“Pharmaceutical Education” by Virtual Employee
― Why did you start distributing on YouTube?
Nishiguchi: We believed that there were things that could be done precisely because Shionogi Kanade is a virtual existence. For example, information disseminated by pharmaceutical companies is often difficult to comprehend and approach unless you are an expert. If an unexpected and friendly personality can talk about it interestingly, more people may be interested. Therefore, we proposed activities as a Virtual YouTuber (hereinafter referred to as VTuber). At SHIONOGI, there is a system where employee ideas are adopted and actually worked on as a business, and it was adopted there and realized.
― Why “pharmaceutical education”?
Nishiguchi: YouTube, especially VTuber viewers, tend to be younger. Many people are physically healthy and may not be seeking health or medical information on a daily basis. For example, if you have a headache, you can easily obtain over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (medicines that can be purchased at pharmacies and drugstores) in Japan. However, even OTC medicines, if used incorrectly, can lead to abuse or accidents. Thus, we want to deliver information about medicines. If a VTuber does pharmaceutical education, it may be possible for more people, especially young people who are the main audience of existing VTubers, to come into contact with correct knowledge about medicines and health without resistance.
Maegawa: There are media and SNS posts as well that kindly cover this initiative, and I believe it is information that should be delivered precisely because it is SHIONOGI’s VTuber. Comments on the video such as “I learned” and “It was useful” are very encouraging, and it was also nice to hear from parents with young children saying that “it is a channel that can be shown to children with peace of mind.” Although “pharmaceutical education” is the education of “medicine,” we are still not knowledgeable enough to say “educate.” Therefore, we are planning to “learn together.”
― Are there any difficulties?
Nishiguchi: It was all new to me and the company, and initially we faces a series of difficulties while doing anything. We are now proceeding with the cooperation of various departments within the company, but at first it was difficult to gain understanding.
Maegawa: When I joined this project, I was in a state where I did not even know the word “VTuber,” and everything was a struggle. However, now I am familiar enough to be called a splendid VTuber mania, but it is not possible to apply the success stories of other famous VTubers as they are, so we are continuing to explore and make errors, which is the SHIONOGI-like ways of doing things.
Maegawa: That’s right. Pharmaceutical education videos are also one of the ways information is disseminated by pharmaceutical companies; thus, it is necessary for the content to undergo internal review to check if the content and expressions are accurate, and depending on the content, external experts may be supervised.
Katayama: I joined the team as an illustrator and graphic designer midway, but even the explanatory illustrations and diagrams that appear in the video must be fact-based and expressed correctly, so it is difficult to draw correctly and easily.
Maegawa: It may be rare to do everything, from planning to script production and material production in-house, but we want to convey it in our own words, which is more efficient in some cases.
― Please tell us about the future development of the project.
Maegawa: I think it is crucial for everyone to have access to correct information about health and medicine. I would be happy if the YouTube channel “Shionogi Kanade” could serve as a source of correct information.
Nishiguchi: At SHIONOGI, we also conduct hand-washing classes for children as part of our corporate social responsibility activities, and the use of pharmaceutical education videos and illustrations has increased as well. It would be interesting if the field of activity of Shionogi Kanade expanded as an iconic presence of pharmaceutical education rather than as a VTuber.
SHIONOGI’s company policy states, “SHIONOGI constantly strives to supply the best possible medicine to protect the health and wellbeing of the patients we serve.” However, no matter how excellent the medicine, it cannot function as the “best medicine” unless it is used appropriately based on correct information. Thus, the dissemination of information using Shionogi Kanade as a VTuber is an indispensable activity for SHIONOGI to “provide the best medicine.”
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References: YouTube channel “Shionogi Kanade”
Website “Shionogi Kanade Web”
