. An artificial presence is unlikely to succeed because it will feel too much like the way your organization presents itself traditionally, and again—that's not why your customers are engaging on networks. They want a more human approach.

So these a few thoughts on how to be more human. What are your own? What would you add? I'd love to know.

(I realize that this is not related to healthcare/pharma, but as we move into a more interactive space I think it's relative to understand how users want to interact and to include some human touchpoints along the way)

This article can be found at: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2009/03/how-to-be-human.html

How to Win New Business with $11 and a Blog

What if I told you that there was an ad agency out there that.....

• Won eight new clients recently without a business pitch or cold calls - in fact, the clients called them!
• Increased profit by 104% in 2008
• Only spent time and $11 on all new business endeavors
• Six of her eight new clients came from the agency's social media endeavors

Pretty unbelievable, but it's all true!

The agency is called The Russo Group and I first read about the agency's success on the blog Fuel Lines. The post includes a recorded interview with Jaci Russo, a Senior Partner at the agency. During the interview, she shares the secrets of the agency's success.

The interview was sort of long, but REALLY INTERESTING (you can listen to it here). In case you don't have time to listen, I took down some notes, which I wanted to share....

But before I share, here is some background on the agency......it is located in Louisiana and has about 19 employees. Despite being a small agency in a small town, TRG has clients in London, New York, PA, DC, LA, and other faraway cities with much bigger and well-known agencies.

Okay, back to the interview. Here are the highlights:

On winning new business.....

• Russo attributes a lot of the agency's success to its involvement in social media. Her agency started out by studying the landscape to see what social media outlets potential clients were using. As the agency became more familiar with the space, they took small steps to become involved in social media themselves. They now have a blog, Twitter, YouTube group, and use Facebook to connect with new clients.
• As stated above, six of their eight new clients came from social media. Russo pays close attention to the analytics of her blog, her twitter and website. Typically, a new client will start reading the agency blog for about 40 days, and then they will start commenting before downloading a white paper. Eventually, they reach out to the agency.
• The blog is updated frequently, but Russo says she rarely writes about the agency. Instead, she writes about what's happening in the industry, why branding is so important, or about her clients (she won't mention a client directly, but will write about the client's industry for example).
• Russo believes that social media teaches agencies to approach new business as it should always be approached. Instead of going after clients with cold calls, social media allows an agency to build relationships with potential clients. For example, if you look at TRG's holiday video on YouTube, you get a good idea of what the agency is all about.

How to take advantage of social media with existing clients.....

• Russo identifies three ways agencies can profit from using (and recommending) social media: 1) You're a thought leader - Russo is asked to speak at various events, which in turn helps her win new business. 2) Even if you can't monetize Twitter, you can develop tactics that drive traffic to that Twitter or blog. Or, you can write the blog for the client. 3) Social media is just one tool in the box, but Russo believes it is the most important - not only is it cheap (or free), but it's measurable, and effective.

Bottom line.....

• Social media is too important to ignore. As an ad professional, it is vital to commit time to learning about it and getting involved (Russo spends about 2 hours each day blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking).
• Agency size or location doesn't matter as much anymore - social media breaks that barrier.
• Branding should always be top priority. Social media is just a really effective outlet to promote your brand.
• The Russo Group's approach to new business is not only relevant for agencies - it's a great case study for growing business period.

Customer Service (or lack thereof) in Pharma

Back in college, I had to read this book that my professor wrote called "Service This: Winning the War Against Customer Disservice". It was a short, easy read about how to overcome the MANY MANY obstacles one encounters when dealing with customer service. The advice in the book was to keep your cool, document everything, and if all else fails, write a letter.

That was three years ago. Nowadays, I think the conversation would be different. Thanks to the advent of "social media", there are many outlets that allow customers to fight back using weapons far more powerful than an email or letter.

As a result, businesses are providing (and promoting) outlets where customers can get in touch with the business directly and easily. This concept, known as "Direct From Consumer Marketing" - isn't new. For example, companies like Zappos and Comcast have customer service Twitter accounts, both of which have proven to be wildly successful.

As the blog Dose of Digital says,

"Whether they are buying shoes, computers, or golf clubs, someone is available to
provide immediate customer service. This isn’t just customer service to help
with a return or handle complaints. This is customer service to provide
recommendations, to help find the right product, and, if necessary, direct
you somewhere else if the company doesn’t have what you need. "

That said, not many pharma companies have caught onto the idea of "Direct From Consumer Marketing" yet. Hopefully this will change in the near future. Why? Well here are some reasons....

1) Customers expect it. “More than three-quarters of ePharma Consumers report that they “expect” online customer service from a pharmaceutical company" (from from a recent Manhattan Research study, found on Dose of Digital's blog). And why shouldn't they? You have great customer service when you order shoes, why not for drugs? It especially makes sense when you consider how hard it can be to obtain and keep a loyal customer in the pharma market. Plus investing in customer service is a great opportunity to be there for the client and put money towards endeavors that make clients think you care.

2) Brand Loyalty and ROI. If you invest in good customer service, you keep existing customers happy, who will then promote your company for you, and help grow your business. If you don't have good customer service, you could loose customers, who could then criticize your company, and result in more lost business.

Anyway, I am done my customer service rant. If you have any examples of DFC marketing within or outside the pharma industry, please feel free to share!

Facebook Connect--so last year, but not really

Last year, Facebook—the most visited social network in the world—launched something called Facebook Connect. What this does is allow you to comment Facebook style on third-party websites and publish to your network of friends—never having to leave those third-party sites. Obama did it via CNN. eMusic launched it last week (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29369646/). CitySearch is in Beta. Brands are jumping on the Facebook bandwagon—a fast-moving vehicle that we should all keep our eyes on.

So what, right?

Well, many of our clients as well as the industry at large are asking the same thing—but the key point is that they are asking. We can guess that Pharma won’t be jumping on board any time soon being that comments are real-time which means AE risk, figuring out who will monitor, who will be in charge of crisis control, etc. BUT we need to be ahead of the game. We need to extend the actions we want users to take (buying products, rating/ranking products or leaving comments) into the Facebook stream.

And what will probably happen re: Pharma is that people will start talking about drugs, side effects, etc. on sites that adopt Facebook Connect or allow comments in another way. And Pharma will be forced to read and ultimately be forced to respond.

Social media isn’t new—it’s just so much easier with the web, Facebook, email, texting, etc. We have to keep up. So let’s be cognizant of what is happening out there, and make a little money doing so. This is what clients will pay for.

Manage Your Online Reputation Or I Will

Another great resource from the same person who brought us the Healthcare Social Media Wiki. Found on the DoseofDigital blog, this post - Manage Your Online Reputation Or I Will - has a list of all the social media sites out there who may be discussing your brand.

The list is sorted in order of importance, and even includes tips on how to search for your brand and what to search for.

It's really important to know what people are saying about your brand online. For example, there are several unofficial “Pfizer“ groups on Facebook that express some negative opinions.

Bottom line - Although you can't control what people say about your company, keeping track of it will help ensure it doesn't appear at the top of a Google search.

Check It Out! New (to me) Social Media Wiki!

You hear about it from time to time - pharma is attempting to dabble in social media.

Whether it be the ADHD Moms Facebook page (created by Johnson & Johnson), or a pharmco starting a Twitter account, such as the one hosted by AstraZenca US - pharma and social media are no longer like oil and water.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past year, this is old news.

However, what is new news (to me at least) is this wonderful Healthcare Social Media Wiki that was created to "house every Social Media project that has been created by pharma (or healthcare companies in general)."

I highly recommend that you check it out. The wiki includes:

• Every known Facebook and MySpace page (yes, MySpace still exists), blog, Twitter account, etc. created by a pharmco
• Patient communities
• Marketing professional communities
• Hospitals that use social media
• Brand sites
• Top industry blogs and Twitter accounts

Who knows, someday the AdPharmBlog might be on there!

WTH (what the heck) is AdPharmBlog?

Welcome to AdPharmBlog! Hopefully this will be the first of many high-quality posts written on this blog.


AdPharmBlog is a collection of perspectives, thoughts and ideas about all things related to pharmaceutical advertising - written by a group of people who work together at a healthcare ad agency.


Our experience and background varies - we are account executives, art directors, interactive art directors, media strategists, medical strategists, copywriters, VPs, and interns. However, we all have the same desire to share and communicate information with each other and those outside our office.


AdPharmBlog is very much a work in progress but we hope you stick around and continue to read as it begins take shape and grow....