Case Study: Leading Pharmaceutical Company achieves deeper understanding of MS patients' emotional journey with Talkwalker

How a pharmaceutical company used social listening to empower patients

Convosphere, a social-first insights agency, partnered with Talkwalker to help a multinational pharmaceutical company better understand multiple sclerosis (MS) patients’ experiences. The challenge: patients, caregivers and HCPs increasingly use social media and forums for advice, so traditional surveys and focus groups weren’t capturing the emotional journey and real-world barriers patients face across diagnosis, treatment and management.

Convosphere used Talkwalker to collect and refine large social datasets (including first‑person posts and licensed HCP forums), then applied qualitative analysis with in‑country experts and Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions to map feelings at each stage of the patient journey. The work produced clear sentiment and emotion metrics (e.g., 31.2% positive, 54.6% neutral, 14.2% negative; top emotions: frustration, sadness, worry) and actionable insights on financial, social and care gaps — informing recommendations for clearer communication, better pre‑diagnosis support, trusted online community signposting, and improved access to treatments.