Let’s Get Digital
“Big Pharma Finally Taking Big Steps to Reach Patients with Digital Media,” announced Advertising Age last week. The article, like many other industry observers and new media experts, attributes the hesitancy on healthcare companies’ part to adopt new media to fear of regulatory backlash. I imagine this backlash can come just as readily from corporate regulatory departments as from the outside, but I believe the more important takeaway is the authors’ suggestion that new media can be an effective way for the industry to rebuild trust with consumers. Johnson & Johnson’s site (www.jnjbtw.com) was mentioned as a prime example.
In my mind, the opportunity to start a new dialogue and rehabilitate a company’s—and an industry’s—image is so important, so significant, that it’s worth the effort and resources to work through the regulatory challenges. But perhaps the greater challenge is not from regulatory pushback, but in realigning our own mindset with the media habits and expectations of today’s audiences, as well as with the power of new media. For example, the healthcare (not just big pharma) industry is so used to talking to or talking at our target audiences that it is easy to forget that the true advantage of interactive media is that they allow us to listen as well as talk, converse instead of lecture, and that the audiences want to interact with each other, express their opinions (and perhaps vent their dissatisfaction) and ask questions. To the article’s list of dos and don’ts, I’d like to add, “DO leverage the interactivity.” And a side effect of listening and facilitating dialogues may be that we will talk less, and perhaps reduce our risk of making regulatory blunders!
To spark ideas on how to use new media to build or enhance your brand’s image, the concept of the generous brand that focuses on adding value to consumers’ lives couldn’t be more timely. As healthcare marketers, we are good at thinking about messages and how to get the audience to “get it.” Now more than ever, we need to put ourselves in our audience’s shoes and think about enhancing their experiences (with us), and perhaps in the process gain their confidence in allowing us to improve their lives with our clever products and services.
For a good overview of Web 2.0 for healthcare marketers, see Donna Vetter’s slide show. For a little fun, don’t miss this extraordinary video, which was created by GSK to educate the public about restless leg syndrome but actually outlived the campaign. We should all aspire to creativity like this!