The FDA’s draft industry guidance for off-label responses to consumers’ health care queries is a start but could benefit from specifics to appropriately advise health care communicators.

Last week, PRSA and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) filed joint comments with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concerning its proposed social media guidelines. Our central points can be summed up as follows: self-regulation works, and professional communicators and marketers are responsible and ethical practitioners.

The comments are a continuation of PRSA’s recent regulatory affairs work with the Federal Trade Commission and the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight.

The feedback we provided the FDA reflects the core values of PRSA’s Code of Ethics. We made clear our belief that public relations professionals are keen to protect consumers’ rights through open and honest communications, while advocating for the brands they represent. Those goals do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, each can enhance the quality of information provided to the public through proactive and transparent communications practices.

Our comments are the culmination of a long-standing advocacy campaign by PRSA to obtain adequate social media guidelines from the FDA. Through a variety of commentary pieces, we have expressed our perspective that the regulatory framework that currently governs health care and pharmaceutical brands’ online communications with consumers is inadequate. Moreover, the lack of specificity in that framework has led to inaccurate and outdated information swirling around the Internet concerning health care and wellness issues.

It is crucial that the FDA presents viable guidance for how companies can utilize social media to accommodate consumers’ fact-finding needs concerning health care and wellness issues. While a start, the proposed Guidelines lack specificity and relevance that communicators and marketers require to successfully perform their jobs within FDA guidelines. (Related: Dear FDA: Your Social Media Guidance is Requested)

Continue reading " Reviewing the FDA’s Proposed Social Media Guidelines "

Yesterday, I had the honor of representing PRSA in a special panel, hosted by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), examining the impact of the Federal Trade Commission’s planned revisions to its “Dot Com Disclosure” guidelines. I say “honor” because the panel was co-hosted by Rich Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s Division of Advertising and the Commission’s resident expert on online marketing practices.

PRSA was invited to provide further explanation of our recent commentary to the FTC because we have taken a lead in the public relations industry to advocate for transparent and responsible online communications between brands and consumers. In August, PRSA submitted comments to the FTC in which we advocated for greater clarity concerning online marketing and communications disclosure guidelines. We also requested an opportunity for PRSA and other industry associations and consumer-interest groups to have a voice in the ongoing process to modernize the Government’s digital disclosure guidelines.

Joining me on the panel was Joe Chernov, vice president of content marketing at Eloqoa, who provided insightful commentary on how businesses are potentially using disingenuous SEO techniques to usurp FTC disclosure guidelines.

As I noted at the outset of the WOMMA panel, PRSA believes that our 32,000 members, along with the 200,000-plus U.S. public relations professionals, are responsible in their online communications and marketing practices. PRSA’s Code of Ethics has served as the public relations industry’s de facto self-regulation platform for more than 60 years. More broadly, our peers help weed out those who do not see eye-to-eye with the majority of public relations professionals who believe in honest, fair and transparent communications.

Continue reading " PRSA Takes Stance on Responsible Online Marcomms "

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Rod Brooks, president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Board of Directors and vice president and Chief Marketing Officer at PEMCO Mutual Insurance Company in Seattle.

The rules of the game have changed. No longer is consumer behavior driven exclusively by traditional marketing and advertising, or by the influences of mass-media opinion-leaders.

Today those consumers are making decisions after hearing the opinions of peers, friends and even strangers. Most often, those new, powerful lay-influencers make their opinions known online, completely outside the influence of traditional public relations.

This developing behavior among consumers presents both a dynamic challenge and emerging opportunity for marketers and public relations professionals.  As the influencer-centric movement gains momentum, professionals in our industry have been identifying ways to capitalize on this new behavior, and rally around a need to revisit our professions’ ethical guidelines to ensure we share a strong foundation of high ethical standards in this new space.

Continue reading " Using Word-of-Mouth Marketing to Win, Ethically "