Weight-loss consumers widen their circles with GSK site

PITTSBURGH —In the spirit of TV’s “The Biggest Loser,” the special networking site GlaxoSmithKline created for its OTC weight-loss aid Alli has proven a big winner in social media terms.

GSK launched its weight-loss program, called Alli, in 2007. And along with that launch, the company created two online destination sites for its constituents: www.allihcp.com for healthcare professionals—aka pharmacists, the “hcp” that patients naturally would consult around an OTC medicine—and www.myalli.com for patients.

From myalli.com, users are encouraged to join GSK’s own social network of Alli users with “Allicircles,” a part of the site that “provides consumers [with] a place to share insights, post to message board forums and create an online profile with their image and story to share with other consumers,” according to the site.

It’s a site for dieters, a support community for people where they can post their own weight-loss stories and pictures and interact with others who have had similar experiences. And it’s a source for information; along with the support of a shared experience, Allicircles members can directly ask questions to a registered dietician, pharmacist and fitness specialist, such as Maria Marzella Sulli, an instructor at St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and wellness coordinator for King Kullen Pharmacy, and weight-loss specialist and Costco pharmacist Sophia De Monte.