It’s becoming accepted that Boomers are (cautiously) going online for health information - but now over 50% of people 13-24 are looking online for health information . Which is great news for pharma: you can reach more age groups now.
We’ve always wanted trusted sources for information, especially when it comes to our health. But “trusted,” increasingly, means personal - not faceless. And if that’s a bit touchy-feely for you, new statistics show that regionally specific health information is the most popular . And just today, J&J bought HealthMedia, an online health-coach service provider.
So you’d think pharma would be all over social media. It’s cheap and it’s targeted. And, quoting the fabulous B.L. Ochman : We’re in a recession. You need to play like every move counts . Scrips are dropping . Budgets are slashed. It just makes sense.
This Brandweek article, “Why Pharma Fears Social Networking ,” has been making the rounds. And I’m glad the issue is getting traditional-media attention, but wow, is it old news. Nielsen did some awesome research that Melissa Davies blogged about in September. But even before that, I guest-blogged for Colleen Coplick in July all about this exact issue, after my very-first-boss Marc Monseau and I talked about it.
But.
Here’s the thing we have to realize.
Talking amongst ourselves isn’t going to fix anything.
We’ve got lawyers, regulators, and scientists who must approve what we say, and where and how we do it. That’s a fact, no matter how we grouse about it. But we forget: they’re human, and they have to understand it before they can approve it.
And while articles about how pharma lawyers didn’t know what Google is let us feel delightfully superior, which can be specially nice if you’ve been in some really frustrating conflicts with them: it doesn’t help.
We just can’t, for our own self-preservation, be all smug and elite about what we know.
If I’m any sort of social media anything, I’ll only be successful when I’ve made myself unnecessary. When everyone around me is fluent in these media, knowing which ones are good for what, when, that’s when I’ve done my job.
You’ve got to teach what you know for it to matter. And not just on panels or in presentations. You can’t just be an evangelist on Sundays, right?
Don’t just talk to the ones who “get it”. Tell the people who have no idea what you’re talking about. The ones who think you’re crazy. Keep doing it. They’ll keep thinking you’re crazy. That’s fine. Because one day, they’ll point out some cool new social media thing to you - and you’ll see that you’ve made a bit of a difference. They get it too.
B.L. is right: you need to play like every move counts. But you can’t do that till you manage to get a team into the game.
The ad is completely condescending, but the furor over this gives me pause two ways.
One, this isn’t the first time J&J has gotten the mommybloggers mad by seemingly trusting their agencies to the exclusion of testing their concepts. Remember the ill-conceived Camp Baby mommyblogger minicon, which excluded babies? So I think J&J needs to soft-sound a little more, as amazing as it is to need to say that about such a conservative company, and as great as it is that they’re embracing social media to the extent that they are.
Two, though, the mommyblogger community is well-known because they’re so easy to define, and it’s great that that recognition has helped give this community a voice, but they’re in danger of appearing overly emotional to the point of hysteria. Yes, this was monumentally stupid creative. But if you saw blogs and Twitter this weekend, you’d think Motrin was MADE out of babies. It’s a dumb ad. Call them out on it. End of story. The community is glorying in their power, and they deserve that power, but if they revel in it they won’t be taken seriously.
Traditional media has made the mommyblogger community, because it’s a supremely easy concept to communicate. Moms who write about being moms? Even if you don’t know how to turn on a computer, you get that. So the community is famous.
And the vast majority are thoughtful, articulate, intelligent individuals and the community reflects that. But when a few people buy into a mob mentality, they get drunk on their own power. And in this case, it’s worse because they’re standing on the shoulders of giants. I’m talking about the individuals who are fairly new to the evolutions of online community. They haven’t been immersed in technology and all of a sudden they have access to easy-to-use, powerful tools.
It’s like handing someone a megaphone. You have to consider the implications of what you’re saying. People are discussing business concepts without displaying any strategic thinking. I mean, come on. Every company should hire a “chief mom officer”? Really? What are you even talking about? You’re being misogynist yourself, if you think about it, because that implies that you need to create that title to get a mom into C-suite conversations. There are executives who are moms, thanks; very good ones who are very good at their jobs.
One of those thoughtful, articulate people had this to say about the over-reacting element in the community, which I think sums up the problem perfectly:
“They think that just because they’re moms, they wield power over everything and everyone and must be bowed down to. They don’t have the business savvy (most times) to think through things. They act on instinct and gut alone - “mama bear” is a favorite buzz phrase - and it’s just too much sometimes. There are things to get your panties in a twist about… but this isn’t giving me a wedgie.”
I’m not a mom. I can’t pretend to understand a mom’s perspective. But I understand how to think about things from a strategic business perspective. And the fact that when I asked if I could quote her, she wanted to remain anonymous - and I completely understood why - says to me that this has devolved from an interesting adult discussion to a high-school clique brawl.
The mommyblogger community should absolutely be taken seriously, but its members need to comport themselves accordingly to deserve that. And personally, right now I’m finding it difficult.