Principles for pharmaceutical companies when partnering with a social cause

Pharmaceutical companies often get a bad reputation due to the high prices and high profits in the industry. Pharmaceutical companies partner with social causes in order to increase patient education and to promote awareness of diseases. Here are 4 key principles for a brand to adhere to when partnering with a social cause.

Engage employees in the cause.

People feel good with they give back to a cause. Encourage your employees to participate in the social cause and to promote the cause on their social media accounts.

Lilly employees took part in this global pharmaceutical company’s eight annual Global Day of Service, proudly sharing their good deeds on social media with the tag, #WeAreLilly.

Incorporate donations to encourage engagement

You can use donations to promote “likes” and Tweets. However, I would focus on encouraging posts and re-shares because that spreads awareness to networks of people. “Likes” are too easy and limit the spread of the message.

Sanofi launched the website Diabetapedia as a resource for diabetes content. Just as with Wikipedia, users can suggest and edit terms found on the site related to understanding and managing the disease. Each term can be shared via Twitter to allow users to share with friends, and the search widget can be embedded into external sites. Sanofi has pledged to donate $5,000 to a diabetes charity for each term that gets to 2,500 likes or Tweets.

Actively work with the social cause, don’t just put your logo next to it

If the relationships with the social cause superficial, consumers will see right past it. The company shouldn’t just put their logo next to the cause, they should actively partner with the cause and to work with them to deliver tangible results for the cause.

Limit posting causes that could easily be taken over by negative responses

In September 2015, Novartis launched a discount drug program for chronic diseases. The campaign focuses on offering more drugs at lower prices to developing countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Vietnam. It’s a great idea, but if Novartis had promoted this on social media, they could have received backlash. People may take over the hashtag and focus on the high prices of drugs in the U.S. Users could callout Novartis for their high prices in the U.S. and focus on the need for discounts in the U.S. too. The takeaway, predict how social causes could potentially backfire on you.