Social Media: A New Fix for Pharma

Trish Nettleship has spent her whole career in marketing, first with Hayes Microcomputers, then telecommunication giants BellSouth and AT&T. Now, as Global Director Multichannel Marketing for UCB, she insists that Pharma shouldn’t be wary of Social Media. Instead, Pharma should embrace it – just as she’s passionately done, throughout her career, seeking creative approaches to deliver results.
1) As an expert in social media, let's discuss the changing role of social media in pharma and building engaged communities. How has social media's importance evolved since your time in AT&T and what have been your key learnings for pharma in this sphere?
Social media has moved from something we do to connect with our friends and family to share what we had for lunch, to an integrated part of our daily lives.  I personally used to schedule time every morning and afternoon to “be social” online.  Now it comes naturally as part of my daily routine, for example, sharing an interesting article with my network, reaching out to ask for recommendations, or as my “go-to” source of inspiration.  
This behavioral shift also translates for how patients learn and cope with their disease. For example, 90% of adults ages 18-24 trust medical information shared in their online networks (source: Search Engine Watch) and more than 40% of consumers say that information found via social media affects the way they deal with their health (source: Mediabistro).  I know I can relate ...

Source: EyeForPharma - March 24, 2016 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Women in Pharma Source Type: news