Is pharma social?

Data from Edelman's 2010 health barometer indicates that patients in Asia turn to the web for information about health issues more than anywhere else in the world. The research showed that 74 per cent of people online in Asia turn to social media channels for information, as opposed to 50 per cent in Europe and 37 per cent in the US. The question is, what is actually happening beyond sheer buzz?

According to Sebastien Boisseau, founder of strategic healthcare communications consultancy Axon Health in Singapore, social media adoption by pharma players in the region is still in its infancy. A major hurdle, he says, is a lack of understanding as to what regulators will allow.

Christine Jones, Asia-Pacific managing director at Burson Marsteller, points to the US where, despite comparatively few restrictions to pharmaceutical marketing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued cautions to several major drug firms relating to online marketing. “No one in Asia wants to be seen to be flouting the regulations, which is making the industry very cautious in the digital media arena. There's a wait- and-see approach from companies, at least until the guidelines for online communications are clarified. The FDA will very much lead that conversation globally. One area of greater freedom for pharmaceutical drug marketeers is disease education but this is a very, very small area in Asia,” she says.

As a result, although many pharmaceutical companies are closely monitoring social media and assessing its potential, the number of social media strategies being put into effect by firms in Asia remains relatively low.

Mayang Schreiber, health director for Edelman Indonesia, explains that while social media is a key awareness driver in that market, companies are prevented from engaging with patients directly in most circumstances. “They have to be very careful in all of their communications. Where they can communicate with patients, if they receive a query for example, the response will have to go through their legal and regulatory clearance. It can take several days, and that is considered too slow in medical best practice.”

Online marketers in the industry in Indonesia are further hampered by the fact that very few Government officials, and even fewer doctors, communicate online — largely due to a lack of trust in the platform.

By contrast, pharmaceutical firms in Japan have found a way of communicating with doctors that one firm estimates is “hundreds of times more effective” than the traditional marketing representative-to-doctor approach.

Yuta Kaneko, MD of Beacon Healthcare, notes that e-detailing, a system enabling pharmaceutical companies to conduct online advertising directed at physicians, is a key component of communications. Strongest among these platforms are Mr-Kun QOL-Kun, operated by M3Inc, which operates m3.com, a portal for physicians with 190,000 members out of a possible 250,000.

Research conducted by M3Inc estimates that, assuming a typical marketing representative makes 250 visits to physicians in a month, the promotional capability of MR-Kun and QOL-Kun is equivalent to around 13,000 visits.

The involvement of third parties such as doctors, healthcare professionals and academics is absolutely vital for successful pharmaceutical marketing online to build credibility and trust, according to Margaret Key, market leader for Burson-Marsteller in Korea.   

“There are often many doctors’ associations or collectives and it is important for pharmaceutical companies to engage them and to endorse the conversation they want to have online. In many parts of Asia one of the biggest challenges is a lack of credible information online. If the pharma companies want to engage with people they need to be seen to be helping them make the right choices. It's about getting the right information out there and partnering the right people to do that,” she says.

While forums play a critical role, corporate messaging via Twitter would seem to be of little relevance, according to Rachel Bylykbashi, Edelman's health director for Southeast Asia.

“We put the Twitter feeds of the top 10 pharma companies through our Twitter measurement tool - Tweet Level - and found that while some may score reasonably well on popularity, they scored particularly low on engagement. A company's engagement level can increase through contributing to discussions, not just sending out tweets,” she says.

Exactly how to engage directly with consumers is another issue altogether. James Hacking, head of digital integration for Fleishman Hillard Hong Kong says pharma firms would be prudent to listen carefully before jumping into social media.

“Over the past 12 months I’ve seen many companies start campaigns on the likes of Facebook, only for them to fail because they don’t really address what people are using social media for, which in most cases is simply asking for health advice,” Hacking says, pointing to frequent conversations between social media users relating to diagnosis and the availability of medicine.

“Pharmaceutical companies could do worse than listening to these existing conversations on social media and spend time providing accurate information that addresses consumer concerns on their websites or on offline channels such as posters or brochures,” he says, adding that otherwise, the same principles apply to healthcare as to other commercial sectors when engaging online: “Social media can be a good communications tool but only if used strategically and as part of a wider communications plan.”