Newell Rubbermaid: Social Media from a Multi-Brand Perspective, by Bert DuMars; presented by GasPedal and the SMBC from GasPedal on Vimeo.

Key things to really hear:

• The importance of understanding the culture of Twitter, Facebook or other platforms
• Don’t start with the technology.  Facebook might not be right for your goals.
• You have to immerse yourself, not just publish.
• Don’t just talk about business, have fun.
• It’s an eco-system – how does social media fit with your entire PR & Marketing plan?
• Scale it! Test and Learn
• Monetize when the time or place is right

Cross Posted on www.carlenlea.com

It’s not a question any longer whether pharma has a need – bordering on moral obligation – to provide value and service through listening and responding via social media. We’ll build a playbook just like we did when we on boarded e-business initiatives 10 years ago. The real question emerging is WHO within the pharma enterprise will own this roll, and HOW will this new ‘Chief Social Media Officer’ relate to other internal partners and their agencies.

So far, numerous leaders are emerging from the pharma organization from legal, regulatory, brand teams and consumer/HCP centers of excellence. Time for a new COE to centralize this role? Maybe.

From one perspective within our advertising agency, this isn’t far from the decision in the 1960’s when agencies carved out ‘brand planner’ role – the one person who would own the market research (listening) and the planning tool box and ensure pull through to execution. This looks and feels like exactly the same need.

To that end, we’re working on a white paper this week with focus on this new COE role, a potential job description, connectivity to key internal and external partners, and some thoughts on the toolbox – stay tuned..

So what really happened? What concerned industry most? Did FDA give away any of their plans? Registration closed quickly…and many who wanted to attend were turned away. Even those who were able attend will want to hear other expert interpretations of the discussions. On Thursday, November 19, beginning at 1:00 p.m., join FOI Services, Inc., Attorney Arnie Friede, and RTCRM’s Healthcare social media expert Carlen Lea lesser for a 90-minute teleconference.

You’ll hear expert analysis of what was surprising, what was left out, and what the major issues are going to be in the months and years to come.

To register online, or for details on additional upcoming teleconferences, go to www.foiservices.com/tc. You may also call 1-800-654-1147 (outside the US and Canada call +1-301-975-9400) to register by phone.

Check it out.

Pharma & Social Media – CNBC.com.

Today’s costume celebrations culminate with a Costume Contest.  Winner gets a 4GB iPod.  Woot!

Pictures to follow.

This film is not scheduled for a DC release, so if you want to see it, here’s your chance.

> **Everything iDon’t…**
> _(cut Apple-esque music)_
> _(cue viral marketing tactics)_
> **DroidDoes**

The Droid does a range of things that iPhone doesn’t according to the ad, including offering a physical keyboard, multitasking, a five-megapixel camera, widgets, “open development,” a removable battery, etc…

My only quibble: if Verizon was already planning to throw millions of dollars at this “iDon’t” campaign, they could’ve at least hired an ad agency who knew when to use proper apostrophes and primes. Maybe one who wouldn’t then mix them multiple times, within seconds of each other, in the same television ad.


I’m looking in your direction, [McGarryBowen](http://www.mcgarrybowen.com/news.html#2009).

[^1]: The ad additionally noting that the name “Droid” is licensed from Lucasfilm.

As a part of studying the health of over 5,000 people from Framingham, researchers asked participants for names of their family members, close friends and colleagues, in order to be able to track the participants’ health long-term and find them in the case of moves, death or other life changes.  While not the goal, this data provided deep insight into the social network of the town over decades.  And, looking at that data, researchers earlier this decade observed that health conditions were more prevalent among people who knew each other.

For example, if someone became obese, the likelihood that someone they were connected to would become obese increased by 171%.  In the early 70s, 65% of Framingham residents in their 40s were regular smokers; this dropped to 22% by 2001.  And, as the researchers noted, quitters weren’t randomly dispersed throughout the community, but were clustered amongst people in a social network.  “People quit together, or they didn’t quit at all,” according to James Fowler of UCSD, one of the doctors who examined the Framingham data.

It’s interesting to think about how we can harness the power of community to influence health in the Web 2.0 version of social networking.  It suggests that if we can bring people together and help them make connections, we might be able to encourage positive health behaviors that will see lasting results.

You can read a PDF of the Wired magazine article here

photo courtesy of flickr user waɪ.ti

Starting Monday, RTCRM will switch out our disposable Styrofoam kitchen cups by using our own mugs, cups and glasses.  It’s all part of an effort to decrease our waste and promote simple, sustainable, green goals.

To learn a little bit more about the negative health and environmental impacts of Styrofoam, check out the Grinning Planet and the Earth Resource Foundation.