Ranking Pharma’s Social Media Presence Tracking a Moving Target!Click Here for Additional Resources
A conversation with Christopher Wooden (see bio), Vice President, Global Sales at Cegedim Strategic Data (CSD), about CSD’s desk research that tabulated how the top 100 pharmaceutical companies rank in terms of their Social media exposure (likes, posts, tweets, followers) on two of the most important social network websites: Facebook and Twitter.
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Background
Cegedim Strategic Data (CSD) has initiated a study comparing the ranking of pharmaceutical companies’ spend on traditional promotional channels to their presence on two leading social media channels – Facebook and Twitter.
The analysis of social network presence was conducted worldwide for November 2011 focusing on the top 100 pharmaceutical companies in terms of traditional sales force and marketing channel spending. CSD then identified the Top 30 pharmaceutical companies for Facebook and for Twitter based on their presence and healthcare-focused activities.
Results: Top 3 companies in traditional promotional spending The US multinational Pfizer ranks first worldwide in traditional promotional spending, and is also present in the top spots for social media presence: third position for the number of Likes on Facebook, and first for the number of followers on Twitter.
Novartis, the Swiss multinational that ranks second in traditional promotional spending, is somewhat behind Pfizer, in seventeenth position for Likes on Facebook, and fifth position on Twitter for the number of followers.
Merck & Co is in third position worldwide for traditional promotional spending, and seems to show contrasting positions for social media activity. The company ranks tenth on the number of Likes on Facebook, while at the same time ranks number one for the number of pages. On Twitter Merck & Co ranks fifteenth for the number of followers and third for the number of Tweets.
Christopher Wooden, Vice President, Promotion Audits for Cegedim Strategic Data commented “The CSD social media audit shows clearly that most major life science companies are establishing a presence in social media – but coverage, methods and sophistication do vary significantly.”
CSD will continue to track the use of social media. Linked with CSD’s traditional Promotion Audits, this research can provide valuable benchmarking metrics in measuring the industry’s use of diverse marketing channels. Results will be available alongside use of other digital promotional channels, including e-detailing, email and e-meetings, which are reported continuously at company, brand and physician level in our global Promotion audit.
Questions/Topics To Be Discussed
- What is the background for this audit of social media as used by Pharma
- What are your initial observations based on these results
- Any surprises?
- Is social media “just another marketing channel”?
- Where do you believe the use of social media sits within the broader context of marketing and communication for Pharma?
- What direction do you think the use of social media by Pharma will take?
Guest Bio
Christopher Wooden has been working in health care for over 20 years. In 1998 Christopher joined the CAM Group (acquired by Cegedim in 2003) and since then has been responsible for the international expansion and development of what is now CSD Promotion. Working closely with global brand teams in the USA, Europe, Japan and APAC, Christopher has helped the leading life science companies leverage the rich source of promotional metrics collected from CSD Promotion audits in over 30 countries.
With the creation of Cegedim Strategic Data in 2005, Christopher was responsible for the set-up and launch of CSD India. As Vice President of Global Sales he directs global account managers, new product development and the marketing of all CSD studies including longitudinal patient data and medical research.
Christopher is based in London. He studied linguistics and advertising at the State University of New York, Binghamton and International Marketing at the American University of Paris.
Additional Resources
- TBD
