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As my colleague Priya noted in the beginning of May, Facebook has been planning to make changes  that would block the disabling of the wall on Facebook Pages. While many companies in the consumer space won’t even notice a chance, this has already caused quite a stir in the pharma space.

On May 17th, Facebook officially notified companies of the impending changes. Their rationale is that these “policy changes support consistency for the Facebook Pages product and encourage an authentic dialogue between people and businesses on Facebook.”

What does this mean for the healthcare industry?

The immediate effect is that new company and unbranded Pages cannot disable the wall. Pages that currently have commenting disabled will no longer have this entitlement after August 15th.

Under the current guidance, Facebook is still allowing the wall to be disabled for Pages solely dedicated to a prescription drug, however there is no indication Facebook will not change this once the policy is finalized.

What are our options?

As Facebook finalizes the policy they are already enacting, we need to evaluate how to best leverage this platform for clients in regulated industries. With more than 600 million registered users, Facebook remains an effective way to reach key audiences. However there are ways to engage with consumers on Facebook outside of creating a Page. This includes working with third-party groups and organizations to support interaction on their Pages, leveraging targeted Facebook advertising to bring visitors off Facebook to branded sites, or working with internal legal/regulatory specialists to determine ways to participate using these new rules.

In the end, some hope/speculate that this policy will help shape outstanding guidance to help allow Pharma — and other regulated industries — to participate in these already ongoing conversations in a way to more transparently communicate with stakeholders.

One of the biggest issues holding the pharmaceutical industry back from greater participation in social media has often been the issue of presenting the product’s fair balance. For those not in the industry, fair balance is that long list of side effects  and warnings about a prescription drug (you know — that usually include diarrhea and constipation) that the FDA mandates the company include when they say what the drug actually does/is for (the indication).

Because the full text of the fair balance needs to accompany the indication, it makes it hard to put prescription where it can be shared, since the company doesn’t have full control about how much information the company shares.  For example, when you post a link on Facebook, you are limited to just a few lines of text about the product - not enough for the full fair balance, something that has gotten companies such as Novartis in trouble with the FDA. As they say in the George S. Kaufman play from the 1930’s, you can’t take it with you.

What makes me optimistic is that companies are developing innovative tools that WILL let you take the fair balance with the user.

One tool I came across recently is Share. Send. Save. What this tool does is lets the site owner (the pharmaceutical company or healthcare provider) post a bar that says  above content that let’s a user share the information via a social network, email, or as a favorite in their browser without any of the indication, removing the need all together  for the balance, or send an e-mail with the full fair balance included.

What it does:

• Keeps standard metadata intact.
• Enables consistent sharing of only specified content and images across selected channels.
• Sends secure e-mails that can include detailed safety information.

Another tool I’ve recently started hearing a lot about is CMP.LY, which looks to have a lot of promise with Twitter. CMP.LY (read as “comply”)  lets a company set up custom disclosures and codes that can be used to identify any material connections, such as a product indication) in their own blog posts, tweets or other communications. When they are present, the tool presents the user with the required safety warnings, side effects or official links with information.

Other tools are in development as well, but it makes me optimistic that pharma and healthcare brands will be able to engage with their consumers in the social media channels they use to get health information, while still abiding by required regulation. I’m sure we’ll see more of these tools rolling out over the next few months.

As mentioned in last week’s column, this past weekend hosted the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference in Austin, Texas.  Over just a few short days, members of the interactive community came together to discuss new technologies and trends, and this year we saw the introduction of health focused sessions in the world of social media.

On the whole, I found the sessions to be filled with great content from people across different areas of the industry who are innovating in their areas across the healthcare spectrum.  While many of the sessions ran concurrently and I couldn’t attend them all, below are a few key takeaways I left with:

• For healthcare, the Internet is about access to information - something that was reinforced to me over and over again is that we turn online for health information. What the information we’re looking for is varies by audience - whether it be new clinical data for physicians, to let a patient know “what can I expect next in my journey”, to find support from others in similar situations, or to find out “what treatments are available for mom who has just been diagnosed with X disease,” it’s about information. Marketers looking to get involved in social need to keep this in mind if they want to provide their audiences with something of substance that they will find of use.

• There is a role for Pharma in social media - in sessions with patient focused groups such as Patients Like Me and Chronic Babe, something that was reassuring to hear was, “yes, there IS a role for Pharma in social media.” While their sites (which are both doing amazing things) are patient focused, both reinforced that they welcome and encourage participation by Pharma, noting thet they and Pharma have the same goals in the end. They also echoed our own belief that for Pharma to get involved in social media, companies need to be transparent in their role and provide opportunities for communities to self regulate.

• Pharma needs to get past the “adverse event” red herring - one of the major hurdles that keeps healthcare companies from entering the social media space is concern over online reporting of adverse events. As we’ve seen over and over again, patients are not turning to social to report AEs, yet it remains one of the top barriers to getting involved. In discussing this point with a member of a marketing team from a top 10 pharmaceutical company that is very active in social media, and has been for years, he told me they have never had a single AE reported in any of their social media channels. Unlike many of their peers, the company has always allowed commenting in their social properties. This drove home to me what I had long seen myself: patients aren’t looking to social media to discuss AEs. And if a patient does need to report an AE, companies already have existing channels by which to report them.

• Everything is going mobile… and health is no exception - from sessions throughout SXSW one message was very clear: everything is going mobile. As smart phones increase penetration in the market (in the US and abroad) consumers and looking for access and user experiences on their mobile devices that are comparable or exceed what they can do from their desktops. In many cases, such as health, we heard examples of how mobile technology is actually advancing the healthcare industry , such as in Africa, where images of blood samples can be captured from cell phone cameras in high resolution and sent instantly to a specialist hundreds of miles away for analysis. For marketers such as myself, it’s important to keep the role of mobile in mind when developing new platforms and campaigns if we want them to last.

Overall there was a lot of great information presented, and like my colleagues, I’m teaming with ideas about how we can use these learnings, and emerging platforms to help communicate with our client’s stakeholders.

I’m curious to hear what others through of the health track this year. What were your impressions?

South by Southwest Interactive - Health Track

With the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive taking place this week, the Internet is buzzing with chatter about the presentations that will be taking place. While there are a number of great reasons to go to SXSW, I’m personally excited about the number of sessions focusing on social media and healthcare.

This year sessions range from working with user generated content in healthcare, social healthcare and appropriate uses of social media (no, I will not “like” your hemorrhoid Cream on Facebook) to exploring the  doctor/patient relationship online.

I’ll be updating this column next week with my take on SXSWi’s healthcare track and what I’ve taken away from this year’s festival.

Are you attending SXSW this year for healthcare? Which sessions are you looking forward to and why?

This past weekend I went with my family to my great-Aunt’s 96^th birthday.  The whole family met in Long Island, coming in from other parts of the island, New York City and as far away as Connecticut.  As we were leaving, I thanked her 60+-year-old daughter for inviting us, and that’s when she uttered the phrase that left me thinking all weekend - she said “I’ll post the photos on Facebook.”

Had my 30-somethings friends said that, I wouldn’t have batted an eye, but since when were my baby boomer-generation family members actively using social media (nonetheless Facebook)? I began to wonder, do boomers actively use social media?

Some quick research made me began to realize, that they are, and the number of boomers turning to social media is increasing. A recent article in Advertising Age reported use of social network sites such as Facebook in the 50+ demographic grew 88% between 2009 and 2010 (to a total of 47%). Of those age 65+, use doubled to 26% making them the fastest growing segment. [i]

And with the first wave of the generation hitting the retirement age in the next year, I began to wonder, are boomers using social media to talk about healthcare?  Is this an effective place for marketing healthcare products to boomers?

A search online brought another conclusion. I found anecdotal evidence of boomers sharing their experience with products and disease categories online (especially among those they live with daily such as arthritis).[ii] What was interesting was the number of boomer-aged caregivers turning online for information, experience and support who are taking care of their own older parents.

I realized that a lot of younger boomers have the dual role of being both patient AND caregiver, making them an even more appealing target audience.  They are actively looking for information for two members of the older generation.  This made it no surprise to learn that boomers who are caring for aging parents are even more heavily reliant on sites like Facebook than boomers in general.ⁱ

So what have I learned from this exercise?  I’ve learned when looking to reach boomers, don’t rule social media out. My new mantra: have faith in social media, but always do your research.

[ii] Note, every disease category is different and we recommend tailored listening work be done in the appropriate treatment category before engaging in a social media campaign

This week the New England Journal of Medicine included a “Perspective” piece on social media and healthcare. The piece, by Drs. Greene and Kesselheim from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, provides the author’s opinions on the use of social media in healthcare and raises three main concerns:

1.       A lack of research around the impact of information shared on the Web

2.       Issues around credibility and disclosure by sources

3.       A need for physicians and consumers to hold FDA and pharmaceutical manufacturers responsible for the information provided via social media

Our perspective, announced when testifying at the FDA hearing last year, is a the concept of the “3 C’s Rule” of accountability for brands and content online.

Similar to the concern the authors provide in their article, our perspective is that brands should be held accountable for content if they created it (such as by including the fair balance and “Med Watch” language the FDA currently mandates in branded DTC communications) or appropriate balance in unbranded materials.  Our rule also suggests being held accountable for content if they collaborated with or compensated the creator in some way (such as by briefing online influencers/bloggers or worked in tandem with a third party spokesperson to develop content that is shared online).

On Friday, Rita Rubin of USA Today posted a piece about companies of doctors who are willing to diagnose and treat common conditions online. The initiatives, such as “MDLiveCare” and “RingADoc,” are forcing state regulators to revisit rules about what constitutes a doctor/patient relationship (Monique Da Silva also discusses the piece on Ogilvy’s new blog on Marketing to Women, WomenOlogy).

With over a third of adults using social media to find health information, I’m curious the effect online doctor’s could have on pharmaceutical marketing. Do these new sites and platforms represent new direct to consumer (DTC) advertising opportunities? Will pharma start e-detailing these doctors as another avenue to educate prescribers? Or, does this new platform  represent new, uncharted territory that legal/regulatory will find too risky to engage upon?

It’s too soon to tell, but please share your thoughts and predictions.

Sources:

iHealthReports. The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media. April 2008

Women and Healthcare Blogging

Women remain (arguably) our most influential consumers - especially in the healthcare space. Not only do women make up a significant portion of consumers overall, they are also a driving force and key influencer behind many of the purchases men make. When it comes to healthcare, this is no exception (and if the men are anything like me it may even be more of the rule). As a result, marketers spend a lot of time studying how women make these buying decisions, and social media channels are providing an avenue women actively use to make these decisions.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the importance of choosing the right social media platforms when marketing healthcare solutions online, and decided to take a deeper dive to into the role blogs play for women looking to make healthcare decisions or learn about diseases.

Given that I’m a guy, I couldn’t presume I knew anything about women[i] so I turned to a recent study by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners examining women’s media habits. What I found is that in the healthcare arena, blogs are an avenue that should not be ignored. They are an influential source to women, crucial to observe for feedback and provide an understanding about products/therapeutic areas, even if they are not appropriate avenues to use to actively engage women.

According to BlogHer, the number of women who regularly read or write blogs is staggering. Of all women surveyed, 22.7 million (55%) said they read them, with 12 million (29%) engaging on them (posting/commenting), and 8 Million (19%) creating content by publishing their own blogs. And health/wellness places within their top five interests.

According to the study, 49% of women who read blogs - approximately 11 million women - are interested in health information. In fact, it ranked higher than some surprising topics (to me), including fashion/beauty/shopping (42%), sex/relationships/dating (31%), and parenting (27%). This makes it a great place to provide content about health and see what women are saying.

Women in the survey noted they aren’t just reading passively - they are turning to blogs over social networks (such as Facebook and MySpace) to actively digest. Of women who read and/or post to blogs, 64% do it to “get information”, compared to just 32% of those who participate in social networks. When you factor in that 43% of women read blogs to “seek advice and recommendations” it becomes clear that they aren’t seeking that information as impartial news sources — they want information with a point of view. This means that if women are on a blog for information about a product or condition - or your product/condition area - they don’t want a balanced account - they want to know about an experience with the product to help them develop their own point of view. This means making sure that influential bloggers not only know about your product (or campaign) but that they receive your point of view and have a positive experience along the way.

Lastly, what I found interesting was that women of all ages, across generations, are participating on blogs. While Millenials (age 18-26) have the highest percentage of their generation participating (73% - 9.7 million women) Generation X (age 27-43) and the Boomers (age 44-62) combined form the greatest number of women participating in social media - approximately 28.7 million women. Meaning blogs remain an importance influence for women of all ages. It isn’t just for the younger audiences.

So, if you want to know more about what influences women to make a particular healthcare decision, turn to the blogosphere - the answers may be clear on blogs.

With pharma carving out a greater presence online, marketers are seeing the importance of having a social presence to reach their audiences. And with over a third of adults reporting using social media to find health information¹ it’s no wonder why.

As Marshall McLuhan said 46 years ago, “the medium is the message.”  While McLuhan was discussin television and radio, the same holds true with marketing on social media.  Not all social media channels are the same, and with marketers eager to get online, it’s important to consider the right platforms for a product and/or campaign.

For example, while Facebook may have reached over 500 million users, that doesn’t mean a Facebook fan page is the best place for every pharmaceutical product. The key is to finding where the target audience is, what channels they use, and where conversations about the category are taking place. People aren’t likely to “fan” a product or condition on Facebook - associating themselves to their entire online network which could include friends, family and coworkers - that has a high “ick-factor” or could be considered embarrassing.

As well, just because a person may not want to associate themselves with a product or disease publically doesn’t mean they aren’t apt to participate in online discussions about it online. The lap-band gastric weight loss surgery is a great example.

A few, scattered “lap-band” Facebook pages exist, with a couple hundred members - not a high number by current standards. However, a deeper dive reveals a very active community regularly using forums and chat rooms to communicate to one another. For anonymity, the groups are often password protected and/or allow their participants to use made-up usernames. Often as users get more comfortable, and develop sub-communities of their own, we see these usernames give way to real names, and even scheduling of in person meet-ups of the community’s members.

The key to making the decision of where and how to market a product online is listening. By researching and evaluating where a target audience is active online, a marketer can develop a targeted campaign that is more likely to succeed and deliver the return on investment the company is looking for in executing such an initiative or campaign.

Sources:

1. iHealthReports. The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media. April 2008

When marketing on behalf of regulated industries (such as the healthcare companies that I spend the majority of my time focusing on), working within strict guidelines is a large part of the process - both from an external perspective (FDA, FTC, HIPPA, etc) but often internally as well.  Legal and regulatory experts work to help companies stay within safe boundaries by providing review and oversight, which can often challenge marketers who want to be cutting edge as they draw attention and appeal to their target audiences.

Using new communications channels, such as social media, can provide new challenges for those working to keep their companies safe. But regulation and innovation don’t need to be at odds with one another. Below are just a few sample ways marketers can work with those providing regulatory and legal oversight to leverage the Social tools their customers are rapidly consuming.

• Partner early and often with regulators to develop guidelines: by developing guidelines together of what is acceptable use of social media, and the precautions the company will take, marketers and legal/regulatory specialists can both become invested in the rules of the road. The teams can and should work together to update the guidelines as new channels are used, leveraged in new ways, and new media emerge (as they frequently do these days…)

• Get regulatory specialists to weigh in and become a part of the development process - and not just be a “reviewer”: involve regulatory experts throughout the process - from concept development through to final review - to incorporate their feedback, guidance and best practices. Often other groups in the company have worked on similar concepts or ideas where best practices or even sample language can be shared by review groups.

• Provide real and relevant examples: showing what others in the industry - or related industries - have done before can help alleviate fears or help provide precedent to move forward. Things have been done before are inherently less scary - especially to those tasked with keeping their employers away from risk. When making a case to regulatory and legal teams, we often look for similar examples from those in the industry working in other specializations - or tap into colleagues who work in fields that are similarly regulated.

• Provide samples: Beyond showing examples, nothing helps sell-in a concept than providing samples of how a project will look and feel. Demonstrating a user experience with samples takes concepts out of others’ imagination (where you have no control) and brings them to life. Proposing a microsite? Develop wireframes to demonstrate. Integrating Twitter in your campaign? Mock up sample tweets that show the range and types of information you’ll communicate. Driving your target to YouTube? In addition to storyboarding out your video concepts, show regulators channels that are laid out and have similar controls (such as turning off comments) to what you are proposing so they can interact with a similar idea.

• Have an issues management review and response plan in place: As the boy scouts say, be prepared. Reviewing the risks - and having a plan in place to address them - from smallest issue to biggest crisis, can help alleviate some of the fear around the unknown. And working with legal/regulatory experts to develop the response plan can help bring them around to feeling a smart approach is in place.