Marketing

Green but Not Proud of It

by Judith Siers-Poisson — December 6, 2007 - 5:52pm

It doesn't pay to be green if you're a retailer, at least according to the Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at research firm NPD Group.

Main Source: 
Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog, November 30, 2007

That's Infotainment!

by Diane Farsetta — December 4, 2007 - 11:38am

"Product placement is hardly a new phenomenon, and the morning [U.S. television] shows long ago mastered the quid pro quo of daily television: Actors give interviews timed to their latest projects; authors are recruited as experts just as their books hit the stores," writes Alessandra Stanley. "But the fourth hour of 'Today' has tipped the balance of the program. ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, December 4, 2007

Hockey Team Marketers Keep Track of Media "Penalties"

by Diane Farsetta — December 3, 2007 - 4:36pm

As Boston magazine reporter John Gonzalez worked on a profile of Jeremy Jacobs, the executive vice president of the Bruins ice hockey team, "Jacobs's apprehension about the piece appeared only to grow. The day after the story went to press, a lawyer retained by Jacobs sent us a letter inquiring about some of the sources for the article," writes Gonzalez.

Main Source: 
Boston Daily (Boston magazine blog), November 29, 2007

Amgen Website Invites Testimonials, Posts Off-Label Claims By Patients

by Paul Goldberg — November 19, 2007 - 2:28am
  • Topics: Astroturf, Internet, Ethics, Lobbying, Marketing, Pharmaceuticals

    • To mobilize elderly Americans in an effort to overturn the new Medicare coverage policy for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs, which boost red blood cell production), Amgen Inc. appears to have borrowed a strategy from the purveyors of alternative medicine.

    The company launched a "Protect Cancer Patients" website, where visitors were invited to submit testimonials about the healing powers of ESAs. Also, they could contact members of Congress, or review the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services coverage decision and the House and Senate resolutions to vacate it.

    Though the Internet designation ".org" suggests that the site is operated by an advocacy group, the "privacy policy" section notes that "this site is owned and operated by Amgen Inc." and can be used for communications with the company.

    On the home page, the site is described as "online headquarters of a national campaign to protect cancer patients on Medicare from a decision denying them ... coverage for needed medicines."

    "Amgen's mission is to serve patients, which is why we openly support the Protect Cancer Patients website," Kelley Davenport, an Amgen spokesman, said in an email. "The site educates cancer patients on Medicare and their caregivers about a Medicare policy that impacts cancer patients, so that their voices and concerns are heard by government policymakers.

    Ethanol Industry Fuels New Ad Campaign

    by Diane Farsetta — November 5, 2007 - 4:43pm

    "Renewable Fuels Now," a new ethanol industry group, "plans a splashy ad campaign next week that will appear in popular Capitol Hill publications, including The Hill and Roll Call," reports Lauren Etter. The group, which counts the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association among its members, has hired the PR firm Manning Selvage & Lee.

    Main Source: 
    Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), November 3, 2007

    Blackwater's Repositioning, Real and Imagined

    by Diane Farsetta — October 31, 2007 - 5:04pm

    As investigations into its shootings of Iraqi civilians continue, the private military contractor Blackwater USA is softening its public image. "The company's roughneck logo — a bear's paw print in a red crosshairs, under lettering that looks to have been ripped from a fifth of Jim Beam — has undergone a publicity-conscious, corporate scrubbing," reports Paul Von Zielbauer.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, October 22, 2007
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