Role of Social Media in Pharmaceutical Industry

"Social media is a great opportunity to hear directly from patients so that Indian Pharmaceutical companies improve products.”

 

Indian Pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t be the first in the world to do this. Starbucks and Dell are two that have used this concept effectively. They let people submit their suggestions for improving a product, the public votes on their favorites, and then the company actually does those things that have risen to the top of the list. Think about how great this is for everyone. Customers get a place for their voices to be heard and can see that the company is listening and taking their suggestions seriously. The company gets this positive sentiment, but it also gets product engineering, marketing, production, and operations advice…for free. The next big innovation might not come from your lab, but rather your customers.

 

For pharma, this might mean a suggestion on how to better explain how your product works, a formulation recommendation, or something simple, but with a major impact. Consider when J&J added different color options to it’s popular OneTouch blood glucose monitors. Sales went through the roof all because of a different color shell. While I don’t know for sure, I’d venture to guess that this idea came from a diabetic somewhere. Create a process around this concept and we’ll have a continuous stream of new ideas and innovations.