Just the other day I held a Skype conference call with other members of the Thinking Pharma Team.
I was struck by the power of collective thought and human engagement without physical presence.
Digital communication opened the gateway to new divergent, creative and provoking thoughts. It made me question not only my own thoughts but my ‘being’ – who was I in the social arena in which we all exist.
I have always regularly instigated or engaged in the usual corporate collective thought processes, from think-tanks, to brain-storms to street interviews and focus groups.
But by nature I don’t tend to reach-out to people. For example, I land in a new town and tend to hang-out in my hotel room rather than make new acquaintances in a bar.
My true persona as opposed to the outgoing, friendly, humorous, intellectual etc, etc personality, I delude myself I have, are actually fundamentally different.
Therefore, persona is ones true self, the person inside, whilst personality is what we show everyone else, the person on the outside.
What has all this to do with the price of milk – well when confronting the plethora of Social Media opportunities, particularly Twitter, I had to confront my persona.
My personality was all for the idea, but that I realised was somewhat superficial, my persona didn’t want to go there.
So, what is Pharma’s persona? How does it compare …..
How does it compare to Pharma’s personality? Are, or is it - will, Pharma’s forays into social media be superficial?
(Check out the various personality types at http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html and tell me which you think reflects Pharma’s personality type?)
Testing Pharma’s Persona
Would Pharma, for example, follow Goldcorp’s Thoughtware breakthrough, and run a competition to find an innovative solution to a production engineering problem?
Has Pharma the persona to reach out to the virtual universe and say “Hey we have a problem and we would appreciate you giving it some thought?”
It doesn’t matter if you are a taxi driver or an astrophysicist Give us your thoughts.
Or, is Pharma simply seeing Social Media as a window into the thoughts of others - a more efficient market research tool?
Will or can Social Media encourage Pharma to show its true persona or, if necessary to change it?
Pharma’s Personality
Generalising a description of a collective’s personality is always dangerous and arguably reflective of oneself. But we humans do tend to do it.
Americans are viewed collectively by the British in one way and vice versa.
The British and French antipathy towards each other is well known and then there are the Welsh?
Are these views accurate or just national myths?
How the world views Pharma is well documented. Every article, white paper and blog describes Pharma’s public personality.
Its how the general population and the population sub-group, called Pharma Cleints, collectively view Pharma.
So, how will Pharma’s personality be reflected in the world of Social Media?
The Importance of Persona
Social Media should not be the catalyst for Pharma thinking about persona.
Using persona profiling of client target groups has been part of marketing and sales strategy development for a while.
I have often told the story in marketing seminars of Sam ‘Wal-Mart’ Walton sitting in his boardroom conversing with the empty chairs in which he envisaged his client personas.
He was thinking through their essence, who they were, their personas, and how his business persona could relate to theirs.
Is this type of thinking part of Pharma marketing and sales strategy development today?
The Pharma Social Media Challenge?
Is Social Media a significant marketing opportunity for Pharma or a potential trap?
Is it possible that if Pharma enters the world of Social Media without addressing the ‘face’ it presents then it runs the risk of further entrenching and reinforcing the collective personality by which it is already characterised?
Social Media – It’s Personal!
As I am learning – it can challenge ones persona for the better!
(Tomorrows Blog: Pharma and the Responsibility for Wellness )
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