Health Practice n e w s l e t t e r

Volume 24/Number 2

For more information on Makovsky + Company’s Health practice, please visit www.makovsky.com/health

the power of specialized thinking

Communicating in the Age of TwitterWelcome to the World of 140-Character Conversations

StrategiesPublished by Makovsky + Company

A man walks into a room and comments on a secret that was just shared among the group in the room. One woman says, “How do you know that? No one’s left this room.” The response: “It’s all over Twitter.”

Social networking is changing the way and frequency in which people share and hunt for information, especially health and in-vestor news. The Food and Drug Adminis-tration (FDA) has not offered a social media roadmap for pharmaceutical and biotech-nology companies; however it uses sites like Twitter (@FDA_Drug_Info or @FDAre-calls are two active accounts) to commu-nicate actively with the general public and media. Even breaking news reporters from CNBC and forbes.com comment that FDA is first to the keyboard on breaking prod-uct approval news, often pushing compa-

ny communication departments aside.

FDA held a hearing on social media use in the pharmaceutical and biotech worlds in November 2009, and accepted public com-ment on social media use through Febru-ary 28, 2010. Timing on guidance could be in late 2010. In the meantime, FDA is not under any legal obligation to issue a rule in a specific time period. Much of the public forum meeting focused on where FDA has already taken the most action online—advertising. The Agency determined it will act if online advertising does not demon-strate clear fair balance. All the same, one-dimensional advertising is peripheral to the conversational power of social media and unable to facilitate immediate dia-logue on disease and treatment options like interconnective social media.

Patients in need will soon cease to tolerate an industry pretending social media doesn’t exist. So how do we reconcile patient desires and lack of FDA parameters? FDASM.com and the Twitter hash tag (a tool enabling easy searching by topic on Twitter) #FDASM document industry’s desire to receive clear guidance. Further, the growing number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology company or brand blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages show willingness to engage in patient conversations.

Along with fair balance, another major challenge to healthcare social media entry is adverse event (AE) reporting. However, it may be only a small hurdle. Looking at 500 Yahoo Health boards, Nielsen found only one post contained enough information

Pantone 604 C

NOTE: The yellow in this logo has been changed to PMS 604 C specifically for the Strategies newsletter. That job prints in two spot colors (5405 and 604).

Pantone 5405 C

to qualify as an AE needing reporting. That is 0.2 percent. The study showed one or two needed criteria was typically available but not all four required for a reportable adverse event.

New tools enable return to authentic conversationsUnless you are speaking to bloggers or reporters through social media, there is generally no filter. Many biopharma companies are now taking the plunge and tweeting news and thoughts—Johnson & Johnson, sanofi-aventis and Boehringer Ingelheim are among the early social media front runners.

For patients with “joiner” conditions (i.e., patients with diseases that seek others dealing with the same disease state such a breast cancer or rare disorders like Scleroderma), social media paves a way for patients to engage each other, swap stories and ask for trusted peer advice. Today, it’s not just providing treatment, but an avenue for dialogue and perhaps even linking patients to a new community.

For “rebellious” conditions (i.e., patients with diseases requiring lifestyle changes to avoid developing the disease such as COPD), social media is more than a compliance tool. These patients may not be interested initially in complying with physician direction, medication use or joining a community. They may be looking for information on making treatment more convenient and under-standing their disease state. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can provide information and answer questions—or at the very least, redirect this audience to sources that “speak their language.” If a patient wants to engage in a dialogue, social media sets the stage.

Top Social Media Tips For PR Professionals

1. Start earlyBegin by conducting social media audits on the category and on the brand, if the product is on the market or trial data has been presented. Finding out customer preconceptions enables companies to address needs and develop messaging to meet patients’ and healthcare providers’ (HCPs) informational desires. It also enables executives to identify key influencers in the en-vironment who seek to engage and reengage. If your product has not been launched, begin joining communities now—in many patient communities, they’re already discussing your product (and possibly its price or potential side effects).

2. Expect sports-fan behaviorSports fans are passionate about their teams, but emotions ex-pressed are not always positive. You (and your medical, regula-tory and legal colleagues) will need to accept that even pa-tients who love your product will complain about you—just as sports fans love their team but complain about management, coaching or individual players. That’s okay. Social media allows real-time dialogue, not a lecture. Sometimes stand aside and let it pass.

3. Know when to step in and outListen to the advice of the community. When they want to be just patients, let them be. When they want the community sup-port, join in. By developing a conversation through social me-dia, you are building relationships. Patients will let you know when they want your advice and help.

4. Disclose your identityNever pretend, or allow your vendors or partners to pretend that they are anyone other than themselves. In the age of citi-zen journalism, everyone is doing their due diligence to gather background, and those that aren’t transparent will pay dearly for their perceived dishonesty.

5. Provide valueYou have valuable assets such as study data and information on drug management and side effects, sought and valued by patients. Share the information and answer questions that mainstream media will not delve into. Don’t eavesdrop and try to gather market data; give patients and HCPs reasons to en-gage in discussion. Your insights, if disclosed in the right way to the right people, can be a calling card separating you from others in your industry.

Brand and corporate communication in the Twitter Age is pos-sible! Now there’s an open line to patients whose lives you seek to improve and shareholders curious about their investment. This is a giant leap forward in public relations benefiting patients, HCPs, science and industry. Masters of stakeholder response can see the fruits of their efforts real-time, and the conversations are hap-pening with or without your voice. In the world of healthcare conversations, it’s the death of one-way dialogue and the birth of true dialogue.

Contact:

Gil Bashe, APR, Executive Vice President212.508.9672 • gbashe@makovsky.com

Kristie Kuhl, JD, Senior Vice President212.508.9642 • kkuhl@makovsky.com

About Makovsky + CompanyFounded in 1979, Makovsky + Company (www.makovsky.com) is today one of the nation’s leading independent global public relations and investor relations consultancies. The firm attributes its success to its original vision: that the Power of Specialized Thinking™ is the best way to build reputation, sales and fair valuation for a client. Based in New York City, the firm has agency partners in more than 27 countries and in 35 U.S. cities through IPREX, the second largest worldwide public relations agency partnership, of which Makovsky is a founder.

1 6 E A S T 3 4 T H S T R E E T, N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 1 6T : 2 1 2 . 5 0 8 . 9 6 0 0 F : 2 1 2 . 7 5 1 . 9 7 1 0

W W W . M A K O V S K Y. C O M

Stevie Awards 2009 PR Agency of the YearHolmes Report 2009 Multispecialist Agency of the Year