Have you heard about the new Novo Nordisk Twitter page? It’s been the talk of the pharmaceutical marketing world for a few weeks now. Released in mid July, the page currently has 517 followers. It’s tweeted by a real-life celebrity with diabetes—race car driver, Charlie Kimball, and borders between slightly interesting and plainly obvious marketing jargon. Therein lies the problem. Charlie tweets about 5 times a day… chronicling his travels, races, and daily life. But he never forgets to mention when he’s taking his Novo Nordisk medication and where followers can buy it. It’s a very stale marketing voice, day after day after day. Not very authentic or connective—the whole purpose for a brand to use Twitter. Okay, so I agree, it’s an historic use of platform, being that Novo Nordisk is the first branded pharma page in the history of Twitter, but I’m not sure it’s making the most of it. Nothing is there to engage followers, and it’s not all that personal. Charlie is a real-life person who, I assume, Novo Nordisk hired as an individual that other people with diabetes can relate to and share their experiences with. I don’t see any of that happening, and it’s almost been up for a month now. So even though it’s great to see pharma companies using Twitter as a branded marketing tool, this one doesn’t hit the mark. Novo Nordisk needs to back off and let Charlie do his thing, without getting involved in his story. And Charlie needs to expose a bit more of himself: “In Iowa… It is very hot and humid” is just downright boring and has nothing to do with why people are following a sports celebrity succeeding in life with diabetes. Let’s get personal, Charlie.