Pfizer's Twitter Dilemma

All Pfizer should be saying on twitter is directing people to their web site. End of story. How can a drug company give any useful information in less than 140 characters? In fact most companies are wasting their time playing with twitter and should just use it for any rumor/damage/PR control.

Agree with hgoldfarb67.

On another note, can I ask a different question? Social Media have been around for 10 years - yet moans are coming predominantly from late adopters who never bothered to look into blogs/Twitter/Social Networks until AdAge and the like began to tell them that this is what they should do. It is OK to offload the criticism on to the Federal Guidelines, but if the Feds don't use Twitter, and the person responsible for Pfizer's Twitter doesn't know what to do with it and how it works, who WOULD (should, can, etc.) tell either Feds or Pfizer how to use it?

So Pfizer has launched Twitter but is not sure of what to say on it? Do they know what people ask about Pfizer on Twitter? This may hint at to what answers to give.

Why not ask Twitter followers directly what information they would like to hear from Pfizer and feed it back to those responsible for guidelines?

The Financial Services industry is operating under a similar lack of direction, especially securities brokerages. FINRA continues to remain silent on the Social Media front.

Still, a number of firms under FINRA regulation are participating in Social Media, each taking a different approach to content, account management, and records/archival. However, each firm appears to have a strategy and reason for being in Social Media, and established internal guidelines as to what they can and cannot say (which I'm sure Pfizer has despite Kerins' assertion).

The regulating bodies need to begin addressing Social Media outlets soon. Their failure to provide guidance will eventually hurt consumers as corporations (and their employees) continue to operate in these spaces. Eventually, related cases are going to end up in the court system, costing the system (and consumers) large sums.

This is exactly what Chris Perry's article "Why Social Media Isn't Living Up to the Hype (Yet)", released today, is talking about. STOP trying to apply the old marketing approaches - it doesn't work any more. In fact, I believe Pfizer could have massive success without ever mentioning one of their pharmaceuticals. Here's an example using a Twitter post from today:

@thechicchef wrote:
"Why cook with Almond Oil? It's yummy tasting, good for your brain, cholesterol, colon, immune system, skin, and more! So...why not?! :)"

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If that is true, @Pfizer could participate by providing a set of Almond-based recipes and inviting @thechicchef to evaluate them for taste - asking her what she would add to make them better.

With this approach, Pfizer might be seen as a helpful company that is trying to keep people healthy. We also know that those with cholesterol issues may ultimately need a drug like Caduet regardless of what they do with their diet. Setting up a future customer relationship.

If this was helpful, you'll find more thoughts and examples on my blog.

Oops - blog is at http://www.aidantaylor.com/internet_marketing_blog.php