Hill+Knowlton Strategies

In the past few weeks, we have talked about the growing trend for articles and blogs, which are digging deeper into social media and digital within the healthcare industry, providing more specific and detailed insight as the industry continues to grow in this space, and it looks like this trend is set to continue,

We have selected some must-reads for anyone with an interest in digital communications in the healthcare industry. This article on PMLive’s Smart Thinking blog addresses this issue specifically, stating that while we all tend to judge how well pharmaceutical companies are doing in social media by looking at their presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, there are in fact many other ways of using social media that should be considered, including what is known as social innovation.

Although Twitter and Facebook are obviously parts of this, they are not the whole story, the blog argues. Other aspects of social media such as social bookmarking, wikis, virtual social worlds and crowdsourcing are also part of the equation and further inspection suggests pharma companies might not be as far behind as some people think when it comes to these less obvious forms of digital innovation. Indeed, the blog suggests that there are in fact plenty of examples of internal social media projects within the industry that are on a par with other sectors, with three of the top ten pharma companies (GSK, Janssen and Merck) using the enterprise social network service Yammer.

The article pulls out some encouraging examples of social media innovation within the pharma industry which back this up. Definitely worth a read.

Another article that caught our eye here at An Apple a Day was this one from Pharmafile, which covered some of the platforms more traditionally associated with digital and social media engagement such as Twitter and Facebook. The article looks at the ‘received wisdom’ that suggests pharma should be joining the online conversation and asks some very important questions about what sort of conversations are appropriate and inappropriate, as well as conversations actually worth engaging in.

As social and digital media continue to secure their place on almost everyone’s agenda, communications professionals will increasingly be expected to show they are capable of answering these sorts of questions and provide genuine insight, to ensure they are not just suggesting digital for digital’s sake, but are actually able to identify the most appropriate and effective solution to meet specific objectives.

(image: Cancer Research UK: Cell Slider)

In other news, Cancer Research UK has teamed up with Amazon, Facebook and Google to create a mobile game for analysing genetic mutations. Data is integral to finding a cure for cancer, however the challenge is getting the data investigated by human rather than machine eyes in order to be properly analysed. With this in mind, Cancer Research UK has teamed up with these US tech firms to try and build an engaging, fun and user-friendly mobile game, which can be used on the move. The charity has already developed a web-based game called Cell Slider where users look through archived tissue samples.

Finally, if you work in the oncology disease area, this interview on the Cancer Network website is really worth checking out. Dr Michael A. Thompson, an oncology specialist who writes a blog for ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Connection, talks to Cancer Network about the use of social media by oncologists, providing some great insights into the dissemination of research results, clinical trials, and other oncology news using social media.

For a really interesting look at social media in the pharma industry this week, check out this post on the Eye For Pharma website.

The article looks at how the pharmaceutical industry responded to the growth of social media as a new comms channel and suggests that those companies that were willing to dip their toes in the water in the early years are now reaping the benefits of being at the forefront, “having learnt from their experimentation and having started the cultural change process that this ‘new’ channel requires”. The majority of companies, however, who were overly cautious at the emergence of social media, perhaps waiting for more regulatory clarity, are now struggling to play catch-up.

This is certainly a compelling argument. Genuine engagement with social media requires a considerable shift in company attitudes and behaviour, particularly within the traditionally conservative pharma industry, that can take years to implement. Companies willing to take risks early on will have had more time to adjust to the changing environment and to lay the foundations needed to utilise social media within their organisations.

Another good point the author makes is that companies that dabbled in social media a few years back did so in a far more forgiving environment, when it was still considered a new channel. Social media is no longer new. It is now the elephant in the room. It can’t be ignored no matter how hard companies might try, and those that have been slow to respond are at risk of falling further behind.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Many of the early frontrunners have become more cautious due to bad experiences, while others have lost momentum due to lack of tangible ROI and internal politics. Great opportunities exist for those now wanting to catch-up and use the experiences of others that have gone before them to inform their activities. The article goes on to give some great advice to those companies now looking to “jump on the social media bandwagon” and it really is a must-read for anyone involved in pharmaceutical comms.

Although not strictly a pharma company, GE Healthcare is one company that has pioneered the use of social media and digital and continues to lead the way. Their latest foray into the online world sees them teaming up with Spotify to launch the first in a series of health initiatives that will be powered by the online music streaming service.

The first of these, the “Give A Little Beat” jukebox, has been launched to raise awareness of breast cancer. Spotify users can share and listen to songs via the jukebox, which GE say “reflects the healing power and international reach of music”. As part of the campaign, the company has also produced a “Give A Little Beat” Facebook App. Having already made use of a number of social media and digital channels, including Pinterest, this is yet another example from GE Healthcare of the potential that exists.

Every so often a cultural spoof comes along that is eminently watchable and shareable.  Or a song that is so catchy that it gets stuck in your head – an ‘ear flee’ as The Today Programme so elegantly phrased it this week.

And sometimes the stars align and a catchy spoof is born – as with the boys from Eton’s ‘Eton Style’ homage to Psy’s hit track and video Gangnam Style….  1.6 million views to date and counting….

Now I love nothing better than the sound of plummy voices  rapping – my three all-time favourites are Smirnoff Ice’s Tea Partay, the Yeo Valley rap from 2010, and (showing my age now) the 1991 French hit Auteuil Neuilly Pass by Les Inconnus – it helps if you speak French, but even if you don’t you’ll enjoy the video and  the ‘Salut tu vas bien’ chorus.   But ‘Eton Style’ is something else, it’s  genuine, it’s joyful – no brand has interfered in the making of this video – and it’s very very silly.

If you haven’t watched it, you need to do so now.

A marvellous glimpse into the hallowed cloisters of Britain’s most famous boys’ school.  And what an awesome dance move that little horsey trot is.  The Eton boys don’t quite pull it off, and the production is a little slick for a homework project, but just how charming is that video?  In case you are wondering they are six formers –  apparently this is recognisable from their ‘white tie’ (there are occasional information advantages to living with an old Etonian…).

You probably recognise the tune, but have you seen the real thing? Quality at 531 million views, give or take a million or so. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Wednesday, the sun is shining over Soho and I thought I’d take a few minutes to share with you some of my favourite PR stories of the last few weeks.

1. Fiat photobombs VW
I couldn’t resist this one I’m afraid. I love the cheekiness of Fiat to take one of their cars and park it directly outside VW’s offices. As well as getting loads of coverage on its little move, they also did something that has some longevity in that Google’s Street View won’t be updated again for quite a while, so whenever you search for VW’s site in Sweden, you’ll get this lovely picture!

2.Hyundai goes bananas
I know it’s another car one but stay with me. As they say in the world of show business “Never work with children or animals“ (W.C. Fields) yet Hyundai seemed to ignore the latter half of this and let a group of monkeys loose on their new car. This simple idea really showed how robust the new Hyundai is. Having witnessed monkey’s tearing bits off cars when I last went to a safari park, I know how destructive they can be! A great photo that generated a lot of online buzz…so it seems that monkeying around can bring success.

3. Beckham plays Beethoven
OK so it’s more of a viral campaign than anything else but the Samsung Galaxy Note film featuring David Beckham playing Beethoven with drums and footballs is definitely worth watching!

Enjoy the sunshine!

So often in our line of work it’s all about the new ‘new’, whether that’s Instagram, Pinterest or the latest hipster band.  However whilst some areas of life are moving very fast, it seems that there are still lots of things that have cultural currency 10 or even 20 years later.  There’s a huge trend clustering around the prefix “Re” – Reunion, Revival, Rerelease, Retrospective, Rebirth…you get the picture.

First off, the little grey cells in the right side of my brain excitedly twitch when confronted with the still provocative work of Damien Hirst whose phenomenal retrospective can currently be viewed at the Tate Modern, showcasing arguably some of the best art of the ‘90’s and 00s.  Today’s innovator and rule-breaker can quickly become the new establishment.

Pharmacy, by Damian Hirst

And from one drug cabinet to another… Irvine Welsh’s long awaited new novel Skagboys has finally arrived. Set in the ‘80’s with a financial and political climate not unlike the current, it certainly reignites memories of a moment in time when Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie were catapulted into cultural icon status in the ‘90’s. Read at your peril/leisure.

Another group of friends who have reunited again are those lovable manboys of American Pie fame. American Reunion promises to make us laugh one last time (apparently) and judging from their impressive range of social media plug-ins, surely filmmakers are saying Finch’s iconic ‘God bless the internet’ in promoting this final instalment.  There must be lots of other old franchises that could be combined with social media to amplify them in ways they could never have imagined the first time around.

Let’s be honest, most of us probably thought we had seen the last of Boy London however the appetite for the iconic clothing had a resurgence after the wondrous Rihanna paraded its wares on the Jonathan Ross show. Popularity in the brand has soared and so too has sales – a massive 45% increase in online orders.   What other ‘dead’ brands are out there that are just waiting for a boost to bring them back to life?

Rihanna. Not a boy, despite what her cap may tell you.

The label also got an airing from the superstar at Coachella and miraculously, so too did beloved West Coast rapper, Tupac, via an impressive and also somewhat unnerving hologram. The appetite for the old-skool G-funk maestros clearly lives on.  Just when you thought the music industry was in inevitable decline, along comes a new technology that could change the game for the major labels and their extensive back catalogues and publishing rights from dead stars.

Looking at the examples above there is clearly huge potential to re-imagine and reconfigure ideas from the past for today’s markets and audiences.  So as well as looking for the latest new trend, we shouldn’t forget to look back to provide inspiration and new opportunities.

-Ainsley

Another week, another set of people yapping away at each other on the internet in the mistaken belief that what they say matters. Earlier this week, the web watched AGHAST as two sets of people pitted themselves against each other in a BITTER WAR OF WORDS, in what turned out to be a massively unedifying spectacle both for the journalist involved and, frankly, for everyone else who participated.

I am, of course, referring to this – oh, Barbara Ellen, what were you thinking?

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I once read somewhere that the oft-cited factoid about goldfish having a memory of just 3 seconds is in fact a MYTH (yes, that’s right – Web Curios, pulling the scales of falsehood from your eyes one lie at a time!). Interestingly (I use the word advisedly), though, whilst our piscine friends are apparently swanning around their memory palaces, we on THE INTERNET are apparently as amnesiac as they come. How else can one explain the TWITTERMOBSPLOSIONFRENZY (yes, it’s a great word, isn’t it? Yours to use for only a nominal rights payment) that erupted over the latest piece of linkbait to be vomited from the online hellmouth that is the Daily Mail?

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Hey you! Yes, YOU! You there, slack-jawed, disinterested white collar worker! DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE BAD THINGS HAPPENING OUT THERE IN THE BIG WIDE WORLD???

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I am still chuckling from last night’s Funny Women 10th Anniversary Charity Challenge. 

Funny Women  encourages women to make careers in comedybut last night’s dinner had a twist.  Ten high profile women from business, the media and academia were challenged to try stand-up comedy for the first time to raise funds for 10 charities.

I was there to support journalist Rowan Pelling  who was raising funds for Children in Crisis, and who I am delighted to say was voted the winner.

While Rowan drew on her time as editor of The Erotic Review, some of her fellow debuting stand-ups treated us to stories of being the translator for verbally-challenged teens; embracing a career in computer technology; the wonders of Twitter; and battling with other people’s misconceptions. 

My personal funny moment was winning a raffle prize of a chance to host a fashion brunch for up to 10 people with The Fold London and 50% off a dress of my choice.  Needless to say I am passing this opportunity on … I’m running a mini charity auction among my colleagues today.

Funny women will also have a stall at this weekend’s Women of the World Festival on London’s South Bank, so if you’re about, why not pop by.

March! Spring! Hares! Yes, all of that stuff. Whatever this morning’s commuter rag may have told us, Web Curios is declaring winter over. So there. That’s ok then.

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