Word Of Health China (Oncology) (English)

Word of Health: China

Listening to and learning from Internet Word of Mouth discussions about the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries

Featured disease area:

Oncology (Cancer)


Word of Health: China Contents Did you know? 1 About Word of Health: China 1 Word of Health: China methodology 1

An introduction to Chinese Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) 3 Overview of healthcare and pharmaceutical IWOM landscape 4

Where is the discussion?

Who is discussing?

What is being discussed? Word of Health: China featured disease area: oncology (cancer) 7

Cancer types

Cancer medication

Cancer treatment

Cancer prevention

Key cancer e-fluencers Other notable online healthcare and pharmaceutical discussions during Q3 10

Insights & Actionable Conclusions

Why is Internet Word of Mouth important to healthcare and 12

pharmaceutical companies?

Five things healthcare and pharmaceutical companies can do “right away” to 13

incorporate IWOM into their communications campaigns

Five DON’Ts when incorporating IWOM into communications campaigns 13


Did you know?

Did you know China’s 137 million Internet

users overwhelmingly name the Internet as

their primary source of news and informa-

tion?*

Did you know that every month hundreds

of thousands of people (patients, potential

patients, doctors, medical professionals,

mothers, and “people just like you and me”)

on the Internet in China talk about health

concerns, disease prevention, treatment

options, drug effectiveness, drug costs, pre-

ferred hospitals, and healthcare / pharma-

ceutical companies and their brands?

The Internet in China is home to a whole

new world of stakeholder dialogue that

healthcare and pharmaceutical companies

cannot afford to ignore.

Do you know what they are discussing?

Are you involved in the conversation?

Is Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) part of

your communications strategy?

About Word of Health: China

Word of Health: China is the product of a

strategic partnership between Edelman Pub-

lic Relations China and CIC.

It represents the first coupling of Internet

Word of Mouth (IWOM) expertise and

healthcare / pharmaceutical communica-

tions experience, and is focused on helping

companies in China understand and lever-

age Internet Word of Mouth in the field.

Word of Health: China will provide a top-line

overview of healthcare and pharmaceutical-

related online discussion generated by pa-

tients, potential patients, doctors, medical

professionals, mothers, and “people just like

you and me” in Chinese social media, in-

cluding blogs and bulletin board systems

(BBS). See figure 1.0 for an example of a

typical BBS forum.

In addition to an overview of industry

IWOM, Word of Health: China will present

strategic insights and actionable intelligence

essential for healthcare and pharmaceutical

companies to successfully integrate IWOM

into their communications campaigns.

Each edition of Word of Health: China will

highlight a single disease / treatment area.

This inaugural edition focuses on oncology

(cancer).

Further specialized reports covering health-

care and pharmaceutical industry IWOM

are also available from Edelman and CIC.

For inquiries, please refer to the inside of

the back cover for contact information.

Word of Health: China methodology

This publication of Word of Health: China

draws on BBS messages processed by CIC

between July 1 and September 30, 2006

(Q3).

During this process, CIC collected

1,427,853 user-generated messages from

176,373 unique posters on 13 Chinese Web

sites and 430 health-related BBS forums.

No private or personally identifiable infor-

mation was collected during the research.

See figure 2.0 for more information.

Using CIC’s proprietary text-mining tools,

all collected messages were categorized and

mined according to a customized library of

terms (including Internet slang) focused on

companies, brands, products, and diseases.

1

*中国互联网信息中心 China Internet Network Information Center (cnnic.net.cn)


This method allows CIC and Edelman con-

sultants to understand volume, content,

discussion topics, and sentiment of online

healthcare and pharmaceutical-related con-

versations. See figure 3.0 for “data lifecy-

cle.”

Through this analysis, CIC and Edelman

consultants have identified the topics of

greatest interest, as well as the most active

and most relevant online communities and

key individual e-fluencers within the online

healthcare and pharmaceutical world. This

edition takes a close look at communities

and e-fluencers specifically discussing topics

related to oncology (cancer).

figure: 1.0 (typical BBS forum)

author of most recent reply

time & date of most recent reply

author of original post

post topic / title

number of page views / readers

number of replies

figure: 2.0

669562664childM13

176,373

6260

11454

575

11948

5328

30859

3748

1770

1535

69703

25962

536

Posters

pharma

child

health

health

health

health

pharma

pharma

pharma

pharma

pharma

pharma

Category

49363L12

197888K11

65824H8

472510G7

1,427,853Total

18792J10

70746I9

21637F6

19586E5

5986D4

269528C3

168097B2

5232A1

PostsWeb site

669562664childM13

176,373

6260

11454

575

11948

5328

30859

3748

1770

1535

69703

25962

536

Posters

pharma

child

health

health

health

health

pharma

pharma

pharma

pharma

pharma

pharma

Category

49363L12

197888K11

65824H8

472510G7

1,427,853Total

18792J10

70746I9

21637F6

19586E5

5986D4

269528C3

168097B2

5232A1

PostsWeb site

source: CIC health IWOM data (July - Sept. 2006)

figure: 3.0 “data lifecycle”


data source (BBS/blogs)

data analysis

data mining

data processing & categorization

data collection


data source (BBS/blogs)

data analysis

data mining

data processing & categorization

data collection

source: CIC

2


An introduction to Chinese Internet

Word of Mouth (IWOM)

The growth of the Internet and its impact

on information and media landscapes

around the world is staggering — China is

no exception to this phenomenon.

At the end of 2006, China recorded 137

million “netizens,” up almost 25% from

2005,* and second (not for long) only to

the number of Internet users in the United

States (210 million).*

The explosion of Internet usage in China

has spawned a vibrant Internet Word of

Mouth culture, with 34.7 million Chinese

bloggers and 50.6 million “netizens” gener-

ating various content and engaging in con-

versations on the country’s online BBS mes-

sage boards.**

China’s IWOM culture is adding a new ele-

ment to the corporate communications

mix. Its emergence is driving the imperative

for companies to rethink the strategies be-

hind their communications / public relations

campaigns.

Companies have long relied on mainstream

media (MSM) to engage key stakeholders in

communications / public relations cam-

paigns. In its day, the practice of top-down,

one-way communications through MSM was

both influential and effective in reaching

stakeholders. However, times are changing

fast, especially in China.

As with other markets, China is making a

significant departure from the traditional

“vertical” model to a “horizontal” structure

based on peer-to-peer stakeholder commu-

nications. See figure 4.0.

IWOM is facilitating “horizontal” communi-

cations by providing online platforms for

user-generated content and peer-to-peer

dialogue, such as blogs and BBS message

boards (or forums).

More and more recipients of messaging in

China are joining the burgeoning IWOM

culture and participating in “horizontal con-

versations” about companies, brands, prod-

uct experiences, services, and corporate

issues / crises.

Healthcare and pharmaceutical-related

IWOM discussions on Chinese internet BBS

message boards are particularly plentiful, as

are the opportunities for companies to lis-

ten to and learn from them.

Unlike IWOM in other markets, Chinese

BBS message boards, not blogs, attract the

most “netizens” and account for most of

the “horizontal” discussion taking place

online in China.

figure: 4.0

company / experts

mass audience (stakeholders)

Old Vertical Model

New Horizontal Model

= a company’s key stakeholders

*

*

* *

* * *

*

*

3

**中国互联网信息中心 China Internet Network Information Center (cnnic.net.cn)

* Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com)


BBS message boards are Web sites that

allow users to “post” discussion topics and

comments. Sometimes BBS message boards

are part of a larger Web site, and some-

times they stand alone. They differ from

blogs in that they allow any number of peo-

ple, often anonymously, to post new topics

and comments, with new postings occurring

frequently (much more frequently than on

blogs). Blogs allow anyone to comment in

reply to posts, but typically have no more

than a few, if not just one, “poster” creating

new topics. These distinctions allow BBS

message boards to host a wider variety of

d i scuss ion top ics and at t ract more

“netizens,” with greater concentration of

conversations around particular interests.

See figure 2.0 for an example of a typical

BBS forum.

“Netizens” engaging in discussions on

healthcare / pharmaceutical BBS message

boards in China are among the most con-

nected, informed, and influential consumers

online. They are the ones seeking the latest

information and sharing it with others, and

are known among their online peers as

“experts” in their particular area of interest.

Overview of healthcare and pharma-

ceutical IWOM landscape

Where is the discussion?

Word of Health: China research reveals two

basic types of Web sites hosting healthcare

and pharmaceutical BBS discussions: 1)

large, general health portal sites, including

mothering / baby-care forums, and 2) sick-

ness / treatment sites.

Health portal sites focus primarily on

healthy living, disease / sickness prevention,

fitness, and personal beauty care. These

sites offer news and information, and have

expert health consultants serving as BBS

administrators. Often, both patients and

medical professionals participate in the dis-

cussions by answering posted questions,

and starting new discussions with their own

posts.

Some of the more popular health portal

sites include:

• 搜狐健康论坛 www.health.sohu.com

• 网易健康论坛 www.health.163.com

• Q baby www.qbaby.com.cn

• 91 baby www.91baby.com

Sickness / treatment sites are typically

smaller than health portal sites, and ad-

dress specific sickness and treatment con-

cerns. Some of these sites are general and

cover a variety of sicknesses; others are

specific to just one or two. Some of these

sites are sponsored by hospitals or medical

management. Those participating in discus-

sion on these sites typically include patients,

healthcare professionals, and doctors.

Some of the more popular sickness / treat-

ment sites include:

General sickness

• 爱爱医 www.iiyi.com

• 丁香园 www.dxy.cn

Hospital / medical management-sponsored

• 大夫网 www.daifumd.com

• 就医网 www.91.cn

Specific category or sickness sites

• 肝胆相照论坛 bbs.hbvhbv.com

• 战胜结核网 www.antitb.com

4


Who is discussing?

Those frequenting healthcare / pharmaceu-

tical BBS forums can be classified into three

general categories: 1) patients / potential

patients, 2) doctors / medical professionals,

and 3) mothers.

What is being discussed?

IWOM can typically be separated into three

distinct categories: 1) NEWS word of

mouth, 2) EXPERIENCE word of mouth,

and 3) CAMPAIGN word of mouth. Within

the sphere of healthcare and pharmaceutical

IWOM, the vast majority of discussion falls

into the “experience” category.

“Netizens” (whether they are patients /

potential patients, doctors / medical profes-

sionals, or mothers) are talking about their

individual opinions and sharing knowledge

based on personal and professional experi-

ence. They are also discussing sickness diag-

nosis, appropriate medicines, and medicinal

side effects, and are seeking emotional sup-

port from those with similar conditions.

Taking a look at what the three main classi-

fications of participants on healthcare /

pharmaceutical BBS forums are discussing:

Patients / potential patients — Discussion

centers on identifying illnesses and their

causes (“What do I have?” “What causes

it?”), seeking medicine and treatment

(“How can I remedy what I have?” “What

kind of medicine do you use for this?”), and

sharing sickness experiences (“Who else

has this problem?” “Let’s share!”). See fig-

ures 5.0 and 5.1 for examples of “patient /

potential patient” posts.

Doctors / medical professionals (healthcare

providers) — Discussion is mainly focused

on providing patients with accurate medical

information, reviews of pharmaceutical

equipment, sharing knowledge and informa-

tion with other doctors (case studies and

medical, clinical, and prescription experi-

ences), and debating opportunities for fur-

ther medical education and training. See

figures 6.0 and 6.1 for examples of

“doctors” posts.

Mothers — Discussion is focused on shar-

ing experiences and exchanging with kin-

dred spirits (“How should I manage my

health during pregnancy — health supple-

ments, exercise, diet, etc.?” “How can I

remedy my baby’s ailments?” “At 6 months

old, should my baby be doing this?”). See

figure 7.0 for an example of a “mothers”

post.

Discussion about specific manufacturers

(corporate names) and products (brands of

medicine) were observed within patient,

doctor / medical professional, and mother

conversations. However, they accounted

for only a small volume of the overall gen-

eral “experience” talk. Taking a closer look:

Manufacturer — Discussion came mostly

from doctors / medical professionals, and

focused on individual companies’ business

operations (China and global) and related

industry development trends. See figure 9.0

for a listing of “mentions” of healthcare /

pharmaceutical companies on BBS forums

during Q3.

Products / Medicine — Discussion in this

area was limited. Relatively few people di-

rectly mentioned product / medicine names.

Hepatitis medicines Pegasys and Heptodin

came up in discussions more than other

drugs. See figure 9.1 for a listing of prod-

uct / medicine mentions on BBS forums

during Q3.

5


figure 8.0

Post: “I once had kidney disease. Can I use Pegasys? What should I be aware of, if any-thing?” Response: “If your kidney test results are ok, you should have no problem using inter-feron.”

source: www.healthbbs.net

figure 6.0

Post: “Female patient, 26 years old. Symptoms: swollen stomach, constipation, exhaus-tion. Is that just ileus?” Response: “My initial thoughts, just for reference: (1) rapid ascites (need to know the cause); (2) paralytic ileus; (3) acid-alkali imbalance.”

source: www.dxy.cn/bbs

figure 7.0

Post: “Help! I’m a mother and breast feeding. I have a cold and a fever. What should I do? My baby is only 3 months old.”

Response: “Check with your doctor. Some cold medication can be taken without side effects for the baby, such as some liquid cold medicines.”

source: babyclub.women.sohu.com

figure 5.0

Post: “I often have headaches. I feel like my head is going to explode...my eyes hurt with every headache. Doctors: please help me! What is the problem? Is there any common treatment?”

source: my.91.cn

figure 5.1

Post: “Are there any experts out there that can help me understand my symptoms? I have red pimples covering my body and many are on the bottom of my foot...they itch like crazy...please tell me what this is! What medicine should I take?”

source: bbs.91.cn

figure 6.1

Post: “Regarding the lithiasus case; first upload the patient’s old x-ray so I can see it, then take another x-ray of the intestinal and stomach area...also, have a look at the state of the duodenum.”

source: www.dxy.cn/bbs

Roche (790)

Abbott Labs (630)

Novartis (459)

AstraZeneca (388)

Merck (337)

Xian-Janssen

GSK (258)

Serono

Johnson & Johnson (192)

Pfizer (176)

(193)

(316)

figure 9.0 Q3 BBS posts mentioning healthcare / pharmaceutical companies


figure 10.0 Q3 BBS postings mentioning products / medicines

Pegasys (265)

Heptodin (218)

Tylenol (119)

Gleevec (116)

Sporanox (106)

Crestor (99)

Iressa (97)

Diovan (90)

Tylenol Cold (73)

Seretide (66)

Rebif (60)

Plavix (60)

Ketosteril (60)

Hyzaar (49)


6


In many cases, “netizens” were not sure

how to correctly use medicine, and were

looking to consult with medical profession-

als online. See figure 8.0 for an example of

such a post. Discussion also hit on the topic

of medicine pricing, and where and how to

get medicine inexpensively. See figure 11.0

for examples of such posts.

Disease / sickness — Discussion in this area

was extensive. Of all disease areas men-

tioned, respiratory ailments received the

most postings (47,135), with cancer

(44,667) and hepatitis (36,764) following

closely behind. Within these disease areas,

“netizens” asked detailed questions about

treatment, medicine, prevention, and per-

sonal experience.

In some cases, entire Web sites have been

established as repositories of doctor and

user-generated disease information. These

sites have BBS forums for “netizens” to

exchange experiences, and include separate

sections where medical professionals field

questions. See figure 12.0 for Q3 BBS posts

mentioning disease / sickness areas.

Word of Health: China featured disease

area: oncology (cancer)

Each edition of Word of Health: China will

highlight a single disease / treatment area.

The focus of this edition is on oncology

(cancer).

Cancer types

Among types of cancers discussed, leukemia

and breast, lung, stomach, and pancreatic

cancers received the most posts during Q3.

See figure 13.0 for more information.

The Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Prevention

Promotion, launched in Q3, helped drive

figure 11.0

Post: “Where can I buy cheap Pegasys in Hubei province? How much does it cost now?” source: www.healthbbs.net Post: “I often buy Heptodin together with other drugs. I found a Web site selling at wholesale prices. Please have a look if you’re interested in buying...prices are the low-est in China.” source: www.healthbbs.net

figure 12.0 Q3 BBS postings mentioning disease / sickness areas

Respiratory (47,135)

Cancer (44,667)

Hepatitis (36,764)

Central Nervous (18,053)

Gastrointestinal (11,276)

Cardiovascular (9,898)

Diabetes (9,884)

Skin (9,705)

Arthritis (8,188)

Kidney & Urology (6,596)

Osteoporosis (3,984)

Bacterial Infection (2,664)


figure 13.0 Q3 BBS posts mentioning cancer types

Breast (3,600)

Lung (2,832)

Stomach (2,288)

Leukemia (1,882)

Pancreatic (563)

source: CIC health IWOM data (July—Sept. 2006)

7


online breast cancer discussion. The Pink

Ribbon Group now has a dedicated Web

site (www.fsdbl.cn) for breast cancer,

which hosts a BBS forum and user blogs

(475 bloggers, dozens of new posts daily).

Additionally, PRB has its own QQ number,

which allows “netizens” to chat via instant

messenging software with PRB breast can-

cer experts. See figure 14.0 for examples of

cancer posts.

Cancer medication

A variety of companies and medicines were

discussed on cancer BBS forums. Astra-

Zeneca, Novartis, and Roche were the

company names most mentioned on these

forums, with Iressa, Gleevec, and Tarceva

being the most mentioned cancer medica-

tions. See figures 15.0 and 16.0 for com-

plete listings of mentions, and figure 17.0

for an example of a related post.

figure 17.0

Post: “...Novartis has six cancer drugs on the China market; Swiss Roche has five cancer drugs. Bristol Myers Squibb has more than ten new cancer drugs...”

source: www.iiyi.com

figure 14.0

Post: “I am experiencing breast pain again, accompa-nied by transparent discharges. After the discharges, the pain stops. To all the experts out there, what’s going on? How should this be treated?”

source: club.health.sohu.com

Post: “With a bone marrow transplant in 2003, can leukemia be cured completely? If it can’t be cured, should it still be treated with medicine? How many kinds of leukemia are incurable? Should it be consid-ered cured after several years of remission?” source: club.health.sohu.com

figure 15.0 Q3 BBS posts mentioning company name and cancer

AstraZeneca (73)

Novartis (55)

Roche (45)

Sanofi-Aventis (15)

Bristol Myers Squibb (12)

Merck (12)

Pfizer (10)

Astellas Pharma (7)

Johnson & Johnson (3)


figure 16.0 Q3 BBS posts mentioning drug name and cancer

Iressa (50)

Gleevec (26)

Tarceva (19)

Herceptin (18)

Taxotere (15)

Diovan (14)

Crestor (13)

TAXOL (8)

Mabthera (6)


8


Cancer treatment

Surgery is overwhelmingly discussed as the

most common cancer treatment. Tradi-

tional Chinese medicine (TCM) and West-

ern medicine were also heavily discussed as

treatment options. See figure 18.0 for BBS

mentions of different treatments.

Cancer prevention

Within cancer prevention BBS posts,

“netizens” mostly discussed dietary habits

and specific foods, such as tea and bean

products, as most effective in warding off

cancer. See figure 19.0 for examples of such

posts.

Key cancer e-fluencers

Using CIC’s proprietary software and proc-

esses, Word of Health: China is able to sys-

tematically identify the user names of indi-

vidual e-fluencers participating in cancer-

related online discussions. No private or

personally identifiable information was col-

lected during the research. These people

are patients, medical professionals, and eve-

ryday people motivated by their passion for

the topic. They are the most informed,

most connected, and most influential par-

ticipants in the world of cancer IWOM.

“Samar” (online screen name) is a top can-

cer e-fluencer on www.DXY.cn, and an

ultrasonic expert. He has a history of post-

ing interesting cancer cases for discussion

among doctors in the DXY.cn online cancer

community. 507 of his posts in Q3 men-

tioned cancer, the most of any poster in the

forum. See figure 20.0 for examples of his

posts.

figure 19.0

Post: “Research has proven that teas, such as green tea, red tea, black tea, flower tea, jasmine tea, etc. help in keeping people cancer free.”

source: bbs.health.163.com

Post: “Bean products can be effective in preventing breast cancer…” source: bbs.91.cn

figure 20.0

Post: “This case is an example of bile duct cell cancer...I think particular attention needs to be paid to the struc-ture of the tumor.”


Post: “This seems like typical fibroadenoma, but the medical history and CDFI both indicate breast cancer. You should consider breast cancer, but no matter what it is, surgery is probably the only option.” source: club.health.sohu.com

Radiation (11)

Immunotherapy (63)

Gene (65)

Hormone (88)

Chemotherapy (157)

Medicinal (505)

Alternative* (841)

Surgery (1906)

figure 18.0 Q3 posts mentioning treatment options

* includes traditional Chinese medicine, vitamins, diet management, etc.


9


“道可道非常道” (Dao Ke Dao Fei Chang

Dao — online screen name) is another e-

fluencer on www.DXY.cn. As a young doc-

tor passionate about sharing difficult cancer

cases and information with others, his post-

ings have become destinations for many

“netizens” seeking objective discussion and

accurate, trustworthy medical counsel. See

figure 21.0 for an example of his posts.

“肿瘤博士”(Tumor Doctor — online

screen name) is a well-established tradi-

tional Chinese medicine doctor specializing

in oncology. He is also a top cancer e-

fluencer on Soho’s healthcare forum

(www.club.health.sohu.com), answering

“netizens’” tumor-related questions. 481 of

his posts mentioned cancer in Q3. See fig-

ure 22.0 for examples of his posts.

Complete listings of cancer e-fluencers and

the BBS forums in which they participate

are available in specialized reports.

Other notable online healthcare and

pharmaceutical discussions during Q3

General medicine safety, traditional Chinese

medicine, and online diagnosis generated a

significant amount of online discussion dur-

ing the July to September (Q3) period. In

brief:

Chinese “netizens” are raising questions

about the integrity and authenticity of the

drugs / medicine produced by local Chinese

pharmaceutical companies. See figure 23.0

for an example post.

Recently published articles about the abol-

ishment of traditional Chinese medicine and

methods have been met with sharp criti-

cism online from academics and the general

“netizen” public. See figure 24.0 for an ex-

ample post.

“Netizens” have seized on the convenient,

time-saving nature of online diagnosis, and

are driving its increasing implementation.

Certain hospitals have joined the conversa-

tion and openly offer this kind of service.

See figure 25.0 for an example post.

figure 22.0

Post: “The patient is advanced in age and has late-stage cancer...it may be caused by weak gastroenteritic function. If there is no abdominal fluid, the patient should eat soft or liquid food and avoid “cold” medi-cine if taking traditional Chinese medicine.”


Post: “From the information you supplied, it seems there is only a small chance it’s a sarcoma. You can use Chinese traditional medicine to treat it.” source: club.health.sohu.com

figure 23.0

Post: “What’s wrong with Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers? Have they all banded together to manufacture fake drugs? The bigger question is who dares to use medicine manufactured by these local companies?”

source: blog.sina.com.cn

figure 24.0

Post: “It’s a good idea to combine Western medicine with Chinese medicine. But the thought of wiping out traditional Chinese medicine is awful.”

source: bbs.news.tom.com

figure 25.0

Post: “Our hospital offers online diagnosis and consul-tation. Hope we can be of help to everyone. Please add our screen name: Velvet.”

source: forum.taobao.com

figure 21.0

Post: “The patient is advanced in age. The initial test results should be reconsidered...for older patients, tests need to be scrutinized.” source: www.dxy.cn

10


Insights & Actionable Conclusions

Why is Internet Word of Mouth important to healthcare and pharmaceutical companies?

Five things healthcare and pharmaceutical companies can do “right away”

to incorporate IWOM into their communications campaigns

Five DON’Ts when incorporating IWOM into communications campaigns

11


• In line with the shift from “vertical” to “horizontal” conversations, the world of corpo-

rate communications is now populated with a multitude of stakeholders, all of whom are

making their online presence in China increasingly known through IWOM platforms such

as BBS forums and blogs. Simply put, companies need to pay attention to IWOM to bet-

ter understand the concerns and needs of stakeholders newly empowered by online so-

cial media.

• Companies need to recognize that corporate image and product reputation can be im-

pacted by anyone at any time on the Internet through IWOM platforms such as BBS fo-

rums and blogs.

• Companies need to reach stakeholders “where they live” (in this case, the blogging / BBS

community). Strategic public relations / communications campaigns must incorporate

IWOM engagement to ensure they are comprehensive and successful.

• Companies need to recognize the emergence of a new issues / crises model in China.

Issues / Crises were previously born in mainstream media — in a top-down, vertical fash-

ion. The opposite is now true. Issues / Crises routinely first garner the attention of mil-

lions of “netizens” on IWOM platforms before ever making their way onto television

screens or newspaper front pages. With Internet usage on the rise and the popularity of

IWOM platforms growing, companies will be increasingly challenged in their management

of real and bogus issues / crises online in China.

• Edelman research* shows that key Chinese stakeholders rate corporate senior leadership

as the “most trustworthy and believable source” for information about a company.

IWOM provides new platforms for senior leadership to position companies and drive

corporate reputations among an increasingly influential and active audience of stake-

holders.

• While companies are not yet extensively discussed in IWOM, there is an incredible thirst

for accurate, objective, and trustworthy information within healthcare / pharmaceutical

IWOM. This thirst is not being quenched by traditional media channels. There is a signifi-

cant opportunity for healthcare / pharmaceutical companies to leverage IWOM in their

strategic communications campaigns to better engage, educate, and inform patients, po-

tential patients, and the general public.

Why is Internet Word of Mouth important to

healthcare and pharmaceutical companies?

12

* 2006 Edelman Asia Pacific Stakeholder Research


Five things healthcare and pharmaceutical companies can do “right away”

to incorporate IWOM into their communications campaigns

Five DON’Ts when incorporating IWOM into communications campaigns

• Don’t spam. Contacting e-fluencers with

anonymous emails or private messages

containing greetings such as “Dear blog-

ger,” goes against the grain of authentic-

ity and dialogue that underpins online

social media. Instead, personalize com-

munications using e-fluencers’ names,

and referencing specific content they

have written.

• Don’t pay for coverage or offer under-

the-table incentives. Instead, offer what

e-fluencers desire most: unique informa-

tion and recognition.

• Don’t shill. Posting obviously commer-

cial or biased messages is contrary to

the non-commercial nature of social

media, and will be opposed with passion.

Instead, contribute to the conversation

with content that will be of genuine inter-

est to the community.

• Don’t pretend to be a consumer. Instead,

listen to the conversation so that you can

learn more about your consumers and

their concerns. After careful consideration,

you may choose to participate in the com-

munity with thoughtful contributions.

• Don’t feel like you have to talk in order to

participate. Instead, consider engaging

communities in other ways, including spon-

sorship, advertising, or support for events

that allow the community to meet offline.

• Systematically track top blogs and BBS

forums to listen to and learn about key

issues of interest surrounding disease

areas relevant to the company or its

brand / products.

• Identify e-fluencers on blogs and BBS

forums and seek to establish a transpar-

ent relationship with them. Provide

them with disease and treatment infor-

mation, and engage them in brand and

communications activities as appropri-

ate.

• Encourage brand physicians (M.D. cre-

dentials) to blog or host BBS forums

about disease, drugs, and / or treatment.

The goal is to “have a voice” in the

healthcare / pharmaceutical IWOM

space. Make sure brand physicians are

transparent about their identity and have

a deep knowledge of their audience — the

online healthcare / pharmaceutical commu-

nity. Companies can also look to partici-

pate in the community by sponsoring cus-

tomized BBS forums or Web sites dedi-

cated to providing credible information to

“netizens” about a particular disease or

treatment area.

• Encourage doctors and KOLs in related

therapeutic areas to blog or host a BBS

forum, helping to ensure patient and con-

sumer populations are well informed

about diseases and treatments. With such

communications, being aware of related

legal, liability, and corporate policies is

essential.

• Evaluate online marketing strategy to en-

sure marketing dollars are spent where

most online conversations occur.

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About Edelman China Edelman China, which became one of the first multinational public relations firms to enter China in 1994, is a subsidiary of Edelman Worldwide. The world's largest independent public relations con-sultancy, Edelman has more than 46 offices and 2,500 employees in 39 countries. Headquartered in Shanghai, Edelman China is one of the leading international public relations firms in the China mar-ket. The firm has additional offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei, and an affiliate network of agencies located in key second- and third-tier cities. With a staff of more than 160 Chi-nese and expatriate professional consultants, Edelman China provides local and international com-munications solutions to a diverse portfolio of domestic and foreign multinational clients. Edelman China's main areas of expertise include corporate, financial / transactional, crisis / issues manage-ment, government relations / public affairs, healthcare / pharmaceutical, consumer / marketing, busi-ness-to-business (B2B) marketing, and information technology communications. Visit www.edelman.com or www.edelmanapac.com for more information.

About CIC CIC is the leading Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) research and consulting firm in China. CIC helps its clients make sense of the buzz found on Chinese blogs, BBS forums, and other social media channels using proprietary text mining technology developed specifically for the Chinese language. With sensitivity toward marketing, market research, media planning, public relations, and product development, CIC’s team of social media analysts provide actionable insights for a stable of Fortune 500 retainer clients in China and around the world. CIC was founded in 2003 by a team of local and international professionals with experience in the Chinese public relations, market research, and brand consulting industries. Visit www.cicdata.com or www.seeisee.com for more information.

For more details about Word of Health: China, or to inquire about in-depth or specialized health-care / pharmaceutical IWOM reports, please contact: Mr. Adam J. Schokora - 石灵杰 Edelman [email protected] (86) (021) 6289 2929 ext. 890

Ms. Daisy Zhang - 张伟 CIC [email protected] (86) (021) 5237 3860/61/62/63 ext. 866

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Word Of Health China (Oncology) (English)

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Transcript of Word Of Health China (Oncology) (English)