Graduation Day at Roche Digital Academy: What's Next?

The Roche Digital Academy concluded with a Graduation day on July 1. This training program, developed by the Digital Team Roche Italy, in collaboration with the School of Communication and Iulm in Milan, was attended by 80 professionals working in the company. Graduates received a Master in Digital Marketing, specifically designed for the pharmaceutical industry.

I was a guest "lecturer" at the Academy in June (see here) and received the Academy's 2013 Award for "Performance in Excellence in Social Media Regulatory Management."

(Left to right: Alessia Ferrario, eLearning Specialist; Gaetano Vancheri, eMarketing Specialist; Davide Bottalico, MD, Marketing Manager Digital Area; Pharmaguy; Denis Dina, Digital Strategic Planner; and Stefania Nicastro, eMarketing Specialist)

The course included over 100 hours of classroom lectures enriched by case studies and group exercises.



"We invest continuously in training our employees" - says Maurizio de Cicco, CEO Roche Spa. This should help Roche engage in digital dialogue with their professional stakeholders and in the public opinion arena.  The web and 'now a reality 'that allows a great exchange of information.

I support digital/social media training of pharmaceutical executives because digital is the new "bag" that future pharma C-level executives must "carry" to be qualified for the job (see "Pharma C-Suite Social Media Dummies: Senior Execs Must Start 'Carrying the [Digital] Bag'").

The training program - explains de Cicco - has highlighted and outlined the main characteristics and dynamics of the use of more' common tools and digital communication channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and then forums and blogs. these are now real bridges direct relationship with stakeholders Roche: not only with clinicians and institutions but also with all the people. "

Denis Dina, digital strategic planner of Roche, agreed with de Cicco that digital communication channels such as Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and online forums are now real bridges allowing direct relationships with stakeholders, including clinicians, institutions, and patients.

"After the [work of the] Academy, Roche is now studying a renewed web presence and the opening of new social channels including YouTube," said Dina.

It will be interesting to learn about other digital training programs within pharmaceutical companies. For that, I look forward to attending the training sessions at the 3rd Annual Pharma eMarketing Congress in Barcelona this September (see here) and especially the session "Setting a Social Media Mindset in Your Company" with Alexandra Fulford. I will lead the workshop: "Social media & the pharma industry -- a turbulent marriage." Pharma Marketing News is a Media partner for this conference.