As we come to the end of 2011, we also come to the end of our year-long Defining Moments series. Once a month, all this year, we’ve looked back at the biggest events from exactly 12 months prior, and noticed how we can relate what’s been changing our world to what we can do in our work. We’d love it if you were to check back over the series and let us know what you think:

January – Haiti earthquake

February – Tiger Woods scandal

March – Iceland volcano

April – Deepwater Horizon oil spill

May – United/Continental merger

June – vuvuzelas at the World Cup

July – Afghanistan Wikileaks documents

August – end of H1N1

September – Tyler Clementi’s death and the It Gets Better project

October – Chilean miner rescue

November – antimatter discovery

And now, December – when scientists announced that they had discovered arsenic-based life. What excited us about this story was not only its ground-breaking interest at the time, but the controversy that still swirls around it. It was startlingly important because, as New Scientist explained, “Until now, all known life has been built around… six major chemical elements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulphur… which make up proteins, lipids and DNA. In all normal life forms, phosphorus is a major part of the backbone of the genetic material.”

Saying that an element that is not one of these six, and which is extremely toxic, could be swapped in – well, it sounded a bit like saying that gravity had an alternative, or that the sun didn’t have to rise in the east. Scientists last December were essentially implying that life could be completely foreign to the way we always imagined it – not on some other planet in some other galaxy, but right here on Earth.

Commentators were reduced to unscientific reactions in their surprise: comments like “really weird” and “shocking” showed the startling nature of the news.

However, nearly as soon as the study was published, it was met with vehement criticism. Some said it shouldn’t even have been published, as the science was done messily, with contaminants that could have given false results, or alternate explanations that were not addressed. The jury is out on whether arsenic-based life is as simple, and as groundbreaking, of a discovery as it first seemed.

However, this study and the reaction to it highlighted how social media is changing science. As the journal noted sniffily five months after the study’s publication, the debate was “finally being aired in the scientific literature rather than on blogs”. The implication was that peer-reviewed scientific journalism was worth notice, and commentary hastily posted on blogs wasn’t.

But isn’t there something to be said for scientific debate happening rapidly and publicly? Certainly, there’s no shortcut for thorough and accurate methods, for proper data analysis or for uninfluenced science.

But what if this study was on an anti-angiogenic molecule, instead of on a bacteria in a desolate lakebed? Would it be appropriate to react as this study’s lead author did, saying “We cannot indiscriminately wade into a media forum for debate at this time”? I would say no.

There’s an argument to be made that the biggest leap we need to take in science and medicine is one in timeliness. The academics themselves are saying that “Online scientific interaction outside the traditional journal space is becoming more and more important to academic communication.” The story of arsenic-based life showed us both the pros and cons of speeding the process up.

We’re glad you stuck with us for a year of Defining Moments. What would you choose for this year’s notable events?

by Briana Campbell (@MsMatchGirl)

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, so for companies to succeed, they need to either dream big or go home. However, in a competitive world, turning a dream into reality requires action.

With social media becoming a formidable communication tool, pharma and health care companies are devising new strategies to communicate with patients, consumers, partners, and internal constituents. Whether it’s creating branded messages for Facebook, using Twitter to direct people to the corporate website or other relevant content, launching a mobile app to bring interactive information to people’s fingertips, or setting up a Yammer community for employees, everyone has their eye on social media and how it can be used to support marketing efforts, build sales and deliver a point of differentiation.

To stay organized, encourage productivity and support goals, many organized people create to-do lists. When it comes to social media, with all this focus on what needs to get done, it’s easy to lose sight of what you should not do:

Don’t rely on the spaghetti strategy. In a rush to have a social media presence, individuals and organizations established a presence on many social networks, but without forethought to what they’re trying to achieve and the best platform to reach their goals. Is it enough to have a large base of followers? Are you just moving your website content without leveraging different audience dynamics? Is the basis of your strategy “me too”? Are patients looking for active communities, promotional materials or health-related information? Don’t just “throw things out there” and hope it sticks.

Don’t put social media on a checklist. Creating a social media presence might have been on your 2008 checklist. Today it’s about nurturing your networks, and being creative and nimble in response to change. For example, commenting changes to Facebook, have spurred many pharmaceutical companies to pull down their Facebook pages or replace disease-specific information with corporate communication. Don’t assume you can put up a presence and walk away from it.

Don’t suck all the air out of the room. Pharma communication has traditionally been a one-way street with companies providing information and patients, doctors and others consuming it. We’re in a different world where everyone is part of the conversation. While there are restrictions in the types of interactions pharma can participate in, there are no limitations on listening in to what consumers and patients are saying. Don’t forget to “take the temperature” to understand how messages are being perceived so you can alter your strategy accordingly.

Don’t post the same updates on all of your social networks. Of course there are some messages, such as product recalls, that may be appropriate for your entire customer base, but don’t assume people use all their social networks the same way. Delve into the demographics on the platforms you participate in and then tailor messages to the specific audience. Every post, reply or retweet is a chance to deliver additional messaging to support your overall communication efforts.

Don’t lollygag. We may all be gray-haired in rocking chairs by the time the FDA gets around to issuing formal social media guidelines. Rather than wait for that day to occur, begin setting your own internal policies and best practices that are in accordance with industry guidelines so you can move forward.

It’s easy to forget what you don’t want to do. Figure out the things that are keeping you from achieving your social media goals, and don’t do them.

What’s on your to don’t list that’s keeping you from reaching your social media goals?

We’re excited to be participating in another UnNiched(micro) breakfast at the CUNY Graduate Center in October.

This one, however, will prove to be a little different from other events that UnNiched has hosted in the past. This one is a grown up show and tell, or, as they are calling it “Scratch, Sniff and Learn.”

That’s right. Your friends at UnNiched are asking you to submit your innovations in the world of pharma and healthcare.

From their website:

We’re launching what we hope are the first of many of what we’re calling “Scratch, Sniff and Learn” unNiched(micro) events.  This event is designed to highlight innovative programs, products and campaigns in the health marketing communications arena.  Attendees will not only get to hear about these innovations from presenters, but get hands-on experience “playing” with each innovation at specially prepared exhibits during the event.

We’re looking to showcase Web applications, innovative campaigns with real-world or virtual elements, mobile apps, designs and much, much more.  For example, we’ve already signed up the folks from Zemoga who will be showcasing the Teach Shirts they developed to aid public health communication in developing countries.

Submissions from any area of health marketing communications are encouraged, including social marketing, mobile communications, pharma communications, public relations and advertising. What’s more, the work of individuals, organizations and others showcased at the event will be promoted in other ways:

1. Case studies about featured innovations will be published on our popular wiki for health marketing communications pros, Living the Path
2. Innovations will be featured on our podcast, fyi: healthmarcomms
3. We’re planning other ways to showcase innovations, stay tuned for more

If you have an innovation you’d like to submit for consideration please fill out the application form by clicking here (Submission Deadline:September 26, 2011).

Pixels & Pills will, of course, be there with cameras rolling. We’ll talk to the hosts and the innovators and post the most interesting submissions on the blog.

We know you can’t wait!

unNiched(micro) Event: October 25, 2011, New York City
Innovation Submission Deadline: September 26, 2011
Event Registration Opens: September 15, 2011
Innovation Submission Form: Click Here

We don’t know about you, but we’re really excited for next month’s ePatient Connections, in Philadelphia, PA!

Bigger than before, this year’s conference brings together experts from life sciences, public health, hospitals and also doctors and nurses to benchmark best practices for reaching and supporting digital health consumers.

Day One boasts a keynote from Seth Godin (who will be signing copies off his first Domino Project release, Poke The Box), presentations from the likes of Jonathan Richman, Shwen Gwee, Brian Vartabedian, MD, and a special keynote from Charity Tillemann-Dick. And, of course, at 5:30PM, our Pixel & Pills cocktail reception – where you could be the winner of an iPad2!

We’re just as excited for Day Two, when, among other presentations, we will get some perspective from Tayla Miron-Shatz and ePatient Dave and in the afternoon hear some conversation on the power of ePatient Communities.

Title: ePatient Connections

Date: September 20th & 21st, 2011

Location: The Hyatt at The Bellevue, Philadelphia, PA

Pixels&Pills Discount Code: Enter pixels300 at registration for $300 off!

We had a great time last year, learned a lot and spoke to some great folks. In fact, below is an interview our own Kimberly Reyes did with John Pugh, who is returning for ePatient 2011, where he shares some highlights from the conference:

This year is looking to be just as exciting!  Come and share your thoughts in front of our cameras.

We can’t wait to see you there!

By Kimberly Reyes (@CommDuCoeur)

In this age of accelerated technology, a brand has an almost infinite amount of platforms where it can interface with its consumers. The opportunities run the gamut from traditional media, like television and print, to device-based media like in-store kiosks, mobile phones, and computing tablets – and of course, the World Wide Web and social media. As new technologies develop, they become integral parts of people’s live, helping us stay informed, connected, organized, and healthy. It’s easy for a brand to get confused as to where and when it can have meaningful communication with its consumers.

Unfortunately, some brands treat new media as trends or fads, desperate to make a presence for itself on the next “shiny new object.” This approach will most definitely result in wasted money and resources.  A brand needs to adopt a balanced multi-channel marketing strategy with consistent messaging across all platforms in order to achieve a positive return on investment. Whether trying to reach the physicians that prescribe your drugs, or today’s influential patient population, it’s important that the Pharmaceutical industry understand the basics of crafting a solid cross-channel media plan.

On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, Robert Allen, the Director of Social and Mobile Media in the Digital Marketing Solutions division of Astra Zeneca, will attempt to answer the question: Are multi-channel and digital marketing now one and the same? He will be joined by panelists Daniel J. Gandor of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Eric Pluckhorn of Watson Pharmaceuticals, and Jeff Gaus, President and CEO of Prolifiq Software at the end of Day One of eXL Pharma’s 2^nd Annual Digital Pharma West Conference. The conference will attempt to tackle the issue of multi-channel marketing and more. Here are the details:

Date: Monday, June 27-Thursday, June 30
Location: Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Website: http://www.exlpharma.com/events/digital-pharma-west
Agenda: http://www.exlpharma.com/event-agenda/1791
Registration: http://www.exlpharma.com/register/1791

And if you haven’t guessed already, Pixels & Pills will be reporting live from the event. So take a look at the agenda, register to attend, and let us know who you want to hear more from – or if you’d like to say a few words yourself to our readers. See you on the West Coast!

By DJ Edgerton (@wiltonbound)

Whoa, that’s like…so meta, dude.

A 5-minute walk on any college campus will reveal that “meta” has become the 21st-century version of “groovy.” It’s a word used to describe content that talks about itself – like writing a song about writing a song. That’s deep.

Of course, being self-referential isn’t always a good thing. It can be a lazy path to take; it’s often a lot easier to keep backing out and talking about theory and the state of things, rather than getting practical and detailed.

For better or worse, we’re seeing a lot of people getting meta, lately, in a few different ways.

First of all, media are getting meta now more than ever. Consider last year’s “The Social Network”. Could anyone 10 years ago have predicted that a movie would win three Oscars with a compelling story – about the development of a website? A film about a website? But entertainment media are so central to our lives that their stories are, indeed, compelling.

Second, and even more specifically, social media are getting meta. You’ll see conversations on Facebook about Twitter – conversations on Twitter about Foursquare – and what are aggregators like Friendfeed for if not to talk about other social media? That’s part of what can make social media so hard to “get” for an outsider. It can be overwhelmingly self-referential, like one big inside joke.

And here in our corner of the world, pharma have always been totally meta. We try to take our drug-development process and relate it to every business process there is. Double-blind trials don’t work for everything, though; conversely, the efficient models of capitalism aren’t always conducive to science.

So in the end, is this self-referential tendency a good thing, a bad thing, or just the way of the world? Well, certainly it’s a good thing to be self-aware. We’ve got to know what we’re doing and how we’re doing it – where we’re succeeding, where we’re failing, where we’re breaking ground, what our reputation is.

But I think that we need to be watchful of the tendency, especially here, where we’re at the convergence of social media and pharma. When you go to all the industry conferences, as we try to do here at Pixels & Pills, you can definitely see the “meta” raise its head. We’ve done great things, but we have to keep doing them – we can’t just talk about them.

Let’s try to step further forward this year, cracking open some new ideas. Let’s see if we can give ourselves a brand new batch of case studies to talk about at next year’s conferences: amazing new ideas that we brought out to see the light of day. Maybe they’ll succeed and maybe we’ll learn from them; either way, we’ll have something new to get meta over.

By Tiffany Ryan (@TiffanyRyan)

I remember the day the of the Challenger explosion vividly. I was home from school sick on the couch, excited to watch the shuttle launch. I remember yelling to my mom, “I think the shuttle just exploded” and being glued to the TV for the rest of the day, mourning with the rest of the nation.

My experience with 9-11 was a small evolution from this. I remember hearing someone in the office mention that there was an incident in the twin towers in NYC. I pulled up CNN on the Internet, called my parents to tell them to turn on the TV, and became glued to the TV for the rest of the day, again mourning with a nation.

Times have changed significantly. I learned about the devastating earthquake in Japan from people personally affected by it first on Facebook. Then I read tweets from people in Japan, people who knew people in Japan, and of course, news sources who were providing updates. I monitored updates on it throughout the day on the Internet. And finally, in the evening, twelve hours after I first heard about it, I turned on the TV for an update.

Waiting even short periods of time for updated information is an absurd concept in our always-connected society. Rather than rely on news sources for information, we rely on individuals – not newscasters and journalists – to documenting events as they occur on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google Maps, blogs and more.

The recent Tsunami in Japan was a first because this tragedy affected a nation that not only produces electronics, but is a power user of technology such as camera phones, handheld video and digital cameras. Unlike last year’s earthquake in Haiti, Japan is extremely well-wired for recording such disasters and many people were able to see the horrific effects of the tsunami in near real-time and seek and share information as it occurred.

However, in citizen based media feeds, more news isn’t always good news. Inaccurate information can spread like wildfire. Twitter rumors ran rampant during the Tsunami noting the death of several Japanese celebrities, including rumors about the demise of Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi. Once a tweet is issued, there’s no taking it back, and retweets enable false information to spread like wildfire.

Social media is fundamental to organizing collective action. During the crisis in Haiti last year, texting and tweeting donations enabled people to help earthquake victims using new technologies. However, there’s a fine line between philanthropy and promoting a personal agenda. Microsoft issued an apology following accusations they were using the Japan quake disaster as a chance to promote its Bing search engine. Conversely, Apple also made a plea for people to get involved using iTunes to make donations without raising an eye. While social media is a viable platform for corporations to help during times of crises, care must be taken to ensure the intentions will not be mistaken for profit.

Social media will continue to evolve, but will always play a role in crisis communications. We will receive updates from multiple platforms, different stakeholders, and it will continue to become ever more engaging and dynamic. My personal hope is that as we become more engaged in these crises based on the first-hand accounts and updates, we’ll become more mobilized and motivated to take action to help those affected.

By Krissy Goelz (@krisgoelz)

It’s the 41st annual Earth Day today. The holiday started small, with a Wisconsin teaching day declared in 1970, but today, it’s celebrated in almost every country on the planet.

(Hey, isn’t it great to have at least one holiday that hasn’t been co-opted by Hallmark? Oh, wait….)

We’re used to hearing about school projects and neighborhood cleanups, and even about big industries being pushed to be carbon-neutral and working on alternative fuels… but what about pharma specifically? What can our industry be doing to be proud of on Earth Day?

Medication Disposal

One of the biggest problems in pharma, vis-a-vis the environment, is the proper disposal of medication. When patients get rid of their extra medication, a few things go wrong. First, they should probably be finishing it, and run the risk of antibiotic resistance if they don’t complete their course of therapy. Second, if they throw their medication out, it can be pilfered by addicts or accidentally taken by curious children or animals. Third, if they flush their medication, it enters the water supply full strength, and we end up with hormones, steroids, antibiotics and more – in our water, in our crops, in our animals, in our food, and in us.

There’s a PhRMA-supported National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day that’s working to help minimize this issue, and it’s happening next week. Today, Earth Day, is a great time to remind your co-workers, your local media and the world that you, as a company, support this initiative.

Sustainability

Check out this TED talk by Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund and learn about what other major corporations, outside of pharma, are doing – everything from chocolate companies sequencing genomes to carbon being bought by juice manufacturers.

As he says, these companies are doing it not to be nice, but because it’s become a pre-competitive issue. It used to be a point of differentiation in terms of marketing, and not much else. Now, they’re realizing that they want to be in business in the future, and that therefore, they want their ingredients and supplies to still be available to them in 20 years. Sustainability is no longer a pleasant altruism: it’s a business necessity.

If it’s a necessity for anyone, it’s pharma. 25% of pharmaceutical drugs are derived from rainforest ingredients. We need these places to stick around, folks.

1. GlaxoSmithKline has pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2050 – and plans to save $161 million by 2020 in the process of getting there.
2. For the last 20 years, Merck has had an agreement with a Costa Rican NGO to fund land preservation in exchange for samples of new potential clinical-development compounds.
3. For more good things that pharma companies are doing for our environment, check out this link.

We’re doing great things – but we have to make it more of a focus. Let’s spend this Earth Day remembering that, and figuring out how.

By Carl Turner (@leftyrightbrain)

When was the last time you updated your crisis communication plan? Social media has been great for creating conversations between companies and customers, but it’s also providing new opportunities for generating gaffes. Most recently, a new media agency employee dropped an F-bomb on Chrysler’s corporate Twitter account.

Pharma is no stranger to crisis management. Johnson & Johnson has served as the gold standard role model for how to recover from crisis after cyanide-laced Tylenol showed up on store shelves during February 1986. However, that was before Tweet was part of the vernacular.

Thanks to transparency afforded by social media, mistakes are more visible, but even more important are how those errors are handled. Today’s crisis communication plan needs to encompass everything from executive departures, product recalls, plant closings and other events as well as preparing for mistakes that may happen from employees or partners using social media on your behalf.

While you can’t predict every folly that may occur, it’s important to put plans in place to deal with new issues created by social media and online communication. What can we learn from other companies’ current crises?

Put policies and procedures in place for new media – A New York advertising executive posted a tweet insulting the hometown of their client, FedEx, prior to an on-site presentation. While seemingly mild compared to other more recent Twitter faux-pas, it illustrates the need to apply fundamental communications principles in the evolving social networking environment. In addition to coaching employees to think before they post; be careful of what they say and how they say it, companies should include formal guidelines for participating in social media in their employee handbook.

You can make lemons from lemonade - A Red Cross employee accidentally tweeted something that was meant to come from a personal account from the @RedCross account. The first course of action was removing the post, but no matter how fast something is deleted, it’s still out there. So, they took a humorous approach in apologizing to their followers and went about the business of raising awareness for the Red Cross. A company spokesperson noted that the organization deals with huge, natural disasters all the time and this event wasn’t all that huge. The community responded positively to the company’s candor and positive attitude and as a result, followers and donations have since increased.

Social media requires a study in nuance – It wasn’t so much that Kenneth Cole issued an offensive tweet, but their misuse of a Twitter hashtag is what really got them into hot water with consumers. During any crisis, the hashtag is used to organize relevant tweets in the emergent conversation. Organizations that insert themselves into the conversation need to ensure they’re adding value, not being opportunistic. A professional tweeter may prove useful in providing a strategic approach and help organizations from initiating a publicity stunt that aggravates and alienates consumers.

As social media plays a greater role in communicating with customers and other constituents, it’s time to update the crisis communication plan. Monitor what is being said about you and have a plan for responding – before a crisis hits.

The Defining Moments series looks back at the biggest events of 2010 to see what we can learn from them here at P&P, to work better in our calling, in 2011 and beyond.

By DJ Edgerton (@wiltonbound)

January saw the nation of Haiti – and the world, in sympathy – reeling from a devastating earthquake.

In February, however, what were set reeling were some sponsorship deals and a whole lot of faith in one of our country’s best-known athletes, Tiger Woods.

After his extraordinary string of marital infidelities were brought to light and a decorous media silence for several months, he gave a press conference on February 19, 2010, admitting that he’d cheated on his wife and apologizing to the world at large.

“I was unfaithful; I had affairs and I cheated,” he said (redundantly), “What I did was unacceptable. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends, my foundation and kids all around the world who admired me. I do plan to return to golf one day. I just don’t know when that day will be. I don’t rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful to the game.”

And that concept – the idea of private behavior needing to match one’s professional persona – is the crux of February’s lesson.

In the wake of the scandal, Tiger lost over $20 million in endorsement deals from Gatorade, AT&T, Accenture and Gillette. It’s easy to say, “Well, serves him right!” But look more closely. His management company lost over $4 million, and there are probably quite a few people with impeccable marital fidelity who suffered from his fallout there alone. Shareholders of the companies involved in him may have lost a collective $5 to $12 billion, according to one study. But worst of all are the repercussions of his dive on the Tiger Woods Foundation, which has helped support 100 charities and hundreds of thousands of children over 15 years.

Here’s what it comes down to.

Even when you think you have it all, you may be left with nothing at all if you aren’t honorable, if you don’t have integrity, and if you aren’t transparent.

And no matter how famous the person or how big the organization, the transgressions of one person can always take it down. Plenty of heads of state have learned that, in addition to heads of corporations and foundations.

What does that mean for us?

1. Think very, very carefully before you make your brand one individual. Tiger Woods was the de facto face of an entire sport – a $62-billion-a-year industry. But people change. People are human, not market research compilations, and they act that way, too.
2. Never allow your employees to forget that they’re representing the brand. Even if you don’t have one “face,” everyone working on, for, or with you helps create the brand. Customer interactions mean more than ever in this age of Twitter and Facebook. People want to be raving fans of yours. All you have to do is make it possible!
3. It’s a lot easier to prevent than to clean up. You’ll see this lesson come up again later in our “Defining Moments” series, I’m sure, but it’s so true that it’s worth repeating. Putting in the effort to keep things good is so much easier than trying to fix things once they all go south. In this case, I’d certainly argue that it would have been easier to mind my vows than to try to juggle 15 mistresses out of the public eye as one of the most famous men alive. It’d sure have been easier to schedule in the short term! And obviously, it would have been much better, not just for Tiger and his family, but for the millions of people concerned in the long term.