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Technology and social media

by Andrew Spong

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Introductory materials presented during the 'Technology and Social Media' workshop at HCA 2011 on 6 October 2011

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The industry has become exceptionally adept at coming up with reasons not to consider how best to utilize emerging technologies across its enterprise. An impartial observer may not unreasonably comment that the biggest barrier to any given pharma company's participation in, for example, social environments resides in its own inability to evolve effectively as a social business overall However, it has been easier for pharma to represent any reluctance to participate on its part as the unfortunate consequence of its being part of a 'heavily regulated industry' and to demonize regulatory bodies as the impediment, as though to suggest that had 'sufficient' guidelines been made available, it would have forged ahead already.
The discussion leading up to the introduction of mandatory comments for non-whitelisted facebook pages on 15 th August of this year offers an excellent example of how a lack of desire to use technologies can express itself in a near-universal pessimism in the industry in the face of change. A poll I ran in May suggested that 73% of respondents believed that the changes would have a 'significant or cataclysmic' outcome on the industry use of the social network, with 58% expecting 'significant attrition' in the number of pharma presences on facebook. As it happens, the facebook world did not spin off its axis for the industry on 16 th August. Some companies as Boehringer had, of course, allowed comments on their facebook page for some time prior to this. Other companies such as AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson consolidated their presences. Still others such as Novartis are inexplicably still redesigning their facebook page, 6 months after notice of the changes was given. Finally, companies such as GSK and Pfizer had some choppy water to navigate initailly, with a co-ordinated protest or two. However, two months later these are the sort of comments that the industry is currently having to content with:
Yes, these are the sort of merciless beatings that pharma is now having to absorb on facebook :)
The companies that are utilizing technologies in an integrated, effective way across their enterprise are only able to do so because they have been on a 'fantastic, spectacular' and perhaps occasionally 'terrifying' journey. They have been experimenting – which means they've got things wrong, as well as got things right – even before the first corporate pharma Twitter account was created on 21 April 2007 (by GSK) We can now identify three tiers of technological development within the industry: those with as evolved and integrated a portfolio of social web presences and mobile apps as it is currently possible to find who engage in two-way communications; those who are have yet relinquish their addiction to using technology merely as another means of blasting out one-way pronouncements and proclamations that few are listening to, and finally those with nothing more than 'empty box' place-holder accounts or even no visible presences at all. Confronting the problems associated with the evolution of an enterprise as a social business along the lines of the David Armano graphic circulated ahead of this meeting is not 'an option' for the industry's laggards. Rather, it is something that they're going to have to do it at some point in order to move forward. Every day they elect not to press ahead, they fall farther behind.
There are no 'magic sprinkles' that can be shaken over the tardier members of the industry that will suddenly transform them into fully evolved, technologically integrated, socially competent enterprises. Success within social environments comes through asking hard questions, and undertaking hard work. Technologies do not offer miracles cures for the industry's ills. If a problem has been poorly defined, or a need inadequately assessed, an iPhone app is not going to be the solution. New data suggesting that details undertaken using tablet computers do not deliver better results than those conducted by other means remind us that it is easy to be distracted by something fun and interesting rather than asking why the item in question is needed, and defining the benefit, if any, it confers.
The industry's successful utilization of technology is contingent upon its practitioners' recognition that the opportunities offered by digital applications, events and platforms require new attitudinal dispositions. Those that mistake these spaces as environments into which the precepts of marketing and promotion may be readily co-opted with little thought as to their suitability or fitness for purpose are unlikely to succeed. Technologies cannot control messages, but they can influence perceptions. Boehringer's 'farmville'-like Syrum game sets out to reorient players' perceptions of the drug development process and the massive amount of work involved in bringing a product to market. Lilly's e-advocacy events raise awareness around policy issues. Roche's congressconnect account manifests the company's commitment to its professional communities of interest before, during and after conferences. Vertex's HepC.tv campaign blends physical and digital media with street installations and QR codes.
Not all technologies that have the potential to impact upon the way that the industry is perceived are currently afforded the sort of attention that they may deserve. Last month, an influence rating platform called Klout calculated its 100 millionth score. Regardless of what they are actually measuring, influence metrics such as Klout and PeerIndex with their shorthand 'Big Number' assessment of a company's performance have the potential to persuade or even prejudice the way that patients, consumers, healthcare professionals and investors view pharma companies. In much the same way as it has become a staple of discussion around technology and the industry to observe that conversations take place on the social web whether you elect to be a part of them or not, so platforms such as Klout and PeerIndex are rating the influence of pharma companies whether they choose to create and maintain accounts with them or not.
So: with no credible excuses to offer in the defence of non-participation, a good deal of hard work to undertake in order to capitalize upon the activities undertaken, and a number of extraneous factors wielding a potential to counteract or derail the most carefully implemented of strategic plans, are there any reasons left for the industry to grasp the nettle of technology?
Yes! Currently, there are upwards of 750 million of them...

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rob halkes, business consultant to pharma, life sciences and health care at Health Business Consult Tags pharma social media technology in care andrewspong 1 year ago

Technology and social media Presentation Transcript

Technology and Social Media Andrew Spong Social business developer & Health communications consultant STweM
Technology and Social Media session objectives
- [Orientation from pre-meeting reading]
- To acquire an understanding of which technologies the industry is using
- To pose key questions defining the ends technologies serve, and the benefits they confer
- To develop a 15 minute presentation to show to the conference plenary session
Agenda 13.45 – Introduction 14.00 – Shaping the discussion 14.30 – Breakout groups 15.00 – Session ends [15.30 – Plenary presentation of output]
Introduction
- The hunt for excuses not to use technology is over
- The hard work the use of technology requires cannot be defered
- Technologies do not control messages, they influence perceptions
The hunt for excuses not to use technology is over
The hard work the use of technology requires cannot be defered
Technologies do not control messages, they influence perceptions
Technology and influence perception participation policy place
Technology & influence: possible futures
Shaping the discussion : framing questions
Framing questions for breakout discussions
- What potential do new technologies have to influence our business?
- What should be guiding our use of technology and social media platforms?
- What is wrong with the way the pharmaceutical industry is currently engaging with social technologies, and what can be done about it?
- How can we ensure that campaigns and programmes utilize technology and social activities in an integrated way?
- How can we measure the contributions that technology and social media are making to campaigns and programmes?
- Are mobile technologies and social media making communicating easier with communities of interest easier, or are they exerting an additional pressure we find hard to manage?
Thank you all for your contributions
Credits
- Robot monster http://posterwire.com/wp-content/images/robot_monster.jpg
- World exploded http://wallpapers-free.co.uk/backgrounds/b_movie_posters/disaster/THE-NIGHT-THE-WORLD-EXPLODED.jpg
- Man who could work miracles http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Man-Who-Could-Work-Miracles-1936-Posters_i6075380_.htm
- Fantastic voyage http://lh3.ggpht.com/weirdposters/SNorUPE4tuI/AAAAAAAAWQQ/NtDvs-wxRcg/fantastic_voyage_poster_03.jpg
- Mark Zuckerberg http://www.nevillehobson.com/

Technology and social media

by Andrew Spong

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Technology and social media Presentation Transcript