Coverage of this session by SAP’s Michael Brenner, who blogs at B2B Marketing Insider. Follower him on Twitter at @brennermichael.
1:30 — Bergen Anderson introduces Pfizer’s Director of Digital Communications Strategy, Kate Bird.
1:31 — Kate: We are part of a regulated industry. Social media is a tactic not a strategy. We seek to broaden our presence in all channels. It’s the cultural shift internally that has been most rewarding.
1:34 — Kate says the big question was, “How do we do it in a mindful, respectful and transparent way?” We built a social media playbook with help from Kodak, a how-to manual written without corporate-speak. It deals with both professional and personal codes of conduct.
1:35 — Kate: We struggled with whether we should actually create a formal document.
1:37 — Kate: The conversation has changed from “should we do it” to “how do we do it.” Social media is relevant for brands. Healthcare is seeing the influence of social channels. We have to meet the demand and have obligation to meet the need.
1:38 — Kate: We are trying to bridge the gap between corporate branding and product branding. The internal demand has been amazing.
1:39 — Kate talks about trying to prevent “1,000 flowers blooming” by challenging internal teams on “why” they need social coverage specific to their area vs. corporate.
1:45 — Kate explains what is in the Pfizer social playbook: definitions, resource repository, best practices specific to each channel, templates, samples and “watch-outs,” links to all Pfizer channels, and examples of best and “next practices.”
1:48 — Kate: We are rolling this out to all corporate communicators and webmasters, and holding social media webinars to evolve the playbook into an interactive digital tool.
1:49 — Kate explains what will happen next: more sharing, cost efficiencies, deeper understanding, greater engagement and a more relevant and connected social footprint.
Q&A
Q: Does Pfizer have crisis management?
A: Kate: Yes, we have a plan but it’s not quite full blown. We are currently monitoring Twitter and other channels.
Q: Would you share your playbook?
A: Kate: We would like to maybe within a group like the Social Media Business Council but cannot share publicly at this time.
Q: Who is leading your webinars?
A: Kate explains that it is all internal people sharing their internal case studies.
Q: Why are you seeing the internal shift from social media?
A: Kate: It starts with listening to many different perspectives. With a recent acquisition, the company has been pushed a bit to listen to the outside world even more.
