Thanks to John Mack for digging into the “AstraZeneca Hosts “Take on Depression” Facebook Discussion – Seroquel Lurks Behind the Scenes” story on his BLOG. The key lesson here ? Don’t hire an agency to implement your social media strategy especially if that agency is Edelman.John found out when accessing the Facebook page on depression, sponsored by AZ “that it took a long time to display the discussion page and posts. During the minute or so the application was loading, I also noticed the following URL being accessed: http://www.seroquelfbdiscapp.com/, which contains a product brand name; ie, Seroquel!” Is this a violation of DDMAC guidelines ? You bet it is but there are deeper issues here, namely that a PR firm is executing a social media program for a pharma company and that they even farmed out some of the work to someone else.
Now I am not a big fan of Edelman. They are a “legend in their own mind” and have made way too many mistakes for my money. According to a PR blog called Spin Sucks the fight against destructive spin What I do have a problem with is THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT PR FIRM IN THE WORLD just announced in the Chicago Tribune that the people who are supposed to be setting social media strategy in conjunction with communication strategy for their clients HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE DOING!
The bottom line is this:
1. You can hire an agency to develop your social media page (look & feel) but
2. Once developed YOU need to execute the social media program, not an agency and not a 2nd rate agency like Edelman.
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.
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Could not agree more. YOU need to execute. An agency can help you with strategy and ideas and how to work the magic, but YOU have to execute. Yes, yes, yes!
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I read your blog a lot and follow your twitter stream…I think to say ALL agencies are bad at social media is not quite right. This example is bad and the account team at the agency should be held responsible. But I know a lot of agencies who actually do a good job, mine included. We take the time to think through what the strategy is, what the clients want to achieve and ensure that legal and regulatory concerns are addressed BEFORE any social media work. There are a lot of folks about there who do know what they are doing. Shame AZ did not hire one of them.