Originally posted on lifestory2010.com.
In November, I represented Euro RSCG Life at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s public hearing on promotion of FDA-regulated medical products using the Internet and social media tools. In preparation, we conducted new research leveraging various social media tools and resources to ensure that the voice of the consumer was represented in testimony. Our survey went to more than 1,700 social media users, analyzing various inputs and conversations across leading health portals and other social media [...]

Originally posted on lifestory2010.com.
Just as digital has transformed other industries, such as photography, travel and retail, so too has it impacted health. People seek out digital outlets for health information. Who among us doesn’t head right to Google (or Bing or Yahoo!) to query a health-related matter? For consumers and professionals alike, health care begins at search, which puts online information and properties front and center.
That means many people rely on our clients, and on us.
They rely on us for [...]

People used to conduct business through conversation, discussing the weather, family and politics before finally bartering their way to a deal. Not so today. The book The Cluetrain Manifesto is based around the concept of markets as conversations and says the most important feature of the Internet is that it allows people to have conversations directly.
The book was the first that encouraged businesses to move from “What does my website need to look like?” to “How can we use online [...]

I’ve worked with bloggers for some time now, and I even discuss work with them during off-hours so I can constantly improve on my strategies. One thing I’ve noticed that many bloggers have in common: pet peeves having to do with PR professionals. Some are so common they shouldn’t even be occurring, but our industry will always have those who choose to not evolve. So here, gleaned from my research, is a list of eight PR pet peeves:
8. Proofreading, or [...]

It’s a gray line between your corporate presence and your personal brand when it comes to social media.
As the name implies, social media is about people—not just your customers, but also you and your colleagues. As such, it’s as much a personal branding tool as a corporate branding one.
When you set up a Twitter account to build relationships and (gently) talk about your company/product/service/event, you’re also building your own profile. If you’re writing for your corporate blog (as I am [...]

I wrote in my last post about the changing social media landscape and what the future might hold. The results of MicroDialogue’s survey for Euro RSCG of 1,228 social media users and analysis of thousands of conversations in online communities, along with a number of recent news articles, point to a major shift in user attitudes—and to some serious challenges.
It’s remarkable how much people have changed in last five years. They have new definitions of what’s normal and sociable, and [...]

As I was pulling together a white paper about social media I came across an article that Adweek published about me in 1996, when my role as head of TBWA’s Department of the Future took me to Amsterdam. Having already been central in setting up the agency’s efforts to use new media tools for market research, I moved to the Netherlands to develop interactive research capabilities for the agency’s European offices.
Around the same time, I worked on a campaign strategy [...]