Social media anxiety order

With a multitude of industry-altering challenges already in the pipeline, pharmaceutical companies also now have to contend with breaking the world of social media. Phil Baumann outlines how – and why – companies should be doing precisely that.

“The only way things will move is when middle and executive managers start using these media personally.”
-Phil Baumann

There's been an ongoing discussion about how the life sciences industry can face and integrate recently evolving media, which the web has been and continues to sprout. Remarkable as they are, the discussions are endless and most loop back into themselves without generating sufficient voltage to power an army of macrophages. Pharmaceutical companies, beset by a myriad of constraints, are anxious about flipping on social connection switches which the web furiously creates every day. We could say that pharma has a 'social media anxiety disorder'. The question is - how can it be remedied?

The answer isn't in social media. It's not in what the US-focused FDA or its European equivalent decides to do. It's not in echo chambers found within Twitter, blogs or conferences. It lies in simple, basic economic truths. It lies in radical acceptance and in brave recreation. It lies beneath the proverbial nose of obviousness. It lies far beyond any discussion about the meanings, promises and purposes of new media on the web. Pharma's social media anxiety disorder is merely a peripheral symptom of deeper pathologies - so it's about time someone assessed the patient. 

Deep concerns and peripheral risks

Social media is nothing - an oxymoron at best: media are simply media, incapable of being at all social. People are social. Information isn't social either - but it is everything. With that in mind, it's important to talk about information and why it matters to the life sciences' media challenges and wider business fundamentals.

Nobody doubts that the ultimate concern surrounding the development, production and marketing of molecules and medical devices is their safety, efficacy and effectiveness. From production and marketing to administration and application, every step of the way involves risks. Tiny flaws in R&D methodologies; overlooked nuances of human physiological processes; genetic mechanisms and anatomical structures; manufacturing and engineering oversights; misinforming marketing messages (unintended or otherwise); and administration error (provider or patient related) all contribute to this cauldron of risk.

At the core of all these risks lies information, which is the coherence of relevant data that helps to make decisions in light of risks. Any information indicating danger during any point of the entire pipeline can retard or terminate production, marketing or dispensation of a product.

Furthermore, the media through which information conveys its meaning determines its interpretation. Therefore, any discussion concerning the proper delivery of product information must base itself upon the most complete understanding of media possible. Few media are alike in properties, possibilities, limits and pliancy of re-purposing. Not all media can be used for the same purposes as other media. Twitter may help Dunkin' Donuts move sales, but that doesn't mean it will work for the world of pharma.

The order of complexity that arises out of the tasks involved in creating and cultivating safe and engaging environments for patients, doctors, pharmacists, employees and all other publics grows with every added layer of interaction. It's one thing to say 'let's start a blog, tweet like sparrows, set up Facebook pages and create forums'. It's quite another to do so remarkably without addressing both the deeper nuances of human communication, social interaction, individual psychological responses and their peripheral risks.

It sounds hopeless - in fact it's anxiety provoking. But it isn't hopeless and it doesn't need to be an unstoppable source of anxiety. But the reality is this: life sciences has far too many variables and concerns to tie together to ever completely satisfy everyone and everything when it comes to social media - certainly not right out of the gate. The enterprise considerations alone are almost impossibly daunting.

Natural versus unhealthy rates of return

Let's take a quick pan-back for a moment from social media to mention something about capitalism and economic fundamentals, as it's the central economic context in which modern pharmaceutical marketing arose. An inquiry into the economic ramifications of a fast-changing world must be the foundation for any exploration into the role of media. And this will lead us to why simplicity is pharma's best prospect for long-term viability. Bear with me on this excursion. Why? Because if there's no industry, who cares about social media?

The rates of return for the pharmaceutical industry over the last 20 years have been quite remarkable. After the industry radically transformed itself decades ago from a primarily scientific endeavor into a marketing juggernaut, the stock prices of publicly traded life sciences companies soared. Blockbusters made careers. Fortunes bloomed. Investors beamed.

We could say that co-morbid with pharma's social media anxiety disorder is an addiction to quick hits of Blockbusters and above-average rates of return. As we know, co-morbid conditions are often the hardest to treat. But the fact is, these rates of return were not natural rates of return. A sustainable long-term rate of return for industries in their natural states is on the order of a paltry two to three percent. Why? Because the resource-inflationary pressure of high returns inevitably leads to downward pressures on sustainability. When rates of return exceed rates of regeneration, eventually capital systems collapse in on themselves. Sooner or later, pendulums swing back - the higher the summit, the more momentous the tumult.

To most pharmaceutical executives, the very thought of rates of return that low could cause chuckles amongst other side-effects, but eventually pharma will face major reversals of fortune in the coming years for a number of reasons. Firstly, the disruption of traditional marketing, coupled with the infiltration of the web into consumers' lives will dilute their effectiveness. Secondly, the mis-coordination amongst the various international regulatory agencies and the industry will hamper innovation in customer outreach. Finally, the pool of bright, young talent will flow to technology and other sectors while flowing away from an industry whose public reputation has suffered years of traumatic wounds.

Therefore, the industry must undergo a radical realisation and acceptance that their fundamentals need serious attention. A critical dissection of assumptions and traditional business thinking will need to take place. The harsh realities of the 21st century's upending nature must be faced without fear. The marketing models that were co-opted from the cereal and automotive industries will be tough to break down and replaced with fresh perspectives on the ever-shifting ways in which people consume their information.

Meanwhile, the social engineering foundation of modern marketing will continue to falter. Unless, of course, a few geniuses emerge who will discover some magical formula to mechanise social media into standard operating algorithms - as was done with traditional media. Not impossible, but it was much easier to do with unilateral oligopolies of mass communication.

There are times in our lives when incredibly hard and frightening decisions must be made. The same applies to companies and industries - entire countries in fact. And it's always those simple decisions that must be made and are most often the most difficult to execute. The pharmaceutical industry's simple way out of its coming dark age is nothing less than the task of utterly re-vamping itself into an entirely new industry - one which will be supple, clever and ethical enough to win the attention and social capital so critically necessary to hold sway in the coming world.

The simple truth

Of course, maybe it's already too late for the large pharmaceutical companies. If that's the case, then the smaller enterprises have an open opportunity to gun for the future - especially if they refuse to be subsumed into the juggernauts. If 20th century capitalism taught us anything, it's this: Juggernauts often jeopardise their long-term sustainability by assuming their ways of doing business are eternally solvent. They aren't. Technology brings forth into the world both opportunity and obsolescence. It reveals the status quo while it destroys it.

If the industry is to be what it aught to be - a leading creator of technological solutions to biological problems - then it will have to abandon the now false hope of generating unnatural rates of return via outmoded mechanisms, processes, strategies and tactics. Because if it continues to believe its industry is exempt from the eternal laws of supply and demand, of resource and allocation, and of creativity and innovation, then it will perpetuate a belief system that will continue to funnel its efforts into practices that forgo richer long-term prospects. This is not only a matter of industrial health - it's a public health urgency. A bankruptcy of novel bio-molecular advancement would be catastrophic for health care.

Returning to the web of connections, it's not that the web doesn't matter - far from it. But the basic economic principles outlined above are the priority for all companies curious about how to integrate web media into their enterprises. There are places for new media within life sciences but the industry needs to be very basic in its approach.

For one, companies won't get very far with 'social marketing' efforts until executive leadership has hands-on experience with new media and a working comprehension of their properties. The only way things will move is when middle and executive managers start using these media personally. They need to go through this process before clear-headed strategies can be well formulated. To do this, they need to imagine the re-purposing possibilities of various media and then put together small teams of champions who, with permission, can go forth and lead the way with small steps. Finally, they will have to initiate the system-deep integration of social design into their companies - and enterprise versions of Facebook aren't the solution.

Once they understand how to use these media themselves, only then will they see the potential and pitfalls. They will realise the importance of accumulating social capital and will see more clearly what it takes to create content and communities and the safe connections that engender markets where information can be safe and effective.

The economics of life science products and the realities of emerging shifts in the properties of adopted media dovetail each other over time. Perhaps not immediately, but it won't be too long before the industry sees the need to change, which is why the previous discussion about capitalism is so important and relevant to any discussion on social technologies.

The pharmaceutical industry will have to get back to fundamentals in economic design and collaborative networks. It needs to bring the life scientists back to front-and-center as pioneers of not only innovation but also creativity. It will have to develop new ways to work with doctors and nurses, patients and the public.

The imperative for leaders in life sciences businesses to understand the emerging roles of emerging media has never been more important. Moreover, the enframing of these media must line up with a fresh perspective on the nature of capitalism in an age where social currencies emerge as substantive elements in the capital system at large.

It's time to get back to the science of life and the art of being a hero. Re-examine the fundamental meaning of marketing. Remember that marketing is about presence. Realise the costly long-term error in mistaking messaging for marketing. If you're going to integrate rapidly shifting new media into your efforts, keep things simple. Don't aim for marketing gold - you'll not only miss the pot, you'll ruin your reputation forever because the Web is your last hope, even if it's your biggest fear. It's that simple. But like life itself, simple is rarely easy.

This article was reprinted with permission from Phil Baumann. For more information, visit: www.philbaumann.com/2010/03/22/overcoming-pharmas-social-media-anxiety-disorder/

The social injection

Baumann outlines a few simple tasks that could change everything for the world of social-pharma marketing.

Invest in education: Where will the next generation of molecular biologists, geneticists and engineers come from? Set up a consortium of education that extensively funds captivating educational programmes that spark the attention of a youth easily distracted by the temptations of the web by using those temptations to your advantage.

Shift capital-flows from over-marketing back to R&D: The future of traditional marketing is bleak. Accept the losses now. A robust portfolio of novel pipelines for products - in conjunction with re-designing public relations with valuable social propositions - will lead to healthier long-term prospects for capital accumulation.

Re-design infrastructure and process from an assembly-line basis into info-social ecosystems: As the cost of technologies shrink while their powers expand, the opportunities to more fully realise the power of ideas and experiences expand. How many more discoveries and advances in molecular genetics can be made if businesses were based upon social designs instead of mechanical rigors?

Extract value from the innate experiences of human capital within the enterprise: Entrenched stiff organisational structures have buried the collective values that can be derived from the vast array of product and service ideas inherent in these collective talents. Investing in re-designing business towards info-social ecosystems will develop the platforms necessary to yield the potency of human creativity and innovation.