Catlin Renaud, Research Analyst, Palio

Recently Pharmaceutical companies have started campaigns on social media, such as YouTube. This presentation is a point of view on what Pharma companies are doing on social media and some tips on making a campaign successful. In this presentation you will find an overview of the marketing basics followed by quantifiable data on YouTube user base and how Pharma companies are specifically using YouTube at the corporate level or brand level.

[slideshare id=8031786&doc=socialmediasurveyyoutubev3-110519152954-phpapp01]

Palio is a full-spectrum global pharmaceutical and consumer advertising, marketing, and communications agency that excels in brand creation and specializes in brand strategy, product launches, global marketing, and digital and integrated media.

Often, when we are with clients, or are sitting in meetings discussing apps, people will bandy about technologies to drive the apps. “We’ll make a Flash app that does “x.” Or, “We need to make this in HTML 5.0 to run on the iPad.”

The graphic, by Periscopic, helps explain the market penetration of both, its impact on browser usage and how it will affect mobile penetration.

Neall Currie, VP, Creative Director, Palio

Books and I have a history together – a long, intense relationship. And now it’s on the rocks.

Some couples seem to just instantly work together. Not so with Books and me. A learning disability made learning to read a lengthy ordeal filled with frustration, shame, and ugly spectacles (not just distasteful displays, but actual hideous corrective lenses, too). But once I’d earned my hard-won intimacy with Books, I couldn’t get enough.

How I doted. Stolen moments under the sheets at night. Dodging responsibilities for secret assignations. And the pampering! I learned the simple folds and tucks that turn reused brown paper grocery bags into loving coats for treasured hardcovers. Yeah, I used protection. Because I cared.

For years we were happy. Sure, we had tough times. Lean years when I couldn’t spend on Books the way we’d both have liked. Brief flings with magazines. That summer flirtation with digital video. Even a midlife crisis-fueled reunion with comics. But I always came back. Nothing else made me feel the way Books did.

So when I first was told about E-Readers – “you’d be perfect together!” – I was dismissive. No assembly of silicon and metal could compare. I clung to a simple prejudice – if it needs a battery, it’s not a book. I guess I just preferred a powerless partner. On business trips I’d see other fellas with these comely E-Readers in their laps, and I scoffed. I didn’t have to prove myself with a slender, curvy little item. I had Books.

Then it happened. One of those well-meaning friends gave me an E-Reader as a gift. A Sony Pocket Edition. It was fresh and light. Very hip. Just in the interest of fairness – I’m very open to new experiences – I read a few pages, just to see how it felt.

And it felt good. Natural. Right. It felt like Books… but easier and, in a way, more exciting.

Still, my commitment held. Until that fateful trip. I was packing for 8 days of flying city to city, tons of time in airports and airplanes, trying to make room for Books – one in particular, a weighty tome by Neal Stephenson called Anathem. I’d been dying to spend some time with that one, and this trip was the best time.

So I justified it to myself. It wasn’t cheating because I already owned the Book. I wasn’t rejecting Books. Books were still the one I love. This E-Book, it didn’t really mean anything to me. It was just a fling.

But what a fling. That trip was so intense. I couldn’t take my eyes and hands off the E-Reader. It was as if suddenly I was a better reader. Faster. More engaged. More passionate, even.

After that, the inhibitions fell faster and faster. In the last year, I’ve still spent some time and money on Books. But I’ve spent more of both on E-Books. And it’s not just travel that we share any more. E-Reader is so easy-going, so compact, it’s really right by my side wherever I go.

What can I say. We’re happy together.

It’s easy to say that Books just had too much baggage. But maybe the one with the baggage is me.

Palio is a full-spectrum global pharmaceutical and consumer advertising, marketing, and communications agency that excels in brand creation and specializes in brand strategy, product launches, global marketing, and digital and integrated media.

Angela Williams, Editor, Palio

Readability is the measure of ease with which a text may be read and is necessary to ensure your message reaches your intended audience. Below, you’ll find a few of the more widely known readability formulas* used to calculate reading ease and grade level.

*Note that while these formulas provide a general sense of a text’s readability, they cannot guarantee 100% comprehension or predict how well your message will be understood by your intended audience.

Flesch-Kincaid

The Flesch Reading Ease score assesses readability. The higher the score on this 100-point scale (for which a score of 60 or 70 is considered optimal), the easier it is to understand the text. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score approximates reading level. A seventh-grade reading level is appropriate for most commercial and professional audiences, whereas a fourth-grade reading level is best suited for those with low literacy.

You can determine these scores by following these steps in Microsoft Word:

On a Mac (Word 2008):

1. Under the Word menu, select Preferences, then click Spelling and Grammar under Authoring and Proofing Tools.
2. Click the Show readability statistics check box if it’s not already checked.
3. Highlight the text you would like to check. Under the Tools menu, click Spelling and Grammar. When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, a Readability Statistics box will display your scores.

On a PC (Word 2007):

1. Right-click on the Microsoft Office icon in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Select Customize Quick Access Toolbar, then Proofing.
2. Click the Show readability statistics check box if it’s not already checked.
3. Highlight the text you would like to check. Under the Review menu, click the Spelling & Grammar icon. When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, a Readability Statistics box will display your scores.

SMOG

Harry McLaughlin created the SMOG Readability Formula in 1969 to estimate the years of education needed to understand a text. Since applying the formula longhand could be quite tedious, McLaughlin partnered with programming expert Alain Trottier to develop a free SMOG calculator that does the number crunching for you. Simply copy the text you would like to test into the calculator, click Submit, and voilà.

Fry Method

Edward Fry developed the Fry Graph Readability Formula, or Fry Method, a metric often used to determine a text’s reading level for regulatory purposes – as in the healthcare industry – to ensure comprehension across a wide population. Click here for instructions on how to calculate readability using the Fry formula and graph.

Online-Utility.org

The calculator at Online-Utility.org is a one-stop shop for measuring basic text statistics, like average number of words per sentence, and scores for several common readability scales, like Flesch-Kincaid and SMOG. Just paste your copy into the text box, and click the Process text button.

Palio is a full-spectrum global pharmaceutical and consumer advertising, marketing, and communications agency that excels in brand creation and specializes in brand strategy, product launches, global marketing, and digital and integrated media.

1. Google Body Browser – Google labs
http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/body.html#m=0&note=&ui=1&opa=s:1,m:1,sk:1,c:1,o:1,ci:1,l:1,n:1&nav=-4.73,115.6,160&sel=p:;h:;s:;c:0;o:0

Categories: 3D, Virtual Reality, Fluid Interface, Visualization

What it is: A 3D, interactive map of the human body

Why it matters: As technology evolves and visual interfaces become more robust with less processing overhead, it will allow for more interactive, more detailed user interactions.

2. Theo Hansen’s Strandbeest – constantly evolving
http://www.strandbeest.com/film_ted.php

Categories: DNA, Evolution, Mechanical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence

What it is: Mechanical devices based on DNA code that react to their surroundings

Why it matters: The link above is to Hansen’s 2007 TED talk, but it raises the larger issue of silicon based technology. As engineers work tirelessly toward nanotechnology, a world of AI that works off of mechanical means rather than code driven instructions, will be paramount to innovation. As pharma companies work with technology, our delivery of innovative compounds to patients in a more direct, non-invasive way may rely more heavily on mechanical engineering and less on software.