As most of you know, in a couple of weeks (November 12-13), the FDA is holding a public hearing on the use of social media by pharma and medical device companies (and others). Officially, the title of the hearing is: Promotion of Food and Drug Administration-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools (Document ID FDA-2009-N-0441-0001).
Catchy, right?
A few months ago, I innocently agreed to speak at the E-Patient Connections 2009 Conference. I say “innocently” because I didn’t know what I was getting into. It turns out that I somehow agreed to do a Pecha Kucha presentation. How hard could that be? Well, it was one of the most difficult presentations I’ve ever had to prepare. This is despite the fact that a Pecha Kucha presentation is only 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Minor detail though, you get only 20 slides and each slide is on screen for 20 seconds. After that, it advances automatically. No mercy. You don’t get to control it. If you want to see more about this format and see some great examples, check out the website dedicated to Pecha Kucha.
I just finished a few days at Digital Pharma this week and it was a great conference. One of the trailblazers in pharma social media, Shwen Gwee, was the chair for the conference and, as an advisor, I got to watch him push for the best of the best content and format. It worked. If you want a great recap of what happened, head off to Twitter and pour through the stream for the conference’s hashtag, #digpharm.
[Quick disclaimer: I'm using "compliance" and "adherence" a bit interchangeably in this post. I know they're different, but I'm going to spare a big debate. Just go with it. Thanks.]
This is part three in the series, so you should probably read part one and two if you haven’t yet.
We’ve now established what the concept of Marketing with Meaning is and how it might relate to pharma. I gave the example of Baxter’s marketing for Aralast as a perfect demonstration of how it can work. I’ve also offered you a few other examples from healthcare and other industries, which can be found on the Marketing with Meaning blog and in the free download of chapter two of the book.
[Before you read any further, you probably should check out Part 1 if you haven't already.]
When you last left this blog, I outlined some of the big issues facing pharma marketing and provided a pretty striking example of how the lack of trust in pharma by many in the general public manifests itself. As a recap, I outlined three big problems that I think can be addressed by changing the way pharma companies market their products.
Live from Iceland (seriously)…
I just finished the most recent update to the Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki. I’ve added about 20 more listings over the past week or so, which brings the total pretty close to 425 examples of pharma and healthcare social media programs. Thanks to everyone who continues to send recommendations for sites and programs to include in the wiki.
Some highlights from this update:
Three new pharma company Twitter accounts:
Elan (@elanplc)
Eli Lilly with their Lilly Oncology on Canvas (@LlyOncOnCanvas)
