health 2.0 for european pharmaceutical companies
TRANSCRIPT
Olivier LAURENT CEO, Coligane group
When health issues occur, online consumers in Europe are more likely to turn to the internet than to go directly to their doctor.
Its now time to avoid patients confusion
www.coliganegroup.com
Health 2.0 for European Pharmaceutical Companies
WarningThis document was created by Olivier Laurent and Coligane group.
The content of this document is protected by copyright. The content is the proper-
ty of Coligane group and its authors. Reproduction rights are limited to excerpts
only. Olivier Laurent and Coligane group must be cited as the authors at the fol-
lowing address http://www.coliganegroup.com.
For further information please contact Coligane group by email at
Coligane group, January 2010.
http://www.coliganegroup.com
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
ContentsDear readers 2
Overview 3
The Internet and Health Care 4
Internet as primary source of information 4
Europe creates confusion 6
When patients become E 8
What is health 2.0 and social media 10
Changing landscape 12
A cultural challenge for pharmaceutical companies 12
Health 2.0 is a culturally disruptive technology 13
How is Pharma using Social media 15
The current commonly used pharma Health 2.0 marketing strategies 16
The Current “Best Practices/Solution” 17
Opportunities 32
Best Practices 33
Employee Training 33
Overall Internet Strategy for European Pharmaceutical 34
Develop an unbranded condition site—focusing on awareness,
patient education, assessment tools etc 37
Design 40
The Return of Connections 41
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Dear readers...While the European Pharmaceutical Brand teams continue to focus on
efforts to reach physicians, the increasing importance of the Internet
in health care decisions by European consumers opens up a world of
marketing possibilities.
The aim of this document is to share the concepts and the power of Health
2.0 with European pharmaceutical companies.
It represents the opportunity to engage patients and use a disruptive
technology for customer service strategies.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
OverviewThere is a health care revolution happening around the world. Consumers are
becoming more involved in their care and the Internet is becoming a first line
provider. There is a paradigm shift occurring driven by both the new Internet
technology and momentum of consumer dissatisfaction with the present health
care model. This shift is potentially massively disruptive yet offers new opportu-
nities to those willing to spend the time charting their path.
The Internet has fundamentally changed the way consumers around the world
obtain information, make decisions and take actions; whether they are choos-
ing a president or making healthcare decisions. The Internet has enabled them
to have immediate access to searchable and dynamic interactive content.
With the advent of “social media” consumers now create content, participate
in open two way conversations and can become opinion leaders.
This emerging paradigm is challenging Pharmaceutical companies to stretch
beyond their present cultural patterns. Pharmaceutical companies are cautious-
ly moving into the communications equivalent of a black hole: social media
(also known as Web/Health 2.0 or participatory medicine). Some companies
(primarily in the United States) are dabbling in blogs, non-branded websites
and Facebook pages; others are writing text messages on Twitter and posting
videos to YouTube.
This white paper will help to address how European pharmaceutical compa-
nies can develop a coherent, legal and effective Health 2.0 Internet strategy
that delivers measureable results.
In europe
Over 150 million adults online for health information
Over 70 million adults online for pharmaceutical information
10 country survey in 2009: Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Netherlands and Portugal.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
The Internet and Health CareInternet as primary source of informationThere is an accelerating movement to use the Internet as a primary source of
health information.
In 2008, when health issues occurred, online consumers in Europe were
more likely to first turn to the Internet than to go directly to their doctor1.
Almost 90% of European Internet users have looked online for health in-
formation with over 70 million researching pharmaceutical information2.
Health sites are growing quickly. In 2008 the number of visitors in-
creased 21 percent, outpacing the 5 percent increase in total United
States Internet users3.
1 Manhattan Research; Cybercitizen Health Europe v8.0, 20092 Manhattan Reseach; How Digital is Shaping the Future of Pharmaceutical Marketing, 20093 Comscore; Online Health Information Category Grows at Rate Four Times Faster Than Total
Internet, 2008
a.
b.
c.
millions
150.0
100.0
50.0
0
2002 2004 2006 2008
* eHealth Consumers = Consumers who have conducted health information seeking activities online in the past 12 months for themselves or others.
** ePharma Consumers = Consumers who have reserached prescription drug information online in the past 12 months for themselves or others.
Online Health Information Seeking Has More Than Doubled Since 2002Online Pharma Info Seeking Has Tripled
eHealth Consumers
ePharma Consumers
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
There is a responsibility shift occurring within our healthcare system. No
longer is the individual willing to let his or her health remain in the total
control of someone else.
The balance of knowledge between the public and health professionals
is changing because of the Internet, enabling patients to become more
involved in their healthcare decision-making process. The Internet has
the ability to improve lives and link both the isolated as well as non-iso-
lated to tools, information and resources.
People are unwilling to wait on their health concerns. It is no longer
acceptable to have to wait for a week or more to learn about what
needs to be done. The slow, mass marketed approach to healthcare is
being replaced by the immediate availability of information, solutions
and product.
Consumers are researching symptoms, diseases, treatments (traditional
and alternative), looking for opinions on doctors, hospitals and drugs
and most recently participating in online interactive social communities.
In fact, the Internet influences healthcare decisions of online consumers
more than television, radio, books, newspapers or magazines4.
Medical online support groups have become an important health care
resource.
The use of the Internet for healthcare is one of the most important cultural
medical revolutions of the past century, mediated and driven by technology.
4 Manhattan Research; Cybercitizen Health Europe v8.0, 2009
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Europe creates confusionIn Europe nearly all physicians access the Internet on a regular basis for medi-
cal information and clinical support tools. Of these, 80% report it is essential
to their practice and two-thirds are interested in using social media as a way
to communicate and compare with other physicians. About 40% of European
physicians recommend health websites to their patients5.
Physicians that report that internet is essential
to their practice.
Physicians that are interested in using social media as a way to
communicate and compare with other physicians.
Physicians that recommend health websites to their
patients.
European Physicians Access The Internet On A Regular Basis For Medical Information And Clinical Support Tools.
100
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0
Due to strict European regulations (primarily limiting direct-to-consumer adver-
tising) there is a lack of local pharma sites in Europe that has forced European
health care consumers to visit corporate pharmaceutical sites (designed for the
US market) as a means of obtaining valuable health and treatment information.
This creates confusion as much of the US centric information is not accurate for
the European market nor is it available in regional languages or customs.
5 P/S/L Research
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Top 10 Global Pharmaceutical Corporate Sites
Ranked by Number of European Consumer Visitors
Position Company
1. Bayer2. Roche3. Pfizer4. Novartis5. Johnson & Johnson6. GlaxoKlineSmith7. Sanofi-Aventis8. Schering AG9. Boehringer Ingelheim10. AstraZeneca
Consumers are also visiting all the other major online health sites (governmen-
tal, commercial and private—primarily US based) to gather information, share
and compare health care experiences, review options on treatment, gener-
ate content and interface with health care providers. Language is of course a
strong factor in limiting access.
Interestingly, a major difference between US and European online health us-
ers is that in Europe ‘Wikipedia’ is a major health resource with two-thirds of
physicians using it and even recommending it to patients. US health care con-
sumers spend more time visiting sites such as WebMD or the FDA.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page � www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
When patients become EThe following points about Internet health care consumers (or e-Patients) may
be important to pharmaceutical companies wishing to engage them over the
Internet as they set a framework for involvement. E-patients are:
Equipped with the skills to manage their own condition.
Enabled to make choices about self-care and those choices are respected.
Empowered
Engaged patients are engaged in their own care
Equals in their partnerships with the various physicians involved in their
care
Emancipated
Expert patients can improve their self-rated health status, cope better with
fatigue and other generic features of chronic disease such as role limita-
tion, and reduce disability and their dependence on hospital care.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 9 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Internet users do not rely on just the brands to inform themselves. While 69%
visit brands’ official websites, 82% prefer to search for information on a search
engine or to read people’s comments on personal profiles on social networks
like Facebook, for example (55%). Internet users’ preferred method for ex-
changing information about a product is MSN Messenger (44.5%). E-mail
comes in at a close second (42.4%), followed by blogs (30.4%), and social
networks (27.6%)6. Microblogging (Twitter) is gaining in popularity and soon
may replace MSN Messenger (chatting) as the primary method of exchange.
69%visit brands’
official websites
Internet Searching Information Trends.
100
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0
82%prefer to search for information
on a search engine
55%prefer to read
people’s comments on
social networks like Facebook
Internet Users Searching Information
44.5%MSN
Messenger
42.4%E-mail
30.4%Blogs 27.6%
Socialnetworks
Internet Users Exchanging Information
6 Universal McCann; When did we start trusting strangers? 2008
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �0 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
What is health 2.0 and social mediaHealth 2.0 is the health care equivalent of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 enables the
average person to create content on line and participate in activities that span
the globe. Personal blogging, video uploading, music downloading, photo
sharing, conversations amongst common interest groups and professionals are
examples of social activities that form the interactive foundation of Web 2.0.
Health 2.0 can best be defined as the use of social software to promote col-
laboration between patients, their caregivers, medical professionals, and other
stakeholders in health.
Within the environment of Health 2.0, people with chronic health conditions
are sharing their stories with each other, not just for emotional support, but
for the clinical knowledge they gain from participating with “patients like me”
in an online community. Doctors are meeting up online to share quandaries
about challenging cases and solutions that work. Researchers are coming to-
gether with patients to learn about side effects in real-time to improve thera-
peutic regimens.
Health 2.0 is not about using the Internet as a promotional tool to sell products
and messages, but rather it is an opportunity to engage patients and use the
technology for customer service strategies. It is talking about what consumers
need to know about their diseases and how to find more information. It is per-
sonalized and engaging. It is transformational for health care consumers.
The new Health 2.0 sites facilitate the exchange of health information and
personal stories in a way that transcends both medical textbooks and chatting
with a friend on the phone—yet offers some of the benefits of both. Consumers
are quickly adopting such social networks; one in three Americans used some
form of social media online for health in 2007. Europeans are now starting
Health 2.0
Health 2.0 can best be defined as the use of social software to promote collaboration between patients, their caregivers, medical professionals, and other stakeholders in health.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
to increase their use of social media and it is expected they will match US
numbers shortly.
One of the foundations of Health 2.0 is the power of collective wisdom—more
value is created when there are more participants. The collective wisdom of
patients can uncover clinical insights beyond the understanding of a single
physician or patient.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �2 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Changing landscapeIn the past five years US pharmaceutical marketers have shifted from market-
ing largely to physician audiences to engaging in one way DTC advertising
and are now exploring two way social media.
Due to the strict regulations around direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical adver-
tising in Europe, building relationships with healthcare consumers can be very
challenging. Brand teams continue to focus on efforts to reach physicians. The
increasing importance of the Internet in health care decisions by European
consumers opens up a world of marketing possibilities.
A cultural challenge for pharmaceutical companiesPharma is facing a cultural challenge in evaluating, adopting and participat-
ing in “social media” on the web.
Traditionally pharma communication has been brand focused, utilizing
one-way conversation, being secretive and risk adverse.
The new landscape of “open” social media requires two-way conversa-
tion, allows for many “experts” and involves consumers at every level of
the process,
Pharma will want to have a real dialogue, doing it in a way that is not
pushing but rather listening, taking feedback and adjusting. The problem
is that currently there is very little structured two-way dialogue between
pharma and its consumers. In truth, there is very little real social media
being done in the pharmaceutical industry in Europe with only a little bit
more in the United States.
Social media requires a top-down shift in pharma philosophy as well
as a basic change in the kind of information traditionally provided to
consumers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Health 2.0 is a culturally disruptive technology
Control access to data and information
Privacy & security are regulated
Risk averse
Information from authoritative
source
Intellectual property closely
guarded
One way conversation
Health 2.0 Values
Information contributed by and
distributed to all
Anyone can join
Risk taking
Crowd wisdom
Open source
Multi-way conversation
Pharma Values
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Social networking
HCPs
Sales forces
Consumers & patients
Search engine marketing
Internal: knowledge sharing
& collaboration
Issues management & PR
Impacts on pharma
It is possible through the responsible use of social media Health 2.0 by Euro-
pean pharmaceutical companies support could be created for reforms pro-
posed to the EU Commission regarding non-promotional patient information
dissemination.
These provisions include:
Proactive—providing unsolicited information on diseases information in-
cluding causes, awareness and prevention.
Reference—providing information on diseases and medicines that a pa-
tient could search for in a library or on the Internet.
Reactive—provide a response to specific questions from consumers
Support—provide support to insure understanding and compliance with
a prescription.
•
•
•
•
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
How is Pharma using Social mediaWhile European pharma can not easily reach out to directly to consumers, it
can use the Internet to listen to patient conversations in order to gain insight
into how people are dealing with diagnoses, health concerns and identify the
support they need. The opportunity is for pharmaceutical companies to figure
out how to engage in these discussions in order to build stronger, longer last-
ing customer relationships.
The Internet is arguably the most cost-efficient and impactful way for pharma-
ceutical companies to reach consumers.
Pharmaceutical Marketing Area
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Over three-quarters of online consumers looking for pharmaceutical informa-
tion say they expect online customer service from drug companies7. Compa-
nies in other industries offer multiple touch points through websites, email, text
messaging, message boards, blogs and micro blogs in order to meet the wid-
est consumer audience. Pharmaceutical companies will want to meet these
expectations in the context of appropriate regulations.
One of the primary opportunities to build relationships with health care con-
sumers is through content marketing.
For example:
Johnson & Johnson has created a health network on YouTube that pro-
vides valuable unbranded health information.
Johnson & Johnson is on Facebook with an unbranded ADHD site with
information from medical experts and self-assessment forms.
The current commonly used pharma Health 2.0 marketing strategies
The most commonly used pharma Health 2.0 marketing strategies worldwide
are:
For HCPs
market research
brand awareness
For consumers and patients
Health, disease, condition and treatment awareness
Viral outreach
Community building—disease/condition based; some direct dia-
logue in US
Brand advertising—in DTC markets
7 Manhattan Research; Reaching Today’s ePharma Consumer
•
•
1.
a.
b.
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
The Current “Best Practices/Solution”:
Mobile phone applications Mobile phone applications that provide valuable information and tools for
health care consumers. These will allow the company to have its name in front
of the consumer in a positive way and also allow for intelligence gathering.
Following are two good examples:
VaxTrak is a very valuable yet simple mobile app designed by Novartis.
It helps parents keep track of vaccinations.
a.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
BlackBag is another mobile app that offers medical news, tools and re-
sources for healthcare professionals. It was designed by Ortho-McNeil.
b.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �9 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Extensive Health 2.0 websites
Following are two good examples:
Here is an excellent site developed by Bayer HealthCare (UK) to provide
information and resources about it’s blood glucose monitoring system.
a.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 20 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
USB developed this informative unbranded content site providing infor-
mation, community and tools about Crohn’s disease.
b.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
FacebookFacebook pages are being used successfully by several pharma companies to
reach out, provide valuable information and listen to consumers.
Here are two examples:
The first is sponsored by McNeil for ADHD awareness and the second by
Bayer to bring awareness about heart disease in women.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 22 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Multimedia, RSS feeds, Twitter and email for press releaseA good example of using social media in a press release is from Roche. To an-
nounce the results of a study showing the benefits of using Herceptin, Roche em-
ployed multimedia (slides and video) along with ways to interact with Roche,
view other videos and subscribe to Roche news through RSS feeds, Twitter and
email.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Health 2.0, Twitter, YouTube, iPhoneSanofi-aventis has embraced social media in an extraordinary way, coordinat-
ing almost all the Health 2.0 tools for it’s “GoMeals” campaign. GoMeals is de-
signed to help people with diabetes make better food choices, learn about the
nutritional content of foods and track their intake. The campaign utilizes a health
2.0 website, a twitter feed, a YouTube video and an iPhone application.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
YouTubePfizer has set up a YouTube channel to promote its European operations by
showcasing some of its employees:
In one sequence of three videos we see regional president of European Spe-
cialty Care Cees Heiman having breakfast, driving to work and walking into
his office, all the while talking about Pfizer, its work and goals.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
The company has uploaded eleven videos to the channel, which also feature em-
ployees from Belgium, the UK, Spain, Greece, Finland, Hungary and Norway.
They talk about how proud they are to work for the company, what a differ-
ence it makes to people’s lives and finishing on a fact about their family or
hobby.
Here is an example of how Johnson & Johnson is using YouTube outreach.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 2� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Blog and TwitterAbbott (France) has created a comprehensive blog and twitter presence—Mal-
adies Chroniques & Travail:
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page 29 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Online communitiesGenetech’s herceptin HER Story community connects women with breast can-
cer to each other.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �0 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Children with Diabetes is Johnson & Johnson’s online community for parents,
kids, adults and families living with type 1 diabetes,
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
TwitterIn November 2008 there were only two companies with accounts—Novartis
and Boehringer. Now the majority of top 20 pharma firms have a presence
on the platform and a number run multiple accounts to give them a broader
reach.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �2 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Opportunities Social media applications include such tools as blogs, communities, collab-
orative wikis, user generated content, podcasts, tagging, micro blogs (Twitter)
social sites such as Facebook and sharing sites such as YouTube. These tactical
tools can all play a part in the pharmaceutical industries approach to Health
2.0 participation.
Pharma’s participation in social media in Europe provides the company with 24/7
focus groups that can give consumer insights on drugs and treatments which in
turn allows for better product development and more effective marketing.
Additionally, if one of phama’s main goals is to help people become and remain
healthy, then social media tools provide an opportunity to engage the commu-
nity and help motivate them to better lifestyles and better health. This will help to
increase pharma’s good will in the eyes of consumers and regulators.
This goodwill could be important in reversing the declining opinion of phar-
maceutical companies and their information as perceived by their customers.
A recent US study found that patients today only trust most of the time what
pharma says in their ads 18% of the time, down from 33% in 1997. Social me-
dia participation may be one way for pharma to regain the public’s trust.
One of the challenges for pharma will be what legal responsibilities they have
regarding information they may learn from their monitoring and participation
in social media (such as adverse reactions).
Yet as have seen in music, publishing and entertainment, if an industry does not understand and adapt appropriately to social media it is in danger of becoming irrelevant to the discourse and may find it is partially or fully displaced.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Best PracticesBefore starting a broad social media Health 2.0 initiative it is important for the
company to decide:
If their corporate culture is social media friendly (e.g. can executives
engage in candid conversations with consumers and are they willing to
experience and address negative online commentary?).
What is their tolerance for uncertainty; social media is always evolving
and is not easily measured by traditional metrics.
The company should then establish a cross functional Health 2.0/social media
task force. This group will establish the initial company social media policy and
champion it’s implementation.
Employee TrainingOne of the next steps in implementing a Health 2.0 marketing strategy is to
develop and implement an employee social media guide.
Telstra (the 40,000+ person telecom
company) makes social media train-
ing mandatory for its employees and
formalized a policy of 3 R’s—espon-
sibility, respect and representation.
Taking things a step further, today the
company is trying something about as
transparent as it gets—publishing their
entire “social media training guide”
online, so that anyone can check it out,
learn and critique.
1.
2.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Overall Internet Strategy for European Pharmaceutical
Building RelationshipsSocial media is part of a broader marketing strategy of building relationships
with consumers.
Pharmaceutical companies will want to build these relationships with health
care consumers through Internet “content marketing”. It is important that con-
tent is provided in country specific languages and country relevant content so
that the consumers know they are being recognized as individuals. Content
will be unbiased information unrelated to a drug product that provides valu-
able information on diseases, therapies and health resources.
Search EnginesSearch engines (Google, Bing etc) are important first line tools for consumers
seeking health information online. In the US search engines are used 67% of
the time to locate health information (see below). The number is even higher in
Europe due to lack of language specific comprehensive Internet health portals.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Generalsearch engines
Health portals
Social media
Disease/conditionassociation sites
Health plans
News sites
Health specific search engines
Government sites
Pharmaceutical company
Hospital/clinicsites
Drugadvertisement
Online Tools And Resources Used To Locate Health Information.
Source: iCrossing. How America Searches: Health and Wellness. January 2008.
Therefore, one of the primary pharma Internet strategies will be to search en-
gine optimize (SEO) all their sites and content so search engine spiders can op-
timally find and report them to health information searchers. It will also be very
important to regionalize/localize SEO key wording to take into account not
only language but also slang, alternative spellings and other cultural aspects.
Search engine strategy also includes paid search approaches. Search engine
marketing needs to be measured by integrated web analytics in order to moni-
tor and evaluate efforts. In order for Search Engine marketing to be effective,
the company must know details about its target audience, what is relevant and
what they are searching for.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
WikipediaAs mentioned earlier, Europeans accessed Wikipedia as their number one
health information web site (this is not the case in the United States).
This open source encyclopedia appears to be filling the gap due to the lack of
local top health portals. The majority of European online health consumers as-
sume that the pharmaceutical companies monitor their related product pages
and keep them accurate.
Therefore pharmaceutical companies should be sure that their products are
fairly and accurately represented in localized Wiki entries.
ListeningSocial media “listening in” is a key initial component of a pharma Health 2.0
initiative. Pharma needs to know what is being said about its products and the
company in general. This can be used both to take short term corrective action
if appropriate and to monitor the effectiveness of new marketing initiatives.
Consumers and physicians who are talking about brands (questions, sugges-
tions, criticisms) are often really looking for help and feedback. So listening in
is the first step, but if no responses are offered in some way then these consum-
ers may feel abandoned and ignored.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Develop an unbranded condition site—focusing on aware-ness, patient education, assessment tools etc.
YoutubeA number of pharmaceutical companies have developed YouTube video chan-
nels (see preceding examples). Successful examples utilize content specifically
developed for the Internet video channel. Done properly this outreach can
help consumers feel that pharma truly cares about them and their health.
Facebook & TwitterPharmaceutical companies both in the US and Europe are successfully utiliz-
ing these social media tools as a way to communicate with consumers and
maintain a “presence”.
Patient Compliance
A recent study in the United States (similar results expected in Europe) showed
that more then half of Americans don’t take their prescriptions as directed8. There-
fore initiatives by pharma to increase compliance could be very valuable.
There are a number of effective Health 2.0 tools that could be utilized in a
comprehensive program to increase compliance. They include peer to peer
support groups, email marketing campaigns, mobile phone messaging re-
minders and drug reminder apps (such as Pill Phone or MediMemory) and
treatment adherence tools on dedicated web sites. These could all be instituted
with the European regulatory framework and provide a valuable service to
consumers.
8 National Council on Patient Information and Education; Oct 2009
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Content PortabilitySince the social web is all about open sharing, pharma will want to ensure
that it’s content is available across the many Health 2.0 community channels.
If the content is useful and valuable the social web will select, copy and dis-
tribute it. This distribution can take the form of embedded content or links in
emails, placement on their sites, bookmark sharing and Twitter like points of
reference.
Health portal websites are always looking for valuable content and could pick
up pharma content such as new research breakthroughs, breaking science
or independent research studies. Bear in mind that the “push” concept won’t
work in the social community web—participation as a valued and trusted com-
munity member is the key.
Develop a response to Google SidewikiSidewiki is a brower add-on tool that allows commentary by anyone on ANY
site. This could be a problem for pharma—all of a sudden user generated com-
ments could start appearing on pharma websites.
Several pharmas have posted their sidewiki policies on their sites. Roche re-
cently addressed sidewiki. Roche’s sidewiki thanks users for visiting the web-
site, going on to say: “Please note that Google Sidewiki comments are not
monitored by Roche and users should not expect a response from Roche to
such comments. We invite you to use the contact form or comment function on
our website to share your views.”
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �9 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
Identify Key Opinion LeadersWhether physicians or consumers it is now possible to use the Internet to iden-
tify opinion leaders using aggregation tools. Once identified, these bloggers,
community moderators or other opinion leaders can be targeted during PR
outreach. It is very important when contacting these leaders (as it is for ALL
pharma social media strategies) to be totally transparent and be honest about
your identity and intentions.
Partner and Participate with existing third-party health sitesMany opportunities exist for pharma to collaborate with independent health
social media sites. Pharma companies can send appropriate sites surveys
about adverse side effects, drug efficacy and inclusion data for clinical trials
that need participants. J&J partners with TuDiabetest and helped establish a
social media section on the site (OneTouch). By assisting the community J&J
has garnered positive PR support.
A novel partnership example is the “unrestricted grant” offered by Better Blog-
cast. The pharma company will receive promotional recognition while support-
ing top bloggers writing about specific health topics and reaching 10 million
listeners per month.
Develop a Mobile Device StrategyWith most physicians and hundreds of millions of consumers using “smart
phones” there is great opportunity to partner with some of the hundreds of ex-
isting medical/health apps or to develop your own apps that provide valuable
tools or information for health care consumers and physicians.
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �0 www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
DesignThe general information website design best practices apply to any Health 2.0
initiatives (courtesy of MISI):
Put Your Audience in the
Driver’s Seat
Website Design Best
Practices
Speak Your Audience’s Language
Design to Support the Task, Not
Become the Task
Engage Your AudienceProvide a Clear
Navigation Structure
Mimic the Real World
Be Consistent and Follow Platform
Standards Keep It Simple
Be Flexible and Efficient
Support Your Audience and Give Feedback
(in the case of pharma in accordance with
applicable regulations)
PUpfront transparency
Copyright © 2009 Coligane Group. All Rights Reserved. | Page �� www.coliganegroup.com
HeAltH 2.0 FoR euRoPeAn PHARmACeutICAl ComPAnIes
The Return of ConnectionsThe Return on Connections (equivalent to traditional ROI) should be thought
of in terms of:
Return on Connections
Positive word of mouth
Necessary to prevent becoming irrelevant
Brand monitoring
Service opportunities
Message influenceFeedback
Remaining part of the conversation
For more information please contact: Olivier Laurent
CEO, Coligane group
email: [email protected]
web: www.coliganegroup.com
mobile: 32 477 328632
www.olivierlaurent.org
www.coliganegroup.com