Johnson & Johnson’s YouTube success yields valuable lessons

Company’s health channel ropes in 2.3 million YouTube views

Being a YouTube pioneer comes with risks. But it also has had unexpected rewards for Johnson & Johnson, including more than 2.3 million upload views and nearly 2,800 subscribers on its health channel since its debut two years ago.

Rob Halper, director of video communication at J&J, admits the no-holds-barred nature of social media may seem like a public relations nightmare for practitioners used to controlling their messages. But encouraging the interactivity on which social media is based has built credibility for the New Jersey-based manufacture of health care and pharmaceutical products, he says. YouTube is central to that effort.

“It’s the Wild West of traditional social media,” he says. “If you’re not doing it, you aren’t engaging in social media. It’s just another website.”