My blog has a new home – Redirect link included in this post

My blog is feeling the love on this Valentine’s Day!  You can now find my blog, Marketing 4 Health here at www.marketing4health.ca.   If you are a subscriber of this blog and would like to continue to receive an update of my posts, then please go here and subscribe either via e-mail or RSS feed in the top right corner of this page as I will no longer be updating this older version of the blog.

Happy Valentines day to all of you!  Hope to see you

Healthcare Engagement Strategy Awards: Case Studies

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Canadians, FaceBook and Healthcare

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Pfizer helps its employees better understand and use social media

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Pfizer Canada shares its social media response flow chart

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Thank you for another great year !

I cannot believe it is already the end of 2010.  It was a very special year for me, and I have so many people to thank for making it so.  Here’s a short list;

• My newborn son, for making every day bright and sunny thanks to his big toothless grin (well, he was toothless for most of the year, but now has 2 little pearly whites)
• My preschooler son, for showing me the way a child sees the world, and for helping me understand what is truly important in life
• My husband, for his unconditional love and support, but also for his insights and counsel regarding my business
• My parents and brother, for their support and for taking care of my children when I had extended business meetings or conferences to attend
• My clients, for treating me like one of their own employees, for having faith in my abilities, for recommending me to other organizations, and for respecting my need to be a Mom first (that last comment is what makes my clients so very special)
• My blog readers, for their feedback and comments on my posts which help me grow as a blogger, and also for sharing my posts with their networks

It’s been a good year for my business.  A couple of my clients provide me with constant work, whereas others request my services only when needed for specific time-limited projects.  It works out perfectly.

Many thanks to my 2010 clients.  I appreciate your business and I have enjoyed working with all of you.  Looking forward to 2011 !!

• Ddrops Company
• GI Society
• Danielle’s Foundation
• Kidney Cancer Canada
• PAAB
• Roche
• Solvay Pharma (now Abbott)
• TimedRight
• Teva Innovation Canada

I am really looking forward to 2011.  There are some interesting client projects coming up, and my blog is going to be re-launched with some exciting stuff … to be announced in January or February.

 

Merry Christmas and happy new year,

Natalie

 

Connect with me on the following networks:

FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn

A wicked social media initiative by McNeil Consumer Healthcare (Division of Johnson and Johnson)

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FaceBook Healthcare-Related Ads (November 2010)

Here are some of the healthcare-related ads that were targeted to my personal profile on FaceBook during the month of November 2010.  All previous posts on FaceBook healthcare-related ads that targeted my FaceBook profile can be found here.

FaceBook ads stats feature of the month: Comscore.com reported that from July-September 2010, FaceBook had the top online ad impressions at 297 billion.  This represented over 23% of the online display advertising market.  I would like to know how many of these ads appeared on FaceBook profile pages (many of the ads that I post in my blog come from the FaceBook ad board, and not from my profile page) and how many clicks they got.

This month, I will comment on the ‘Will Grandma die’ FaceBook ad.  I am just one person, and my opinion on this ad is my own.  Others may have a similar or different opinion based on their experience and their personal preferences.  Therefore, I encourage you to add your feedback on this particular ad as well, whether you like it or not, or on any of the other ads included in this post as well.

I was drawn to comment on the ‘Will Grandma die’ ad because I am familiar with VirtualHospice.ca‘s unique and much needed services.  I like this particular ad very much because it targets an audience that may not be in an emotional state to search out this type of service, yet they could benefit so much from it.  Therefore, having an emotionally-charged ad flashed in front of them while they are on FaceBook, one that may hit home with the viewer, seems like an effective way to get the right person’s attention.  The title and text are well crafted in a simple yet very clear fashion.  The chosen image complements the copy very well.  In its entirety, this ad tells an emotional story quite effectively.  There is no branding of VirtualHospice.ca in the ad, but this is not what is important to their target audience.

Also, although there are no words that spell out the call-to-action, it is evident that the organization is trying to drive traffic to its website as the website is clearly listed below the copy.

In my opinion, VirtualHospice.ca did a fantastic job with this ad.

Here are other ads that appeared on my FaceBook profile over the month of November.  Note: Ddrops and Kidney Cancer Canada are clients.

Every once in a while, I see a non-FaceBook online healthcare-related ad that catches my interest.  I capture these in my FaceBook healthcare-related ads post as added value to you, the reader.

The GSK ad was found on the paper.li e-newspaper by Ddrops Company (client), Canadian-Mom-Bloggers.  For those not familiar with the paper.li e-newsletters, the posts and ads are automatically selected via the paper.li process.  The hosting organization has no control over what articles or ads appear.  The only control that the hosting organization has is either the Twitter hashtag that will be focused on, or the Twitter list.  I am a fan of paper.li e-newsletters, but I do wish that more prominence would be given to the originator of the article, and less to the person who posted it (but that’s another topic).

The other two were Yahoo ads.

Tell me what you think of these ads in the comments below.

Stay in touch,
Natalie

Connect with me on the following networks:

FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn

MSWatch.ca makes a comeback: Now within Canadian Rx-DTC guidelines

Last month, I posted an article about the removal of the MSWatch.ca online forums. Many people around the world responded to me stating that they felt it was the MS patients who had lost the most from this changed website. I agreed.

On Monday November 15 2010, I was delighted to receive another e-mail from MSWatch.ca, this time welcoming me to the new MSWatch Oasis:

Tell your friends:

There’s a place that we go to for comfort after a long day, where can help find some relieft and peace. It could be your favorite part of the couch, the smell of fresh baked cookies or a phone call with a loved one. Whenever you’re there, it’s as if you’re transported away.  Today we’re exited to announce that there’s something new on MSWatch, a place where you can help build a world of understanding and support for the MS community.

		Keep track of your treatments and help manage your appointments in a fun and engaging way.
		Perch in the tree where you can find resources in the birdhouses and check in on fellow Oasis members.
		Chirp others in the tree and check in on your buddies.
		Earn badges just by keeping up with appointmens and therapy.
		Update your profile to connect with others in the MS community. Add links to your Facebook, Twitter, blog and website.

Join in to help manage your treatments, connect with other patients and caregivers, and access learning resources and helpful tools. Help build a world of understand and support.

So I decided to take a look at their new site.  I was able to sign in with my username and password from the original MSWatch.ca online forums.  After I logged on, I had the opportunity to let the community members know how I was feeling by selecting one of several pre-written statements.  This protects the pharma company from statements that could suggest an adverse event or one that could fall outside of Rx-DTC guidelines:

Then, I was prompted to update my personal profile.  As part of the profile, I could include my blog website, Twitter username, and FaceBook page.  This is a very interesting feature because it allows members of the community to meet each other on the MSWatch Oasis and then take their conversation onto their personal networks, where they are free to discuss all aspects of their disease and treatment.  Justin Seiler, Electronic Media (Marketing) Associate at Teva Canada Innovation, told me that MSWatch wanted to act as a ‘hub’ for their MS members.  That way, they are facilitating networking amongst the members, yet forcing them to go on third party sites.  As such, Teva Canada Innovation does not hold any responsibility of the discussions held off their site.

Although direct communications between members do not occur onsite, you can see which community member is in the “Oasis”.  In fact, you can click on the person’s username to gain access to a limited portion of their personal information, including hyperlinks to their websites, Twitter and FaceBook profiles (assuming the member has updated their profile with this information):

Another very useful tool consists of the calendar which allows patients to input their treatment days as well as their appointments.  And as you can see in the pic below, community members can also ‘label’ themselves with a particular type of bird.  This is a great way to start a conversion with other community members (offsite, of course).

Although I did not find this on the site itself, I did find it as part of the ‘tour’ of the website:  badges.  It appears as though community members can earn different badges depending on what they actually do on the site.  Unfortunately, I was not able to see the range and meaning of the different badges.

Going through the website, everything looks to be within Canadian pharmaceutical promotional guidelines, including Rx-DTC (where we are only allowed to mention product name, price and quantity).  Brands mentioned under treatment options include all of the players within this category, including a link to their individual support groups.

Congratulations to Teva Canada Innovation for not giving up, and for finding a way to allow MS patients to continue to share with one another while staying within the Canadian Rx-DTC guidelines.  By maintaining the ability to help the MS patients network with one another, Teva Canada Innovation continues to achieve its strategic objective.  This is a valuable service for MS patients and I look forward to watching it grow quickly (as did the original MSWatch.ca online forums).  You have proven yourself to be a social media leader within the Canadian pharma industry!

The agency that worked on the look and feel of the MSWatch Oasis is Twist Image. This is the agency that was also involved in the redesign of MSWatch.ca that took place in 2009.

Do you think the MSWatch Oasis is an effective social networking tools for MS patients?  Why or why not?

Stay in touch,
Natalie

Connect with me on the following networks:
FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn

Get on Social Media if you want your Rx Drug on British Columbia formulary

I just read a press release by the British Columbia, Ministry of Health Services stating that “patients can now have their voices heard on specific drug reviews, thanks to a website launched by the Ministry of Health Services”.  Wow!!  The prescription drugs that are currently on the list:  Uromax by Purdue Pharma, and Silkis by Galderma.  The following is an excerpt from the “BC PharmaCare wants to hear your Voice” website:

Who can give input?

If you are a BC resident and answer yes to any of the following three questions for a drug listed in the table below, you can give your input:

1. Do you have the medical condition for which the drug would be used?
2. Are you a caregiver to someone who has that medical condition?
3. Does your organization represent patients who have that medical condition?

I am not an expert in market access.  But I vividly recall spending hours and hours with the market access team discussing ways to keep the PPI that I used to manage listed on the British Columbia formulary.  The decision taken by British Columbia resulted in a substantial loss of market share and revenue for the brand.  If only this new process were in place back then.  This would have given us one more medium to motivate patients and caregivers to help keep the brand listed:  social media !!!  This is a great medium to network and engage with a targeted audience.  I am not recommending that a pharma company only uses social media to tackle their market access objectives, but rather to consider it as a complimentary tactic along with the other traditional tactics.

Let’s not forget that in Canada, direct to consumer (DTC) advertising of Schedule F Rx products is very restricted.  You can only mention product name, price and quantity.  You  might find the following articles helpful to better understand Canadian regulations affecting the promotion of Schedule F Rx products on social media:

• Social Media Marketing in Pharma: What Works in Canada
• PAAB Guidance on Social Media Marketing (61 slides). Enable audio on your computer as each slide has audio.

Pharma companies are probably already working with patient medical associations to reach out to Canadian patients.  These organizations have more flexibility in dicussing Rx products with patients.  Many of these organizations are already well established on social media.  This is important because it takes time to build a network of targeted followers.  Moreover, you would not meet a new person and ask for a favor right away.  Same holds true on social media.  You have to provide value in a consistent fashion before you can ask for something in return.  If you set up your social media account just at the time that you need something, your followers may not appreciate it very much.

Because of our restrictive DTC regulations, some marketers say that they cannot use social media in Canada.  Here is a case that proves that this is not true – social media is not just for marketing purposes.  It can be helpful for multiple functions within an organization.

I do not know if Purdue or Galderma are already taken action on social media, but if they are, please send me a note as this would make for an excellent case study to share with other Canadian pharma marketers.

Also, do you think Canadian pharma companies will start to look at social media more seriously if they see a potential for greater market access success?  Leave me a comment with your thoughts on this.

Stay in touch,
Natalie

Connect with me on the following networks:
FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn