I ran across another Tylenol recall in the news and started to wonder how McNeil gets in front of such events.
Corporate recalls are becoming more common these days. Not only are recalls a concern for those that are affected by a bad product, but a major task for the corporate PR team to get in front of (and yes, there is such a thing as bad PR). Putting out press releases and an update on your website will quickly get consumed by all of the online news and social media outlets. Plus, where are most people going to end up when looking for more information??? A search engine. Read Full Entry
Earlier this year, I shared the news of an unprecedented public-private partnership to provide mobile health information services to expectant and new moms: text4baby. Text4baby is a free text messaging service that delivers health facts, guidance and services during pregnancy and through a baby’s first year. Any one of the devastating US infant mortality statistics is enough reason to applaud any effort to intervene and support expectant parents with timely education and resources. Read Full Entry
If you’re going to Digital Pharma East today, don’t miss AstraZeneca’s workshop on An Exploration of Pharma Digital Policy
It’s based in part on a round table they held in New York last week on the right roles for the FDA and pharma in social media. There were 17 people from throughout the industry there – representatives from media (Google, HealthCentral, YouTube), analysis (Manhattan, Nielsen, PhRMA), and advertising (GSW Worldwide, Bridge) as well as patients and pharma execs.
AstraZeneca asked us there to share our views and challenge theirs. Read Full Entry
This video caught my eye the other day as an up and coming way to give new kinds visual understanding to consumers and health care professionals.
A lot of people these days prefer video stories and tutorials over just reading an article or looking at a picture. This app lets someone flipping through a magazine see a movie hidden in a print ad. With this technology and some of the incredible medical animations I’ve seen, this could be a very successful way to promote to patients and health care professionals, truly showing how they will be helped by a particular drug or treatment. Read Full Entry
I read an article by Kate Kaye at Clickz called “Pharma Marketers Scared to Test Google Ads, So Google Does” and wanted a few days to digest the insulting title.
During Google’s ThinkHealth event they presented the findings on a new paid search ad that includes the brand name, indication and side effects. Google used a fake allergy drug and tested the new format against the current unbranded ad format many brands are using. The big finding was a “significantly lower CTR than ads with no drug brand name nor risk information.” Google thinks that fewer clicks translates into a better quality lead, and while I don’t disagree with that point, lower CTR has repercussions on the AdWords position (lower) and cost (higher). There was no data provided that stated the unbranded ad traffic was of low enough quality to justify the loss in traffic and negative impact of lower CTR. Read Full Entry
