Abbott Changes Channels

Perhaps it is a signal that some companies are recognizing the potential of Internet video in general and YouTube in particular that Abbott yesterday took down its Abbott1888 YouTube channel and replaced it with a new AbbottChannel, giving it a more corporate identity than the previous name which admittedly, sounded like a prototype name.

The move makes a great deal of sense.  Of the three large pharma channels I’ve been following – J&JHealth, GSKVision and Abbott1888, the last had the least amount of subscribers.  That was true even though it is technically a better and more user friendly channel than that of GSK’s (though has a long way to go to reach J&J heights).  Perhaps the name will help remedy that, though I repeat that which I said at the time that I first noticed Lilly’s now defunct LillyDiabetes channel, the companies getting into this space would do well to engage in some online editorial outreach and issue web news releases about the channels and their goals and vision.   

The change of channels is also a reminder how much the pharma industry is all over the map when it comes to engaging in digital communications.  There are still some companies that won’t blog monitor out of fear that they will notice and adverse event.  There are companies that don’t issue news by RSS feed, but rather send the news by email (which is today’s version of snail-mail when compared to feeds) and there are companies that don’t even allow employees to see YouTube at work, much less craft a strategy for particpating and engaging.  Well, there are companies that will thrive in this new environment, and we have three indications of that – and there are companies that will, a few years from now, wonder why they fell behind.

Unfortunately, no new vids were added by Abbott when they made the switch.  The old Abbott vids that I had playlisted from Abbott1888 are being replaced on the EyeonFDA YouTube channel.

And companies, remember the mantra about any of digital – IT IS NOT THE MEDIUM – IT IS THE MESSAGE.  Get it?

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