Rebate offers on health care products are watched closely by state legislatures. A majority of states have one, if not many, rebate laws in place. So, it is the job of drug manufacturers to understand how these laws differ from state to state, and to make sure that the rebate practices are in compliance with these laws.

For example, states like New York and Maine have statutes in place to protect consumers from companies that may try to offer shifty rebates. In New York, companies offering rebates must include the redemption form directly with the product, or at the same time or location that the product is purchased. This applies to both Internet sales and telephone sales as well.

Along with providing the redemption form, companies offering rebates in New York State must also work within certain time frames in which a consumer can send in, and receive, a rebate. Here are the ground rules:

• Companies must allow the consumer a minimum of 14 days from the day that the item was purchased to submit a request for the rebate.
• Rebate checks must be mailed, or funds must be transmitted, within 60 days of receiving the request for the rebate.
• Companies not adhering to these statutes can be fined up to $1,000 for individual violations.

Similar to New York, the Maine legislature also put laws in place relating to the availability of rebate forms. The statute says that the manufacturer’s rebate form should be available to the consumer at the time of advertising and promotion. The rebate form should also be available to the purchaser at the time of sale. Be careful in Maine—there is no ceiling on the fines that companies can incur for violating rebate laws.

In order to ensure that you are in compliance with state law on rebates, it is best for manufacturers to have the form, or notice, located with the actual product—and to make sure that forms are no longer accessible to consumers once the rebate expires.

— Paul Hill

Understandably, legal departments, particularly at pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies, are wary of blogs. Their open and interactive nature can leave the hosting organization vulnerable. Many companies feel it’s too risky and continue to wait for others in the industry to forge the path and see if the benefits outweigh the bumps. (See trailblazers’ blogs GlaxoSmithKline’s More Than Medicine Blog and Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ BTW Blog.)

If this describes your organization, we encourage you to not give up. There are other, easy ways to participate in social media without directly authoring a blog. Consider these options:

• Engage in Active Listening:
  Monitor conversations taking place online within social networking sites. At a minimum, set up Google Alerts to monitor your organization’s name, as well as competitive companies and relevant drugs, technologies, products and services, as well as disease states and key personnel. Or, you can use a more advanced tool such as Alterian SM2 to monitor the social media sphere for a minimal monthly feel. This allows you to be on constant lookout for opportunities to join conversations and comment.
• Maintain a Presence on Twitter:
  Many pharmaceutical, biotech, and device companies have readily adopted Twitter as a means to communicate with customers and stakeholders. This includes AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, and others. On BNet, Jim Edwards said that Twitter is more popular with drug companies because compliance officials and lawyers think it’s harder to get into trouble in 140 characters than an open-ended blog. So consider Twitter as a way to show your expertise, field questions, and interact with customers.
• Look for Sponsorship Opportunities:
  Finally, there are many blogs dedicated to the education and support of disease states and issues. Seek relevant blogs and secure sponsorship opportunities. It will get your brand associated with the conversations taking place related to your products and services right now.

If your company continues to wait cautiously in the wings, remember: these days your customers are expecting to see you in a social media setting. If they don’t hear from you, they’ll certainly seek the opinions of others.

— Corrie Carter

One insightful blog post discusses social media as an “ingredient,” or complement, within the communications mix. While having a stand-alone Facebook page may suffice as an apéritif in some instances, these platforms as a whole are best utilized when they are  incorporated into your overall meal plan; i.e., overarching marketing strategy.  Consider some of the bloggers’ questions that underscore this suggestion:

• How can your blog drive your search marketing?
• How can you test email newsletter content on Facebook?
• How can your mobile apps drive database marketing?
• How does social CRM impact downstream conversion rates?

It’s an exciting time for PR professionals, with so many new technologies that are facilitating our interactions with key audiences as well as changing the media relations game.  More and more we are developing successful campaigns that incorporate other marketing components with an infusion of social media.

Regardless of circumstance, it can always be overwhelming to learn something new and adapt to changes, but in 2010 PR will continue to lead the social media charge. One of the smartest slogans ever developed was Nike’s “Just Do It,” as it touches so many off-court aspects of life.  Sound advice my dad gave  me was, in essence, to stop talking and start doing. What better way to make sense of it all than to immerse yourself in it? Talking will only take you so far.

- Sharon Harper

We at Martino Flynn realize that we have been blessed in many ways. So, for this holiday season we have built a special web site that will challenge the mind, nourish the body, and elevate the spirit. We call it a Holistic Holiday; a place where you can test your holiday knowledge, share a favorite recipe, and help a worthy cause.

Please visit our site at http://holiday.martinoflynn.com and pass this link along to your friends and families. We decided that one way to put our holiday spirit into action this year would be to support three special not-for-profit organizations that mean a great deal to us. The “Spirit” section of the site explains how we will contribute to these organizations, and encourages you to support them as well.

On behalf of my partners—Chris and Kevin Flynn—and everyone in the Martino Flynn family, I wish you the happiest of holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

— Ray Martino

I’ve been told by some that Tiger Wood’s activities are none of my business. That’s true, but his behavior offends me on two levels.

First of all, I’m a public relations professional. I’ve given advice to clients for almost 38 years on a wide variety of issues and crises. I’ve read many critiques in the news media in recent days about the bad PR advice Tiger has been given.  I agree with that assessment; his whole approach gives PR a bad name. Clearly, Tiger should have owned up early, rather than evading the police and the media. Now he appears to the world as both an inept philanderer and a liar.

Second, as both a fan and a golfer, I have a problem with Tiger’s antics. I started playing golf late in life, and I’m not very good at it. But I believe I’m pretty good at understanding the integrity of the game. Golf is a game of honor. Players police themselves on the rules in part to respect the game. Of course, I’ve played with a few people who  fluff the ball up, give themselves five-footers, and fail to post a low score.  But they’re posers, not real golfers.

One of the nicest things my friend and business partner Kevin Flynn ever said to me was on a golf course. We were engaged in a low-stakes match, a game I occasionally win due to the handicap system. I hit my drive pretty well, except that it “drew” about 40 yards to the left of the middle of the fairway and splashed.  I went up to where I thought the ball went into the water and took what I thought was an appropriate drop.  When we finished the hole, Kevin turned to me and said that I had been very generous to myself on that drop.  “The ball crossed the water about 100 yards before your drop,” he said. I was mortified.

I decided long ago that if I wasn’t going to be competent at golf, at least I’d follow the rules.  I apologized profusely to Kevin and conceded the hole, which he would have won anyway with his birdie.  He turned to me and said, “I know you’d never cheat.” That’s what you want to hear from a friend, fellow golfer, and business partner.

Tiger is a phenomenal athlete, but I won’t be rooting for him any longer. It’s not that he let me down personally as a role model. I don’t need athletes as role models.  It’s just that I can’t cheer for a cheater.

— Ray Martino

Here’s a succinct explanation of how social media has changed our daily lives, compliments of Mashable contributor Soren Gordhamer. While the individual is the focal point of the post, the same principles are also changing businesses. Here are five ways:

1. Where we get our news: Aside from being a one-stop shop for daily news, companies can leverage new media for competitive research and to get into the heads of their audiences.
2. How we start and do business: For established companies, social media is an ideal complement to your overarching marketing mix, whereas start-ups can cast a wider net and virally reach a larger audience more quickly than ever before.
3. How we meet and stay in touch with people: Same principle applies to your client and prospect lists, whether they’re friends, or following you tweets or corporate blog.  When you demonstrate expertise in a realm while showcasing the personal side of your business, they’ll be more inclined to remember you when a need arises.
4. What we reveal: Sorry folks, but the truth is that—with social media here to stay—you’re less in control of your messages. There’s validity behind the transparency cliché.
5. What we can influence: “Views” have encroached upon news this day in age, which presents the opportunity for you to reach your key audiences more directly, foster stronger personal relationships with them, and therefore expand your influence.

As a budding (growing/maturing?) member of the communications industry, #2 particularly resonates, as there are resources (ahem *agency* cough) that companies can use to help navigate these treacherous waters. The “white water” is inevitable….gear up and prepare for the ride.

– Sharon Harper

@Sharon_Harper

The Martino Flynn PR team had the opportunity to hear a who’s who in the PR and social media world speak on the topic. Instead of divulging all the secrets of how to effectively use social media, Peter Shankman claims there really aren’t any, and backed this up by sharing his four “rules” of common sense:

• Transparency: No one is perfect: everyone is going to make a mistake at some point. And with all the social technologies available, it’s especially important these days to be upfront and transparent.
• Relevancy: We’ve become a society of microjournalists, where people are “experts” on every topic you can think of. This makes it all the more important to know with whom you’re communicating.  Why not ask your audience directly what exactly it is they want and need—and how they wish to receive it?
• Brevity: The average attention span for teenagers in the 80′s was 3 minutes—or the length of a music video. Now it’s only 2.7 seconds, or the time it takes to read a 140-character tweet. 
• Customer service: It’s all about karma. “Make your customers addicts” by working your network. Make a consistent effort to reach out to a few people in your network on a daily basis—whether it’s wishing someone a happy birthday on Facebook or simply phoning to say hello.

The latter point resonated with me the most.  Shankman cited a few examples of noteworthy individuals who took a few minutes of their time to do this simple, but smart exercise.  It paid dividends down the line when various contacts recalled the person they felt they already knew and trusted, and got in touch to do business. This was Shankman’s very impetus for creating Help A Reporter Out (HARO), a free exchange between journalists looking for sources on deadline and more than 100,000 worldwide sources—largely PR practitioners scouting opportunities for their clients—who are looking to be quoted in the media.

In reality, social media are best utilized when they complement existing communications strategies. What’s even better is getting someone to do your PR for you. How can this be done, you ask? Forget Facebook [for a moment] and get back to basics: focus on customer service. Ask them directly about what it is they want and need, and then give it to them. Your good karma will come back around in the form of positive PR.

- Sharon Harper

A Mashable article succinctly explains that a social media policy “outlines for employees the corporate guidelines or principles of communicating in the online world.”  The author highlights “5 Ws” for companies to consider when deciding whether to implement a social media policy, which I’ve infused with my two cents below:

WHY: There’s always the possibility that your employees are saying something about your company—both good and bad. You reserve the right to instill guidelines that protect your company from potentially harmful comments by those you’re most able to regulate among your key stakeholders. Think of it as insurance: while you may not be able to prevent an “accident” in some instances, you’d be more upset if you didn’t have it then.

WHAT: The intent of having a social media policy is not to squash personality or openness of conversation. Though it’s important to remain transparent—a key theme of social media—it’s also necessary to have guidelines in place where employees are engaging in social media in a manner that does not risk the company’s reputation.  A well-written policy will still afford your employees the flexibility to be themselves while, importantly, minding company rules.

WHO: Social media policies shouldn’t discriminate. They’re for everyone. Scott Monty , Ford’s social media man, also hits the nail on the head when he explains how company communications policies need to include the new online forums where conversations are taking place.

WHERE: Like the follow-through in a tennis or golf swing, providing social media training to employees upon creating a social media policy is ideal, because it helps them to become aware of how their actions on these sites may inadvertently (in most cases) affect your company. When a company’s internal knowledge of social media is limited, agencies can offer assistance with social media training for employees. By the way, it’s okay if you’re not yet comfortable taking it to the level that Zappos did.  After all, social media isn’t something you just dive into.

WHEN: Carpe diem! Social media should be treated like other forms of media communication, especially as the lines are increasingly blurring between professional and personal use.  Establishing guidelines that dovetail with other company policies and also adapt to future changes will go a long way in helping to protect your company’s reputation.

- Sharon Harper

The study, which surveyed 354 journalists from broadcast, national, regional, and trade media across Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, indicates that journalists have become more dependent on public relations content due to increased content requirements for online media.

When asked, “In what way has the Internet, and the delivery of media content over the web, changed your role?” 40 percent of journalists surveyed said they were expected to produce more content and almost 29 percent had less time to research stories in person. Journalists in Europe are feeling the pressure to provide more content to cover their outlet’s print publication, blog, online news feed, and any other social networking site they may be using. There are many more places to get your news from in this new “digital age,” which means these journalists really do need to produce “more news” to cover all media.

“In what way has the Internet, and the delivery of media content over the web, changed your role?”

You can only imagine that this is the same case here in the United States.

Download the entire survey here.

— Kellie Fronk

Consider the opinion of one blogger who lists seven solid reasons that companies should start a blog:

1.    It helps your SEO (Google loves new content).

2.    You can engage and understand your customers better.

3.    You are seen as an expert in your field, a  “Thought Leader.”

4.    Great content gives people a reason to keep coming back to your site.

5.    Blogs are a much more trusted source than corporate press releases and official company PR.*

6.    It moves customers to a conversion point of trusting and believing enough to buy.

7.    By writing you are learning.

(*I agree with each of these with the exception of #5. When done right, press releases are not fluff pieces. They include facts and represent the latest news from a company or organization. What the blogger may have meant was—as a personal extension of your brand—a blog enables companies to engage with current and prospective customers in a less formal, more conversational way while providing color commentary on a particular topic.)

Additional advantages I’d like to suggest: blogs enable companies to gain insight and feedback directly from the end users of their product or service. What is gleaned about customers’ needs and interests can be used to make business decisions.  Blogs are also inexpensive to start.

If you want to develop a business blog but limited staffing is your concern, you can recruit people from key departments within the company to contribute posts on a rotational frequency, or lean on a PR agency to research and ghostwrite posts on your behalf. Remember, you don’t have to plunge into the blogosphere or social media; however, it is becoming a lot harder to ignore the elephant in the room.

I’m curious to hear if anyone has thoughts or apprehensions about starting a business blog?

–Sharon Harper