Getting the tweet out @ BI

INGELHEIM, Germany —Boehringer Ingelheim perhaps is one of the more active pharma companies on a site like Twitter, regularly tweeting to its 1,600 followers.

BI first started tweeting last fall, with the thought that it would better be able to reach journalists with press material. That quickly evolved into a tool to get feedback from customers, John Pugh, BI director for global corporate communications/external communication, told Pharma Marketing Talk earlier this summer. Indeed, approximately 20% of its Twitter followers are flagged as journalists, and 15% are identified as doctors. The remaining followers are made up of customers and industry executives, including many BI employees.

“This year we are looking to use the Internet to engage with our customers,” Pugh said. “We want to provide a human side [to] the corporate perspective, and tools such as Twitter are key.” Accordingly, it’s not just the latest BI news that gets tweeted. BI frequently recommends other Web-based information around disease states addressed by BI, as well as articles BI believes its followers would find interesting.

Going forward, BI plans to develop a “stroke channel” on YouTube, where it will host a series of video interviews around strokes. Pugh reported he will raise awareness around BI’s YouTube presence by tweeting about it.