J&J launches corporate blog: could show way for drug industry

US health care giant Johnson & Johnson has "gone public" with its corporate blog (http://jnjbtw.com), after months of internal trialling. The content on J&J BTW (an acronym for "by the way") is controlled by Marc Monseau, a senior corporate communications executive at the firm.

One of the blog's innovations is to express openly the areas the firm will not comment on, explaining the regulatory or commercial pressures involved in particular issues. In a posting titled Speculating, Mr Monseau wrote: "after declining to comment on an acquisition rumor, I'm often asked if I would simply talk about our acquisition philosophy in general - what types of companies or technologies Johnson & Johnson would like to acquire." He added: "again in the context of a question about a specific rumor, how can I discuss our acquisition philosophy and strategy without seemingly tipping our hand or fuelling speculation?"

J&J BTW responds to news events, such as a recent court ruling in Massachusetts, USA, on Medicare drug pricing (Marketletter June 26), which cleared the firm of wrong doing, as well as media comment, eg, a report on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog about the drug industry's future.