This week, Brandweek (also owned by The Nielsen Company) published an article on a topic near and dear to my heart. “Why Pharma Fears Social Networking” by Jim Edwards provides a good overview of the challenges and opportunities that Pharmaceutical companies face when thinking about “listening” to consumers in this new era of social media and user-generated content. It includes thoughts from a number of leading pharma PR and advertising agencies, and references research we released in early September. We agree that the prospect of venturing into this territory isn’t easy and that there are considerations unique to the pharma industry that require careful planning and consultation with legal and other regulatory departments. But like Joe Natale, VP, New Media at Johnson & Johnson, we think it will be “well worth it.”