O M G ! That is what one physician said to me when I asked her to take a look at a new social media game from BI that lets players attack deadly diseases from their own virtual laboratories, discover new drugs, market them, and share and work with friends. ”Developing new drugs is not a game and this thing trivializes drug development. Does BI really think this is going to win over American consumers ?”
So on the one hand you have a pharma company taking the leap into social media but on the other you have a strategy that is, ahem, flawed in its objectives and execution.
Those of us in the industry are full aware of the legal, medical and regulatory issues facing new drug development not to mention a more vigilant FDA and increasing costs. Americans are not stupid and are smart enough to understand drug development hurdles if they are presented as facts not a game.
Social media is not to be taken lightly but what has really puzzled me is that so many companies are willing to do things on social media without good supporting market research. I would have, for example, presented my target audience with a choice of using a game of just presenting facts that are easy to understand and credible, with sources of information, and asked them to choose which they prefer. My instinct tells me that they would like to know the real story and not have to play a game that makes fun of the drug development process.
Passionate healthcare marketer with over 10 years of experience I believe that what's best for patients is best for healthcare marketers. I also write a monthly DTC Column for PM 360 Magazine and have written many articles on healthcare marketing in an age of empowered patients.
I agree Rich. Any marketing strategy – social media or otherwise – needs to be grounded in some kind of market research and tailored to fit exactly who you are and who the audience is. Anything else is doomed to failure.
Even the look here is a bit suspect. I’m all for creativity, but I really wonder is this was fully researched and vetted with their target audience. Of course, sometimes the target audience doesn’t know what it wants…or needs.
I believe games work, also in this case. But to what? And I agree that here the effect will be that the whole topic will be remembered for a long time as being handled in the wrong way. Funny to see that someone is willing to trivialize drug development in a time when the industry is suffering from it so much?!
Can’t help but notice that there are no links to BI’s website only logos. It smells to me like they are aiming to get kids to play this hoping to promote positive association with BI in the future. What do you think?
You got it. It’s the RC-regulated “firewall” that the watchdogs allow, with just a slight hint of who’s behind the game. Believe me, if it could be more blatant, marketers at both the manufacturer (BI) and their ad agency would be ecstatic.
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