The dust has now settled. The FDA Hearing provided further perspectives into the groundswell of social media – I’m glad I attended. Next steps? There’s one big thing no one is talking about.
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..
Comments are closed.