Consumer generated content creates new brand management challenges for life science companies

Consumer written content including blogs, bulletin-boards, and chats can create a substantial risk for life science companies concerned with maintaining their brand and providing accurate information to the market.

Brand management and the consistent delivery of timely factual information to the marketplace has always been a challenge for life science companies. Adding a layer of complexity to this issue has been the intense regulations and approval process for generating and distributing new information.

In the past however, the information that did get to the marketplace, including physicians and consumers was typically through more controlled and professional channels. Information was distributed through sales representatives, trade shows, analysts, professionals in the industry, and established media such as newspapers, magazines, or television.

Blogs and other informal consumer generated content are creating a new avenue. Consumers have been able to participate in web chats, bulletin boards and other Internet communication vehicles for several years. The recent hyper growth of blogs has made the proliferation of consumer written health content occur at a remarkably fast pace.

Life science companies need to account for the onslaught of information that consumers are generating on the Internet and be prepared with a strategy to respond and even correct information that can quickly deteriorate the brand they have spent so much to build. 

Many hoax emails have been propagated over the past several years that have threatened brands. Companies must be ready to respond to hoaxes, spam and other Internet content that contains their brand and products. Pfizer has responded to the spam problem by adding a section to their Viagra site about how to "Buy real VIAGRA". Failing to respond to these threats and hoping they'll "blow over" can create long lasting and even irreparable damage.

Blogs pose another risk for companies. Consumers can effectively elevate themselves to guru or expert status overnight by creating a blog with content that is appealing to others. Often the content does not have to be factual, and in particular with consumers that are sick, the content merely needs to be comforting. Consumers will often accept or want to believe information that gives them hope when they are sick.  Bloggers that post damning or harmful information about life science brands can quickly cause significant harm to a life science company, regardless of the accuracy of the information. Blogs also can help promulgate anecdotal medicine, that can quickly be misinterpreted as scientific evidence and cause nightmares for life science companies, physicians and patients.

Life science companies must create rapid response mechanisms and internal procedures to react to this information.

Jupiter Research released a recent report titled, Online Health Support Groups and Consumer-Created Health Content.

My company Estco Medical helps life science companies with online marketing initiatives and understanding how the Internet affects their brand management.

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