When Ug and his fellow Ugs coalesced into villages, at the dawn of time, all the facets of human socialisation started to evolve.
Around the campfire, in the hunting party, in the trading of goods or caring for the sick, the locations, contexts, roles and behaviours associated with socialisation were born.
In our McLife world socialisation is still evolving but in comparatively much faster and more complex ways.
Soap Operas, Reality TV, women’s magazines are rapidly being surpassed as the socialisation panacea by the many manifestations of Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 should be changing everything in the communication industries because the consumer forces it has unleashed are not going to stop!
The social networking opportunity for Pharma is not about Adverse Events, Off-label Reporting and the Legal Implications. It’s far more fundamental!
Pharma corporations need to start with confronting the new communication reality of Web 2.0.
Understanding the anthropology and psychology, the facets of socialisation, the new rules, the THOUGHTWARE is the next step.
Failure, at worst, could result in Pharma communication oblivion or, at best…..
Failure, at worst, could result in Pharma communication oblivion or, at best becoming marginalised, viewed as ‘the snake oil salesman’ rather than the ‘medicine man.’
The New Reality
A glimpse at the numbers indicates the symptoms.
Xu Jinglei 100 million page views in 600 days; 1 – 4,000 comments per post and growing. CNN – 18.6m viewers.
YouTube’s top tube – ‘Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 ’ – 100m views.
Desperate Housewives – 22.3m per show.
75% of Consumers think that companies don’t tell the truth in advertisements – Yanketowich.
Edelman Trust Barometer (2006) points the way for Traditional Media
“When forming an opinion about a company, how credible would the information be from a person like yourself or a peer?”
&
For a Physician or similar – 62%.
(Edelman Trust Barometer - 2006)
The New Rules of Web 2.0
- You no longer have control – do you really think that you can control millions of divergent conversations?
- Regulation no longer needs to constrain – I can access information from anywhere.
- Without two-way communication you could be talking to yourself.
- The channels are no longer limited.
- The consumers are the communicators not Pharma.
- Your Distribution Chain & Experts should be empowered to spread your story?
- Do you think you still have the communications power?
Implications Include
- In a million channel world, brands whose consumers tell the best stories, win!
- Consumers are beginning in a very real sense to own our brands and participate in their creation … We need to begin to learn to let go.(A.G. Lafley, CEO and Chairman of P&G, October 2006 - (cc) Lynette Webb, 2006)
- Brands have to become storytellers – and the stories need to be woth re-telling.
- Traditional Market Research often misses the point – what are the alternatives? (McKinsey Quarterly, November 2006)
- Brands people talk about make meaning Beyond Money
- Word of mouth can become – Cultural Tradition
- Never leave the consumer indifferent.
- Quality, Service and Relevance drive Trust
A Pharma Thoughtware Starting Point
- In the context of health, medical practice, pharmacology etc:
- Why do people socialise? What human needs does it fulfil?
- What demographic, what segment, socialise about what?
- Where do people like to socialise and why is this important? What roles do they play?
- What behaviours do they exhibit? Who is socially acceptable, who is not and why?
- When do people socialise and for what reason? How do they feel in different social settings?
- How do you build a community? Who are the stakeholders?
Pharma: Understand the Psychology and Anthropology and….
Time will tell.
(Tomorrows Blog: Decisions – What to Do not What to Think)
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