To get the marketing communications across to important target audiences, many of them have started experimenting, quite seriously, with the digital world. Effective networking media like ‘Facebook’ , ‘YouTube’, ‘MySpace’ and ‘Twitter’ are showing promises to become powerful online pharmaceutical marketing tools. Recent report of Pfizer’s new RSS feed and the plan for a unique ‘Pfacebook’ site for internal communication perhaps is an important step towards this direction.
Global pharmaceutical companies have already started ‘testing the water’:
Some global pharmaceutical giants who have already started using this new age media for pharmaceutical marketing are as follows:
1. Bayer uses ‘Facebook’ page to promote its Aspirin for women
2. Merck is using ‘Facebook’ to promote its cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil
3. GlaxoSmithKline is using ‘YouTube’ for ‘restless-legs syndrome’ awareness film. The popularity of this video spot perhaps has prompted the company to come out with its own ‘YouTube’ channel last year with a name, ‘GSKvision’.
4. AstraZeneca is also using ‘YouTube’ for their anti-asthma drug Symbicort
5. Johnson & Johnson and Novartis use ‘blog’s, ‘YouTube’ and ‘Twitter’ to channel patient groups and deliver news.
Why have these pharmaceutical companies started using the social media as a marketing tool?
This is because social media like, ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’, ‘YouTube’ etc. provide a very important platform towards patients’ outreach efforts of the pharmaceutical companies exactly in a format, which will be preferred by the target group.
With the new-age social media these companies are now joining communities to begin a dialogue with the important stakeholders. It has been reported that some of these companies have already created un-branded sites like, silenceyourrooster.com or iwalkbecause.org, to foster relationship with patients’ group through online activity, the contents of which have been generated by the users themselves of the respective social medium. With the help of click-through links these sites lead to the branded sites of the concerned companies.
As reported by TNS Media Intelligence, internet media spending of the global pharmaceutical companies had increased by 36% to US$137 million, in 2008, which is significantly higher than their spending in Television advertisements.
Why is the entry of pharmaceutical companies in the new-age social media so slow?
Pharmaceutical companies are currently delving into marketing through cyber media with a very cautious approach, though the new social media will become more central to many global marketing strategies in not too distant future. The cautious approach by the pharmaceutical companies is primarily due to evolving regulatory requirements in this new space
In the USA, very recently the FDA cautioned the major players in the industry to refrain them from publishing any misleading communication through social media. This is primarily because of absence of any published guidelines for online pharmaceutical marketing. How to use this powerful social media for maximum marketing and other benefits will indeed be quite a challenging task, at this stage. Many pharmaceutical companies are, therefore, slow to use the social media to the fullest extent.
Not only in the USA, there are no specific regulatory guidelines to promote a pharmaceutical brand or create brand awareness through these media in most of the countries of the world, including Europe and Japan. In this much uncharted territory, as there are not enough foot-steps follow, the pharmaceutical companies are now just ‘testing the water’. Most probably to fathom how far regulatory authorities will allow them to explore with this new media.
Effective use of social media is expected to be financially attractive:
Low costs associated with creating internet promotional inputs will make social media quite attractive to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, not only as a marketing tool, but also in their other outreach program for the stakeholders. The role and power of social media are expected to play a significant and cost effective role in creating pharmaceutical brand awareness and brand marketing to appropriate target segments.
‘Proof of the pudding is in the eating’:
A recent report indicates that in 2007, well reputed computer maker Dell’s ‘Twitter’ activity brought in US$ half-million in new business to the company.
Thus the innovative use of the new-age social cyber-media indeed has immense potential to open a goldmine of opportunities for the global pharmaceutical industry.
By Tapan Ray
Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.