Digital Pharma news

Talent spotters from Novartis, charged with bringing new ideas into the organisation, are casting their net beyond biotech into the wider pool of wearable, or even edible, technology.

Pharma continues to expand its use of social media.  As pharma’s understanding of social media has widened, its use of digital channels has broadened.  From Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest, these platforms may help companies promote disease awareness, spread their commercial message and connect with online communities.  Although each platform may present overlapping capabilities, it is important to remember that Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are not interchangeable.  Each social media scene has its benefits and its limitations. 

Facebook helps users actively communicate and connect with one another.  However, the potential for users to post off-label comments requires active monitoring of company Facebook pages to remain compliant with regulations.  Twitter helps companies promote their recent accomplishments and discuss industry trends using links contained in brief tweets — but it may not foster the type of community connection characteristic of Facebook.

Pinterest is the equivalent of a “virtual pinboard.”  Users create online bulletin boards to which they can post pictures and videos from their own activities or “repinned” from other users’ boards.  They can also “like” other users’ pins and generate links to their Pinterest accounts via Facebook and Twitter.

Among Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, platforms, Pinterest has exhibited the most growth across the past year — growing by upwards of 1000% and enjoying over 27.2 million viewers monthly.  A separatearticle notes that in February 2012, Pinterest drove more traffic to online publishers than did Twitter —1.05% compared to Twitter’s 0.82%.  According to HubSpot, from 2011 to 2012, 80% of pins on Pinterest were “re-pinned” while only 1.4% of tweets became re-tweets.

Pinterest has caught the attention of many pharmaceutical companies that are using pinned images and other media to connect with online users.  Pinterest helps companies promote disease awareness and serves as a channel to share non-branded messages.  At least five pharmaceutical companies — AstraZeneca, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim and Novo Nordisk — have a Pinterest account.  Some firms, like Bayer, host a wide variety of active boards on their accounts — each with a number of pins and accompanying descriptions.  Other companies center their efforts on therapeutic area- specific boards.  Bayer’s Pinterest account includes a “Bayer Advertising” board and a “Science, Education and Advocacy” board.

Pinterest also offers companies the opportunity to showcase a less commercialized version of themselves.  Bayer’s “Gardening” board, for instance, features tips and tricks which include how to identify common plant diseases.  It also provides suggestions for lawn and garden care.

As a more indirect marketing tool, Pinterest offers pharma some of the same benefits as Facebook and Twitter.  Like Twitter, Pinterest allows for the transfer of information snippets through repeated shares — only in the case of Pinterest, these data accompany media: images or videos.  Like Facebook, Pinterest offers pharma the opportunity to develop a sense of community with its online users.  For example, Novo Nordisk has boards that use pictures from recent events, including the company’s “World Diabetes Day,” to promote disease events and inspire community involvement.

Using the visual appeal of videos and photos, Pinterest helps companies target mobile audiences.  However, its relatively new status as a digital channel has not facilitated a large understanding of how to best leverage this platform.  Like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has its limitations.  If a user posts an off-label comment or discussion, companies would have to delete their pin — along with all associated comments — in order to delete the single comment.

Current estimates cite that 30% of digital health consumers who use Pinterest encounter health and medical content.  Given the growth of Pinterest over the past year, pharma’s use of this social media platform will be exciting to watch as 2013 progresses.

The pharmaceutical company grants valuable mentoring and $65,000 in seed money to each of the five companies, and gets up to 10 percent equity in return.

The availability of information at the click of a mouse has spawned a generation that goes online for explanations for the aches and pains that plague them. Often, these same users use the internet as a tool to locate and contact health professionals that can provide treatment.  It is, therefore, essential for Doctors, Hospitals and Clinics to incorporate social media into their business plans. It has been shown that more than 40% of consumers say that the way they deal with their health is directly affected by information obtained on the internet through social media.

The Mayo Clinic, a healthcare giant, boasts of more than 800,000 followers on Twitter and half a million “likes” on Facebook. This traffic resulted from the clinic’s 2010 establishment of the “Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media”, a department created to determine how social media could be used for the benefit of the organization. In its Mission Statement the Mayo Clinic states that “individuals have the right and responsibility to advocate for their own health, and it is [The Mayo Clinic’s] responsibility to help them use social media tools to get the best information, connect with providers and with each other, and inspire healthy choices.” Googles reports that with the launch of its social media campaign the Mayo Clinic podcast acquired 76,000 listeners.

As with any product being marketed, brand recognition of a healthcare provider is essential. Regardless of the advertising medium – a roadside billboard, an ad on the Yahoo homepage or a TV commercial –distinctive images, an appealing logo and eye catching colors must be employed to promote the product or service. When marketing a service in the healthcare arena an area of import often overlooked is the need to build trust between the patient and the doctor. When those in need of treatment can communicate directly with a doctor through social media, a particular brand can quickly gain the reputation as the ‘go-to’ company in its field. This doctor/patient communication also promotes transparency and ensures trust between doctor and patient. Through social media the Mayo Clinic was able to substantially increase its influence in the field of healthcare.

Google further reports that Youtube videos increase traffic to hospital websites by 119% annually. These videos, replete with patient interviews and “feel good” stories, convert traffic to leads because they have a personal touch and a human quality that can only be conveyed through film.

Health Watch estimates that penetration of the health industry to mobile devices is as high as 87% and that 19% of smartphone owners have at least one “health app” on their mobile device. Does this mean that health care providers need to develop an app to stay in the game? Not necessarily. What this trend does say, however, is that it is important to increase the direct communication between patient and doctor, building that trust, to effectively market to the health community, and that communication should be directed not only at the computer monitor, but at the mobile device as well.

There are more hands in the circle than HCPs and reps. E-detailing programs connect players with a range of motivations.

Digital has been cited as a marketing strategy for Pharma. However, a true strategy must embrace the introspective examination of key issues. Who is the customer? What is the role of Digital in overall corporate strategy? How do we shift from the traditional marketing and sales infrastructure, strategy, and metrics to one in which digital technologies are incorporated into all corporate silos?

32% of physicians said they cannot talk to reps, compared to 27% last year.

Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are using IBM Watson’s computer brain/big data cruncher to support research and development.