EDITOR’S PEN

A TWO-WAY STREET ON THE INFO SUPERHIGHWAY

Did you know that there are 175 million active users on Facebook? And MySpace recently announced that it had hit an all-time high of 44 billion page views. I count myself among those millions who have officially fallen in love with the former site, and I definitely spend way too much time every day poring over whatever personal info “friends” are willing to share about themselves. (Quite often, I’ve noticed, someone’s suffering from stomach flu, allergies or other ailment and takes comfort in the collective prescriptions and sympathy of the community.) Perhaps that’s why many of the experts who contributed to this special supplement on E-marketing believe that the Web 2.0 world of social media (including blogs, networking sites and online communities) is where the real focus of medical product management needs to be.

It’s well known that the percentage of the pharma marketing budget dedicated to the “E” space has stayed below 5% since the advent of the commercial Web. However, E-marketing appears to be at a critical crossroads, with companies preparing to redirect substantial ad spending from TV and other media to the Web. So, where should the investment be? In a recent article for PM360 (“The E-Marketing Channel: Is Pharma Meeting the Challenge?” October, 2008), contributor Tom St. Peter of Doctor Directory.com notes that “approaches such as E-learning, E-detailing and E-sampling have already proven to be cost-effective, targeted and measurable means to gain more access and increase reach and market penetration.” That’s good news, and we’ve tapped several other E-marketing experts to explain how best to exploit the digital platform: Dora Shankman will help you effectively convey your message to a targeted Internet audience—and yield a measurable return. And Dr. Larry Friedman of TNS North America proposes a new communications model that capitalizes on the unique social media dynamic.

Speaking of social media, according to a brand new report by Manhattan Research, 60% of physicians are using—or are interested in using—online social networks. What’s more, the doctors that frequent online forums prescribe an average of 24 more scrips each week than their offline peers. After launching in 2006, Sermo, the fastest-growing social networking site exclusively for doctors, has drawn in 100,000 members nationwide. So, as pharma marketers continue to struggle to secure face time with their physician base, we asked a select group of industry strategists how to reach doctors digitally for our PM360 Think Tank. One emerging trend waiting to be tapped: mobile media. Plus, Craig DeLarge, Associate Director of E-Marketing and Relationship Marketing at Novo Nordisk, persuasively argues that the industry must build deeper personal connections with users in the “E” space and beyond. Even in a seemingly impersonal virtual world, you can make your relationships real.

We sincerely hope these insights help you drive sales up the Information Superhighway. And with a smart investment and vision, perhaps successful sites like Facebook soon will become pharma’s best friend too.

Paula Silverman
Special Issues Editor
paula.silverman@pm360online.com