360DigitalInfluence

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.

This past winter was one the snowiest on record in the Lake Tahoe region of California, which was great for skiing but horrible for keeping cars on the road. I skied 28 days in a four months with a full time job in San Francisco — basically, every Friday night I was driving up to Tahoe in a blizzard.  And every Friday night I was glued to Google Buzz for real time updates about accidents and road closures — the results came in about a half hour to an hour before California Highways did. I also was checking for backroads ways around these road closures. Google Buzz saved anywhere from 2 to 12 hours of time each weekend; that’s a lot of precious hours on the snow when you add that up across a ski season.

Each time I used the mobile app portion of Google Buzz on Google Maps, I shared an experience with people normally separated by their cars. Google Buzz, to be just a bit sentimental, brought us together. And we weren’t talking about what we ate for lunch or some random Internet meme but about something actually — sorry Triffle — useful.

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A prominent trend over the past few years has been the massive growth of the online video sharing platform YouTube. Consumers have been turning to YouTube more and more, which is demonstrated by its becoming the second most popular search engine in April, behind its parent, Google.[i] What I find most interesting is how consumers are using YouTube.

YouTube has shed its reputation of being strictly an entertainment site. Sure, people still tune in  to see popular videos such as David after the dentist, the wedding entrance dance to Chris Brown’s Forever, and the most recent Lady Gaga video (who still has the most viewed videos on YouTube as of this posting), but recent data shows consumers are also turning to YouTube for health information, providing new opportunities for healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies to engage patients, caregivers and even prescribers.

I had a chance to sit down with the healthcare team at YouTube and learn more about the trends in video watching.

• Of YouTube’s 180 million viewers, 32% watch health videos - more than food or celebrity (take that, Lady Gaga!)[ii]
• Of those viewers 79% of health consumers have watched videos about their specific health conditionⁱⁱ
• 93% take action after viewing health information[iii]
• 69% conduct further online research as a result of the video they watchedⁱⁱⁱ
• And 60% interact with their doctorⁱⁱⁱ

So what does this mean for healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies?

It means YouTube, and online video sources provide an avenue to reach patients with condition specific information, which could include treatment options, and drive them to speak with their healthcare provider. And, opportunities exist on YouTube to provide patients with branded messages in advance of the patient-doctor conversation. Providers and pharmaceutical companies have another opportunity to reach consumers who are actively interested in receiving information on their conditions and actively searching for information.

Several companies have already ventured into this space with corporate and condition specific information.  Johnson & Johnson was the first to take a step into the YouTube world, developing a corporate site and channels for their major brands. Recently Novartis followed suit, and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals launched a condition-specific page around ADHD.[iv] Based on the YouTube health data, I expect to see more healthcare companies joining YouTube’s roster soon, looking to capitalize on the opportunity.

[i] Comscore, May 2010

[ii] Google & OTX, December 2009

[iii] Google & OTX, March 2008

[iv] Disclaimer: Ogilvy works with Ortho-McNeil-Jassen to support their ADHD franchise

Having worked on the traditional PR side now for so long, most people understand “what I do” when they ask about my job. I usually have to give them a few examples of specific programs or clients and help them understand how PR differs than advertising, but most are able to grasp it pretty quickly. Now that I am in my transition mode of switching from traditional PR to Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence in Chicago, I have been pondering how do I accurately explain digital influence to people who ask “what I do”? Of course the fundamentals of PR do not change, but the approach, tools and tactics are different. The easy answer is to say “social media.” So far, when I have told people I am going to be focusing on social media, they automatically say, “Oh yeah, ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter,’ I get it.” While my initial answer is yes, that is true and part of it, I cringe when they say that because I want to help them understand that digital influence is so much more.

For example, one thing I am excited to explore in my new role is metrics and measurement. In PR, measurement is so crucial to every program, every launch, and every news clip, but it is often a challenge to put the right metrics in place that accurately measure those activities. In digital, metrics are equally as crucial, but I know there are new tools in place to help make measuring easier (such as Ogilvy’s Conversation Impact). I’m also looking forward to learning more about digital media relations. I have learned over time the best way to coordinate CEO media tours and secure media coverage, but I know that all changes when working with bloggers. There are new rules to abide by with bloggers (as you might know, Ogilvy abides by a blogger code of ethics), and they are not the same as working with traditional journalists. Finally, one area I have been especially interested in is thought leadership. Working with organizations and executives to pull out their unique POV that sets them apart from others in their industry. I am not sure what thought leadership means digitally. Is it the same?

So, when your Dad who still doesn’t have a Facebook page (gasp) or a person off the street who is not familiar with social media asks you “what you do”, how do you describe what you do?

What words do YOU use to describe digital influence (that aren’t’ social media)?

Nate Ralph of Wired was on to something when he wrote in a 2008 article, “…there’s a largely untapped market that enjoys having fun, but can’t be bothered with system requirements or even plugging something into their TV.”

With Zynga, creator of FarmVille, recently valued at $4 billion dollars and established game companies such as Electronic Arts jumping on board, games are becoming a legitimate interactive social channel for the masses.

Why Would Your Brand Consider Partnering With A Social Game?

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When SXSW, one of the largest gatherings of minds and enthusiasts in the digital world, didn’t feature more than a handful of panels on the intersection between health and social media - an “unconference” event called SXSH sprung up to fill the void. Yesterday that event came together in Austin and included speakers and pioneers in using social media to communicate for health issues in regional hospitals, government agencies, health insurers, nonprofits, epatients and pharma companies. Just about every part of the healthcare world had some sort of voice in the discussion as everyone gathered to share ideas on how the industry as a whole might use social media more effectively by building greater trust.

The day long discussion featured many highlights, starting with a talk from Doug Ulman, CEO of Livestrong about the power of health based communities online and how important real time information is to improving healthcare and the patient experience. Greg Matthews from Humana shared how a health insurer can innovate internally and use that to improve patient relationships and Jenn Texada from MD Anderson shared how she and her communications team use social media tools to interact directly with patients for customer service. David Hale from the National Library of Medicine presented an innovative new database to help identify unknown pills called Pillbox and Fabio Gratton shared how to build a movement through a case study of the success of the #FDASM movement in November of last year around the FDA hearings. In the “unconference” part of the day, companies such as ReachMD and WEGO Health talked about their communities and content and how they help bridge the gaps between patients, doctors and healthcare providers.
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The title of this post might make you shudder since commenting policies and risk mitigation seem like heavy subjects for something as fun as Facebook; but setting simple, straight-forward guidelines should be an essential part of your Facebook strategy. These guidelines (which you can post or link to on your Info tab) are part of facilitating an open sharing environment and have the added benefit of coaxing you to figure out exactly how you want to use your Facebook brand page.
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Mashable this week posted about the low numbers of teens on Twitter.  The post invited readers to weigh in on why they thought this was (e.g. they’re too private, they prefer texting, etc) – once the comment count spilled into the hundreds, Mashable wrote a follow up post further analyzing the issue.

At the risk of throwing my hat into an already crowded ring, here’s why I think Twitter sees low adoption among teens:  Teenagers, for the most part, do not yet posses weak social ties – the very connections that fuel nearly all of twitter’s growth. continue reading

Last month’s Trend Watching report mapped out the entrepreneurial spirit thriving through all corners of the social web. Coined “Sellsumers“, these individuals are making money in incredibly innovative ways. One site for example, hooks up land owners with campers looking for a spot to sleep, another helps gift card owners sell unwanted cards for cash.

I think some of the coolest models in this space rely on co-creation rather than just trading good and services. A brand new example of this in action just hit the market…

Quirky.com attempts to go from concept to product shipping in just a few days. To do this they rely on ‘influences’ to deign logos, sketch concepts, even come up with product names.

My favorite thus far? A broken arm sling called the Ouch Pouch.

[shameless plug warning: My colleague and I covered Quirky.com and other news in our new weekly podcast, That Social Media Show, check out the Blog Talk Radio widget on this blog's sidebar to listen to this week's show covering the launch of Quirky.com, Bing, social sites banned in China, Malho 2.0, and more.]

Amazon’s Kindle is scheduled to get a makeover in the near future with larger screen and a new format tailored for “displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks,” reports the New York Times.  Advertisers, too, are eying up opportunities with the new format as well as nudging some advertiser-friendly competitors into the space, according to the Wall Street Journal.

What’s most interesting to me about the Kindle is found not in the headlines of the major dailies but rather down in the trenches of Amazon’s own message boards…  continue reading