Chicago—March 9, 2010-- The Word of Mouth Marketing Association submitted final written testimony from its membership to the Food and Drug Administration, recommending principles to help the agency provide health care and pharmaceutical companies with an appropriate roadmap so these companies can better access and navigate social media including popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
The FDA held hearings on this issue last fall and the WOMMA written testimony comes at the end of the FDA’s open comment period.
“We encouraged our members to communicate their thoughts and expertise to this effort and our final document reflects many of their suggestions,” said Paul M., Rand, WOMMA President and President/CEO of the Zócalo Group. “Consumers and health care professionals want, need and are now demanding clarification of what is and isn’t acceptable in this arena.”
WOMMA has demonstrated its ability to work with federal regulators in the past. In 2009, the association contributed vast expertise to the regulatory process spearheaded by the Federal Trade Commission to develop its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
The letter to the FDA spells out four core principles that should be used to guide any regulation by the FDA on this front:
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1) Companies have a fundamental interest in listening and participating in social media platforms concerning the medicines or products they provide, and the conditions these medicines and products address.
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2) Governmental regulation concerning such participation must only relate to those communications that constitute commercial promotional activities sponsored by the companies
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3) Any governmental regulation concerning such commercial promotional activity must be narrowly and appropriately tailored to ensure that those communications are truthful, transparent, balanced and not deceptive.
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4) Any such governmental regulation must account for the nature and navigational realities of various social media platforms, such as the ability to use links and space constraints in certain environments or platforms. |
“Consumers’ demand is clear. We want the best health information possible to live healthier lives,” said John Bell, managing director of Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence and WOMMA board member. “Thirty-six percent of people who gathered information about a health condition online subsequently spoke to their doctors as a result, and 21% made a change to their lifestyle because of the information they found. That information comes from professional health sources, health care companies and our peers. We need to protect consumers while making it easier for health care companies to use digital and social media to serve their patients and customers better.”
Anthony DiResta, WOMMA General Counsel and partner with Manatt, Phelps and Phillips said: “Many WOMMA members and their clients affected by FDA regulation are committed to acting in the best interest of the consumer and patient. WOMMA's goal is to work with the FDA and provide insights that help bridge the gap of understanding between consumers' online engagement and the activity of pharmaceutical brands.”
The FDA guidelines took on more urgent status when the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications issued a series of notice of violation letters that hold Internet ads to the same standards generally applied to traditional print ads. For example, DDMAC sent one such letter on March 26, 2009, to Biogen Idec that charged the company with distributing electronic advertising that misbrands its drug product TYSABRI, a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis.
According to the WOMMA testimony, the DDMAC letters had a rather immediate chilling effect on pharmaceutical companies’ online promotional efforts. After the letters were issued, many companies decided to revise their sponsored search results so that product names would no longer appear in URLs.
Bell said, “Without careful consideration, regulatory steps like the DDMAC letters may end up impeding consumers need for important, and balanced health information rather than improving the situation. We want to do everything possible to help the FDA navigate the new waters of social media just as we have had the privileged to do with the FTC.”
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About WOMMA
WOMMA, http://womma.org, is the leading trade association in the marketing and advertising industries that focuses on word of mouth, consumer-generated and social media platforms -- or marketing techniques that include buzz, viral, community, and influencer marketing, as well as brand blogging. The organization is committed to developing and maintaining appropriate ethical standards for marketers and advertisers engaging in such marketing practices, identifying meaningful measurement standards for such marketing practices, and defining “best practices” for the industry.
Founded in 2005, WOMMA members include marketers and brands that use word-of-mouth marketing to reinforce their core customers and to reach out to new consumers, agencies that deliver word-of-mouth services and technologies, researchers that track the word-of-mouth experience and offline and online practitioners.
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