Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla’s ‘annus horribilis’ shows no sign of abating. From being feted as the industry darling of the COVID-19 period, Pfizer management is now being accused of USD 20 billion worth of “value destruction” by activist investors. As new analysis shows, Bourla has also suffered the ignominy of losing his title as the top pharma CEO on social media.
Digital insights consultancy Creation Healthcare instead puts Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan as the industry head with the most impactful online presence. Narasimhan, who seems to borrow as much from Silicon Valley as the traditional pharma industry in his communication style, is noted for his “unbossed” management philosophy, aimed at empowering junior and middle management to make business decisions.
The rankings analyse the social media presence of CEOs from the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies (by prescription drug sales), drawing on a range of online metrics including overall follower count; frequency of posts; the number of comments made and received by each CEO; and the number of likes received.
Last year, Creation scored Bourla a perfect ten, in part thanks to the extremely high frequency of his posts. Bourla (and presumably a busy team of Pfizer social media strategists posting on his behalf) have continued to churn out far more posts than any other executive in the analysis, but engagement is down on the previous year.
Narasimhan, conversely, while posting less frequently, is the most-followed executive on the list and has garnered more engagement than any of his contemporaries.
As with last year’s list, Creation once more underscored the importance of “authentic engagement” that shows leaders’ personalities and private lives away from the day-to-day of product launches, financial results, and the impact of their medicines. CEOs with the most engagement on their posts typically posted more personalized content, including Narasimhan’s family photo celebrating Swiss National Day (see below) and BMS CEO Chris Boerner’s marking the company’s ‘Quiet Week’ by firing up the barbecue.
However, this engagement did not generally extend to the executives engaging with commenters on their social media (predominantly Linkedin) posts. In fact, J&J’s Joaquin Duato was the only CEO to reply to comments on his posts.
Creation Healthcare CEO Daniel Ghinn said, “This study highlights a key shift in how pharma CEOs can leverage social media to build influence. It’s not simply about the number of followers or the volume of posts, but the quality of interactions and the relevance of content shared. Engaging meaningfully with healthcare professionals and wider audiences is what truly drives impact.
“To optimize their social media presence, pharma leaders must have a clear understanding of their goals, the audience they want to engage, and the platforms best suited for reaching them. In a highly connected world, social media remains a powerful tool that shouldn’t be overlooked.”
