AZPurpleZone: A Nexium Branded YouTube Channel. "Unusual" for Pharma? Yes. "Engaging Social Media?" No!

"AstraZeneca believes that it is important to share information with patients by engaging with them online," says Ken Graham, Commercial Business Leader, GI, AstraZeneca, in a post to AZ Health Connections Blog (here). "To that end, AstraZeneca recently launched a NEXIUM YouTube channel." It's called "AZPurpleZone."According to AZ's own "white paper" on social media (see attachment to this post), social media is the "catch-all term for internet activities that engage or encourage engagement through online discussions or interactions. While static websites are often the first 'online step' for many companies (e.g., homepages), the internet is becoming increasingly about active engagement [my emphasis] and interactions -- whether through blogs, microblogs (Twitter), listservs, chat rooms, forums, multimedia posting (YouTube), or social networking (Facebook)." Because AZPurpleZone is an Rx drug branded YouTube channel, it is "unusual" as far as pharma Youtube initiatives go. But it is NOT unique -- Adderall XR was also promoted on Youtube (see "Vyvanse Warning Letter: Too Late! Shire Got Rid of Ty Pennington Long Ago!"). But with ratings (likes and dislikes) and comments disabled, I have a problem calling AZPurpleZone "social media" and disagree with AZ that the channel "engages" patients any more than a typical "static website" does. So, why has AZ gone through the trouble of promoting Nexium on Youtube? It's all about search and delivering "eyeballs" to content. As ...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: YouTube AstraZeneca social media Nexium Source Type: blogs