Pharma Blogging:
Speaking Out
For an industry that has often been perceived as unwilling or unable to engage directly with its customers, blogs offer Pharma companies the opportunity to connect with its communities of interest in a less formal manner than traditional media channels have allowed. Pharma blogs also provide companies with the means of expressing their own opinions on stories that concern them, as well as presenting the possibility of entering into a productive, trust-generative dialogue with their readership. However, despite many potential adjacent benefits, few Pharma companies have elected to experiment with the blogging format to date.
This report shares the learning of those industry experts who have perceived and acted upon the value of blogging to their companies, with participants sharing their personal experience of planning, implementing, and maintaining a Pharma blog. The expert panel discusses the strategic value of the blog to their organization, the identity of their target audience, the content offered, and the tactical considerations taken into consideration. The report concludes with a summary of the participants' expectations regarding the future of Pharma blogging, and advice for those within the industry who may also be planning to launch a blog on behalf of their own company.
Pharma Blogging: Speaking Out features Pharma blogging pioneers Greg Kueterman (Eli Lilly), Tony Jewell (AstraZeneca), and Marc Monseau (Johnson & Johnson).
Featuring a contextual introduction, detailed subject insights derived from original interviews with the participants, and a concluding section offering advice from the expert panel for those considering launching a Pharma blog, Pharma Blogging: Speaking Out is required reading for all those interested in What’s Next in contemporary healthcare communications.
The report includes:
- Extensive expert insights from leading Pharma bloggers
- Comprehensive explanations of the strategic planning and operational workflow supporting three of the leading Pharma and Healthcare blogs.
Key quotes from the report:
Marc Monseau, Director, Corporate and Media Relations, Johnson & Johnson
In some cases, a Pharma company blog may primarily be a place for the company to explain its position on a variety of subjects. In other instances, it could serve as a venue for one or more of the company's thought leaders to describe their thinking around a disease state or research approach. Ultimately, a corporate blog affords people within a company the opportunity to have a voice.
Greg Kueterman, Director, Corporate Communications, Eli Lilly
LillyPad brings visibility in a way that we may not otherwise receive it. Whilst we enjoy good relationships with the media and other stakeholders, the blog offers direct access to some specific audiences that may or may not read the media stories, and allows us to have conversations with them in a timely manner. Through Lillypad, our audience has the opportunity to review and comment on our perspective on current topics every day if they so wish, and we consider that to be a huge benefit.