Fortune Magazine Touches on a Secret of Peter Rost’s Blog Success: Empathy

June 3, 2007
John Mack once suggested that some pharma bloggers write about Peter Rost in the hope of "riding in his wake," and increasing their own site traffic and links.  It might seem that way, but, let's face it. Rost has been one of the most enigmatic figures in the industry for quite a few years, and his story only continues to become more interesting.  The latest evidence?  Fortune just published a sympathetic, yet balanced piece on Rost and his blog.   Of course Rost's Question Authority is serving the public by calling attention to questionable industry marketing practices, but there's another reason why it is so effective: Empathy. I was glad that Fortune picked up on this, because empathy is what makes me want to read Question Authority. Between the "self marketing" posts that Fortune referred to (and that Mack had teased  Rost for---the marketing of the Question Authority clothing line, for example) and the rants against Pfizer, its CEO and management, Rost has listened to marginalized "outsiders on the inside"----whether Ashok Idnani of India, or "Jane Roe, "and brought their stories to the world.  For this alone, he deserves praise.  And there are, no doubt, many more stories out there waiting to be told. Rost may not have become a pharma CEO but has become something more interesting (More on critics who love pharma here) As Mack observed, Rost needs no promotion and most people surfing the Net will find his blog immediately.  But, like many others, I'll continue to post updates on his story---out of sheer interest, and  for some of our core readers who are distanced from marketing and corporate functions. Here's a link from his site to the Fortune article.
John Mack once suggested that some pharma bloggers write about Peter Rost in the hope of "riding in his wake," and increasing their own site traffic and links.  It might seem that way, but, let's face it. Rost has been one of the most enigmatic figures in the industry for quite a few years, and his story only continues to become more interesting.  The latest evidence?  Fortune just published a sympathetic, yet balanced piece on Rost and his blog.   Of course Rost's Question Authority is serving the public by calling attention to questionable industry marketing practices, but there's another reason why it is so effective: Empathy. I was glad that Fortune picked up on this, because empathy is what makes me want to read Question Authority. Between the "self marketing" posts that Fortune referred to (and that Mack had teased  Rost for---the marketing of the Question Authority clothing line, for example) and the rants against Pfizer, its CEO and management, Rost has listened to marginalized "outsiders on the inside"----whether Ashok Idnani of India, or "Jane Roe, "and brought their stories to the world.  For this alone, he deserves praise.  And there are, no doubt, many more stories out there waiting to be told. Rost may not have become a pharma CEO but has become something more interesting (More on critics who love pharma here) As Mack observed, Rost needs no promotion and most people surfing the Net will find his blog immediately.  But, like many others, I'll continue to post updates on his story---out of sheer interest, and  for some of our core readers who are distanced from marketing and corporate functions. Here's a link from his site to the Fortunearticle.
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