pfizer and merck: two approaches to social media

C.Buckley-Cooper December 7, 2013 week6assigment

Pfizer and Merck: Two Approaches to Social Media Engagement

Carolyn Buckley-CooperDecember 7, 2013

C.Buckley-Cooper December 7, 2013


Pfizer: Corporate top page• Engagement more directed to the four audience

groups plus News at the top of the page as opposed to consumers.

• Information conveyed mainly by text.• Topics organized to engage researchers,

investors , and partners.• Social Media Dashboard visible.

Merck: Corporate top page• Consumer engagement is evident.• Information conveyed by images and text.• Topics are chosen to engage the general public

as well as career seekers and investors.• Only three social media channels are indicated

on the top page.



Pfizer: The “News” drop-down menu will link to a separate social media page.• It would be better to have a button link near the

Dashboard strip.• Links in the dashboard go to individual social media

channels.

• Merck’s Social Media page is difficult to find because it takes two clicks to get to it from the home page. This screen is the result of the first click away from the home page. “Social Media” choice is down in the left navigation column.

Merck: Locating social media channels is unfriendly.



Pfizer: Social media jump page

• Pfizer makes good use of having a separate social media page to reinforce the mission statement and actively requests engagement.

• Stock market is not lost on Social Media.

• Merck loses an opportunity to have an engagement message on their social media jump page.

Merck: Social media jump page



Pfizer: YouTube• Connects stories from the corporate site

and the Facebook site.• Research stories important.• Public figures emphasized.

• Has themed videos such as the Alzheimer’s series.

• Other stories not visible until you scroll.

Merck: YouTube



Pfizer: Facebook• Combines news stories from the corporate

website with fun “throwback” photos.• Same stories from the corporate website.

• Brings attention to World Aids day.• Links to Mondo Guerra, a designer from

Project Runway, could raise awareness with younger audience.

Merck: Facebook



Pfizer: Twitter• Direct engagement with a message from

Nicholas Patrick who provides the tweets from Pfizer headquarters.

• List of tweets links to press releases.

• Identical layout to Pfizer.• Visual engagement is the background

photo which includes dad and child – the human element.

Merck: Twitter



Pfizer: Careers• Pfizer's Career section on the website called, “Many

Paths, One Goal” which is a very strong and direct mission message with a creative visual of the globe emphasizing their global perspective.

• Social Media at bottom links to LinkedIn and Slide Share makes it easy to connect with employees and to view presentations.

• More direct and less engaging than Pfizer.• No immediate links way to check out presentations

or to connect with employees on LinkedIn.

Merck: Careers



Pfizer: LinkedIn• Pfizer LinkedIn page carries through the strong

“Many Paths. One Goal” corporate culture message.

• Merck’s LinkedIn page was harder to find as there was no link from the careers page which would be more friendly to the job seeker.

• I do like that there are conversational social posts right up there on the top page. That is good engagement.

Merck: LinkedIn



Pfizer: SlideShare• Good use of the page to continue the mission

message.• Pfizer puts great value on sharing their

presentations. This is a major channel for them.• Clear invitations to engage Pfizer on social

media. Very connected to all the other social media channels.

• Well done.

• It is not easy to find Merck on SlideShare. • A search on SlideShare produced the following

results.• Little if any engagement on this digital channel.

Merck: SlideShare



Pfizer: SlideShare-to-Youtube• SlideShare contains presentations given mainly

at company meetings but some presentations echo the top stories from the corporate website such as President Jimmy Carter’s foundation working together with Pfizer to bring medicines to needy areas of the world and link to Youtube.

• Properly branded and well organized.

• Merck’s presentations are a hodge-podge of random and old unorganized presentations.

• Merck needs to review slide hare to organize it and brand it properly for recognition.

Merck: SlideShare



Pfizer:

• Presents a more corporate image yet its social media engagement appears better organized and more well thought out than Merck. It knows its departments’ audiences and the social media channels are well connected to each other and back to the corporate site.

• Pfizer employees have a good deal of pride in working there and they share those comments on their corporate Facebook page.

• Pfizer LinkedIn is heavily used by employees to describe their jobs and projects they are involved in.

• I think Pfizer can make progress in better social media engagement with consumers if they make an effort to present content that humanizes the company by sharing employee research stories and by describing Pfizer’s philanthropy in the world.

• Initially Merck presents good consumer engagement on their corporate top page but does not carry it through as well over their social media channels.

• The navigation to social media does not always connect from departments that it should, for example the lack of connection from careers to LinkedIn.

• Merck seems willing to want consumers to engage but does not make navigation easy and does not respond to comments that might be posted on Facebook by consumers.

Merck:

pfizer and merck: two approaches to social media

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