Socially Adept

Pfizer's Lack of Assitance and Not All UGC is Worth Reading

I'm 3 days into my Chantix prescription and slowly adjusting to the loss of a close friend...cigarettes.  I've been a smoker for over a decade and have come to a point in my life when enjoying the things in life that will eventually kill you is probably not the smartest choice.  The first week of the medication states that you should continue to smoke, but it fails to tell you that you will get no enjoyment from the cigarette.  I learned quickly that smoking on Chantix is the equivalent to taking a drag and not inhaling.  Pointless.

When I opened the package, Pfizer included a credit card style promotion that drove users to a website for support.  There was some info about a phone number to call and support groups, but I can't be really sure because I just tossed it aside.  I just can't bring myself to go to a support group.

Tonight, I noticed a commercial by Pfizer that promoted www.mytimetoquit.com so I decided to check it out.  Talk about Pointless!  No fresh content, no community, no tips or user information, no blog, no nothing.  I completely understand that the Pharmaceutical Industry has serious regulations about UGC, but this is a topic that so desperately could use some conversation.  There are plenty of independent sites that provide the information I would be looking for, like this one, but I want more from Pfizer.  Why?  Do a simple search for Chantix...the results will depress you.

- 55+/- people have committed suicide while taking Chantix

- The actual success rate of quitting smoking is 22%, the same as "the patch" after one year

Etc.

Do I believe this stuff?  Well, it's a bunch of strangers with a chip on their shoulder against Pharma companies, so I take it for what it's worth.  However, I know people who have had unusual experiences while taking the medication.  This is reason to take pause.  However, everyone is different, so much of the information you receive even from the most trusted of sources should be carefully considered.  Just because one person experiences severe depression from the medication, does not mean that I will.  Considering this, what could Pfizer have done?

Is there a way that the Pharma Industry can leverage communities and discuss their products without violating regulatory requirements that adds value to a community knowing that every user will have a different result?

Absolutely!  Look at companies like Patients Like Me. (Full Disclosure: This is a former client).  If Pfizer was truly committed to helping people quit smoking, they would create a destination that allows people to come together and discuss their experiences on the meds.  Allow users to track cravings, triggers and relapses.  Since smoking is habitual, as My Time To Quit frequently points out, wouldn't it be helpful to show people how to track these instances so that they can identify trouble spots?  Would the community be willing to blog about their struggles and agree to not make specific claims about Chantix?  I think they might be willing. 

The decision to leave cigarettes in the past is a big step...one that may not work for me and many others...but many of today's smokers wont pick up the phone when they are feeling weak and I'm sure a good chunk of us would never go to a support group.  However, I'd go online and blog about it.  I'd micro-blog about it.  I'd watch a Google Maps mash-up that shows me how often people are craving a smoke all around the world, just to know how many people out there are feeling the same thing.

Pfizer...take the bull by the horns and start using your microsites and unique URL's to do more than push people to your product pages.  Trust me...it will be worth it for both your customers and your bottom line.

Blogger Outreach is a Waste of Time

...if you're not paying attention and being memorable!  For the past two years, I've seen countless amounts of posts about the appropriate way to pitch bloggers.  Many of these posts are the same, but occasionally, it's nice to have a reminder that short cuts won't work.  Today, Matt Dickman posts about the topic from his perspective.  In his post, Matt revisits tactics that should be common knowledge for many people by now, but sadly, it isn't.

I spend a great deal of time investigating the best approach for establishing relationships with Bloggers.  As a Marketer, my goal is to help introduce my clients to Influential bloggers not solely for the purpose of covering news and products, but to help start what I believe will be, and should be, a lucrative relationship.  As you can imagine, there are often many challenges.  Whether it's time, identifying the appropriate individuals to participate, or standing out from the crowd of PR people who are throwing releases over the fence, there is always a need for something new and fresh.

I'm a big believer that PR Agencies and Professionals should definitely be adopting blogger outreach activities.  It's important to keep Influential bloggers informed and provide them with opportunities to engage with the brand.  However, Social Media open opportunities to build relationships beyond the traditional press pitch, release and pre-brief.  Essentially, the PR agency is only capable of taking the conversation so far.

So what do I mean by that?

Sending press pitches and releases to bloggers is a wise idea.  Especially if you've adopted the Social Media Press Release idea.  Pretty pictures can always grab attention, but it's no more personal than the traditional pitch.  Sure, it makes it easier for the blogger to access all of the content they need to post about your news, but does it encourage a conversation?  Most of us should know by now that conversation creates relationships.  If I deliver a monologue to an audience of one while holding up a few photos and logos am I likely to establish a long lasting connection?

As a former PR guy, I always viewed pitch writing as a creative opportunity.  A way to flex a bit from the standard press release.  However, it was still just text...and maybe it's just me, but I don't connect well with text.  Every once in awhile someone will send me a pitch about their new product or service and I'll read the email a few times and visit the site to check it out, but when I close my email, it's lost and gone forever.  Before you know it, it's old news.

When thinking about blogger outreach, it may be better to think small.  Instead of creating a list of 200 bloggers to reach out to, try focusing on the key 15-20.  If you're target list is too big, how can you customize each pitch and participate in the conversation?  If you're only contact a handful of people, isn't it possible to come up with a rich experience that makes you stand out from the crowd?

Absolutely!  By leveraging marketers and creative resources, you have the power to make a statement and be memorable.  Why confine yourself to the small box that is text?  Too often, we as marketers spend too much time thinking about the bigger conversation.  How do we reach the masses using social media?  How do we leverage Influencers to deliver our message to potential customers? 

We should be more micro in our thinking.  How do we have the conversation with the one person who is conversing with many?

We're all still in a time of evolution and experimentation, so where we'll be two years from now is still anyone's guess.  The one thing we do know, is how do we measure success?  How do we justify the budget spend to create materials solely for 15-20 people?  Why should I spend $10k for creative to deliver the message to such a small audience when I can spend the same amount and pitch 200 bloggers?

I think it would be wise for all of us to start thinking about the real value.  Reaching out to 200 bloggers is risky.  If you're approach is too standard, you could be the next person featured on Jaffe Juice for your poor pitch strategy.  Additionally, what is your success rate for coverage?  10% maybe 20% depending on the quality of your news.  Essentially, the majority of your spend produced zero results.  Sure, you've only spent $50 per Influencer contacted, but the resulting coverage cost $1,000/$500 per hit.

Now, if you reach out to 15-20 key Influencers with a rich experience that starts the conversation, you're odds for success may be much higher.  Based on your approach, Influencers may be willing to cover your news as well as the unique way you approached them.  Assume that of the 20 Influencers included in the campaign, half of them covered your news via a post on their blog, the numbers look like this: $500 per Influencer contacted and a coverage cost of $1,000 per hit.

Hmmmm?  Interesting.  And this doesn't even take into account the conversation that would occur with the influencer (which is much easier to manage on the small scale) and the distribution of more rich materials instead of a press release.  Same costs, same coverage, better results.

Something to think about.  Feel free to send me a message with any ideas or thoughts...after all, we are all still learning and evolving! 

FINALLY...A YouTube Star Worth Paying Attention To

The rise of YouTube has opened the eyes of many to the amount of talent that goes undiscovered.  Unfortunately, most of the people who have risen to fame really don't offer much talent.  People like Chris Crocker, iJustine, Magibon...they don't really do anything.  Sure, on occasion, some of this content is valuable or insightful, but for the most part, they have less to offer than the bottom two of American Idol.

Maybe I am just looking for more from the people on YouTube.  I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who love the random videos and disjointed content from some silly teenager, but I would hope for more.  Thankfully, I've finally found it!

Bo Burnham.

A gangly 6'5" 17 year old from Massachusetts who's "not gay."  He currently has 11 videos up on YouTube and everyone of them is lol funny.  His lyrical repertoire is limitless and it's hard to imagine this kid is still in High School.  If you understand satire and can laugh at yourself (as well as stereotypes) and ignore political correctness, then this kid is worth checking out.

Apparently, he just signed a deal with Comedy Central.  I've signed up for his email updates and will surely be watching when this kid makes it big.  Enjoy!

This Guy hasn't updated Twitter in 38 Years!

I was checking out my Twitter Karma today and noticed that one of my followers hasn't Twittered in 38 Years.  I had no idea Twitter had been around that long!  Who knew that Twitter arrived prior to public consumption of the internet!

You can check out Jonald Linga's Twitter page here.  Who knew that the Philippines were the first to adopt Twitter?  The blog linked in the profile is real and Jonald's quest to attract attention by following 1500 people has surely worked. 

One piece of advice... don't wait 38 years to Tweet at least once!

For The Record - Typepad is Driving Me Crazy

Take a look at this blog.  Looks like I haven't been posting, huh?  You could assume that based on the fact that there haven't been any new posts in awhile.  You'd be wrong!

You see, there are several posts that have nearly made their way to the front page of this blog.  Some of the are riveting (if I do say so myself).  Unfortunately, you have no idea what your missing.

After I've completed these fantastic posts that will drastically improve the readership of Socially Adept, I do the appropriate thing and spell check my work.  I hit the spell check button and PRESTO... the post is gone!

Rest assured, the content was created, but unfortunately not shared.  We'll see if I can correct this issue.  Then again... you may never even read this and the whole thing was a fruitless effort to express my issue and explanation to the world. 

If you're reading this... ignore any spelling mistakes and start thinking about what those posts could have been!

Blist - My new favorite app

How the hell is this free?  I'm in love!

http://blog.blist.com/

I've be looking for something like this for too long.  Kudos to Kevin and the team at Blist.  You've got something big here.