Following quickly on my post about Pharma companies warming up to social media, I got a call this week from some folks I know at Sanofi-Aventis. They are launching their very own YouTube channel to promote their Go-Insulin campaign aimed at offsetting the myths and misperceptions about insulin use among type 2 diabetics.
So far, there are seven videos posted — all patients’ personal stories — three of them featuring Gregg Pfaff, the deli owner who’s been showcased in all of their print magazine ads for the last year. (He’s a really nice guy, btw; I met him at TCOYD!)
I must say that the videos are extremely well made (no surprise, with the kind of budgets available here). The channel also features links to some clever “interactive learning goodies” like an insulin “Myth or Reality” game, and a downloadable Insulin Discussion Guide that you can customize and print out to use when talking with your doctor about starting insulin. There’s also a direct link for viewers/customers to register on Sanofi’s Go-Insulin website. It’s all very clever and extremely well executed. It just feels weird.
I’ve certainly been one of the loudest proponents of the notion that Pharma companies need to embrace social media, and should do so in a way that offers valuable educational content.
But now that it’s coming to fruition, watching the once-freewheeling YouTube, where amateur content has always been king, used in such a blatantly commercial way is going to take some getting used to. The other day I mentioned Johnson & Johnson’s YouTube channel. Theirs currently features 109 professionally shot videos on everything from weight loss to baby care. But there don’t seem to be any specific product plugs or even links enticing viewers to their product pages. Maybe this is due to caution more than anything else, but it feels more like an actual YouTube channel rather than the extension of a drug marketing site.
Don’t get me wrong; I think that Go-Insulin is a worthwhile campaign, in that insulin therapy could surely help many type 2′s out there who are currently suffering less-than-optimal BG control. It’s just a bit of a shock to see a YouTube channel look so similar to the actual campaign website. (Click back and forth and you’ll see what I mean.) Watch out what you wish for, ay?
Still I wouldn’t hesitate to send many type 2′s I know over to view these videos. Everyone loves a personal story they can relate to — especially us PWDs.
What are your thoughts? Worried about social media becoming overrun with commercial interests? Or are you just glad to have more diabetes resources available for free in a place where anyone can access them?
If the commercial content stayed on the light side, that would be cool, but the day will come when it might be hard to sort through the commercial stuff to find the stuff we’re now accustomed to seeing on YouTube. Ebay used to be so fun to shop – I bought some fabulously offbeat paintings there 10 years ago – but now it’s all commercial interests. Sifting through that stuff to find the quirkier items isn’t worth the effort anymore.
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How nice, let’s market to the “larger” market, more money to be made.
But for those T1 that Need insulin no matter what and struggle to get it, well, it’s great to know what Pharma companies keep spending money on.
Nice.
“Worried about social media becoming overrun with commercial interests? ”
The answer to that would be “Duh!”
Ironically, you write about this campaign on the very same day that yet another scientific journal article pertaining to insulin analogues, this one from Canada, has concluded (just like several conducted in the U.K., Germany, and elsewhere in Canada) that “older conventional insulins remain effective. Therefore, the extensive promotion of insulin analogues is not justified,” according Dr. Johannes Plank and co-authors. They recommend educational programs to help people manage their diabetes as they have greater impact in managing sugar levels than insulin analogues.
Considering Sanofi Aventis does not sell any conventional insulin in North America (only analogues) it seems like an expensive promotion which will have only marginal health benefits to the type 2 population, yet have tremendous cost for our already overburdened healthcare system. I would like to see YouTube mandate disclosure of commercially-made video content so viewers know that it’s not really “You”Tube content, but professional production companies who are making this content.
Great idea, Scott!
Amy,
Thanks for bringing up this issue, and I will follow the comments with interest. We made an intentional decision not to “brand” the J&J health channel on you tube. In the interests of transaprency, many of the videos deal with disease states in which our operating companies have businesses, like Diabetes and Lifescan. We felt that providing this non-branded health information would be advantageous to us, to patients and to the general public. However, there are also stories that are unrelated to our commercial interests, like those on fitness and health, yoga, nursing and user-generated content by “real moms.” None of the videos were part of any marketing campaign, nor were they produced by an agency. I’d be curious to know if the lack of specific product information is refreshing or frustrating to your readers. We would also be interested to hear suggestions about topics that would be desirable to cover in the future, and would also be open to posting any appropriate user-generated content. Thanks for initiating this conversation.
Rob
jnjhealth
[...] Bites. Remember what happened when commercialism took over video in that movie? Diabetes Mine sees something similar seeping in from Sanofi-Aventis’s YouTube [...]