Marketing

Post-Revolutionary Marketing

by Diane Farsetta — June 16, 2005 - 11:35am

One candidate in Iran's presidential election, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, "has done more than the others to market his particular presidential brand," writes Tehran-based design consultant Tori Egherman.

Main Source: 
MarketingProfs.com, June 14, 2005

The Drug Industry Gets a Dose of The Blues

by Bob Burton — June 8, 2005 - 2:10am
  • Topics: Health, Marketing, Public Relations

    • In the heart of Sydney's Ryde Valley - Australia's drug industry alley - fifty marketing managers and PR advisers from major drug companies, including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, pondered the industry's poor public standing.

    The drug industry representatives – used to hustling everything from drugs for guys struggling with their love life to cancer cures – were seriously depressed. "I am appalled by our reputation," Group Vice-President Far East Region for Schering Plough, Rod Unsworth, told a panel of industry heavy-hitters discussing "reputation management" at the third Australian Pharma Marketing Congress.

    Unsworth, who describes himself as a "passionate" supporter of the industry, bluntly told the mid-May gathering that the drug industry in Australia was way behind even the tobacco industry in its efforts to rebuild its political stocks.

    Unsworth warned the panel of the potentially fatal consequences of the Australian industry's defensive posture. "If we say we are going to just look after the opinion leaders and we don't give a damn about the public, we are dead. And if we let the debate be about price, we are dead," he said.

    Another Company that Just Needs to Tell Its Story Better

    by Diane Farsetta — June 3, 2005 - 4:12pm

    The drug company Merck is launching a $20 million, 6-month advertising campaign with the slogan "Merck.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, June 2, 2005

    Self-Hating Media Moguls Take More Airwaves

    by Diane Farsetta — June 1, 2005 - 9:30am

    "For weeks, it sounded as if amateurs had been bleeding their voices into the broadcasts of stations in Akron, Ohio, owned by Clear Channel, the corporate radio giant." The pirate broadcasters' website contained "a manifesto about 'corporate-controlled music playlists' that took potshots at several local Clear Channel stations." But it was all a Clear Channel marketing campaign, to promote an Akron station's switch to

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, May 30, 2005

    From Britain, with Love - and Focus Groups

    by Diane Farsetta — May 26, 2005 - 6:10pm

    The Iranian presidential campaign of Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, "a conservative former revolutionary guard air force commander whose candidacy has the blessing of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," is patterned after that of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, reports the Guardian.

    Main Source: 
    Guardian, May 25, 2005

    Advertainment Reigns

    by Diane Farsetta — May 26, 2005 - 11:33am

    Product placements on television shows are booming, with this year's market expected to total $4.2 billion. "Advertisers pay as much as $2 million an episode to get their products featured on NBC's 'The Apprentice,'" reports the Los Angeles Times. At the TV industry's annual sales drive, actor Amanda Bynes of WB's "What I Like About You" said of her show's characters, "This season we found out, like, they eat Pringles and use Herbal Essence shampoo.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2005

    BP: Beyond Published Criticism

    by Diane Farsetta — May 24, 2005 - 11:54am

    Like General Motors and Morgan Stanley, the energy company BP "has adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward negative editorial coverage." BP's media buyer, the WPP firm MindShare, now "demands that ad-accepting publications inform BP in advance of any news text or visuals they plan to publish that directly mention the company, a competitor or the oil-and-energy industry" and give BP "the option

    Main Source: 
    Advertising Age, May 24, 2005

    The Passion of Fake Radio News

    by Diane Farsetta — May 23, 2005 - 2:56pm

    "Back when Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ' was arousing passions nationwide, a promotion packet arrived at local public radio station KAZU," writes Karen Ravn in California. It included "a transcript of questions an enterprising reporter might want to ask Jim Caviezel, the movie's star," and "a CD of Caviezel-recorded answers." As KAZU's news director at the time, Bernhard Drax, described, "The transcript would say, 'Hi, Jim, how are you?' and on the CD, Jim would say, 'I'm fine.

    Main Source: 
    Monterey County Herald (California), May 21, 2005

    Stormin' Morgan Joins Ad Bullies' League

    by Diane Farsetta — May 19, 2005 - 2:45pm

    "Morgan Stanley, whose battle with unhappy shareholders has played out on the business pages, is warning prominent newspapers that it could pull its advertising if it objects to articles." Morgan Stanley's new ad policy says the company "must be notified" of any "objectionable editorial coverage," so that a "last-minute change" in its advertising can be made. If notification is impossible, the policy directs all ads to be canceled, "for a minimum of 48 hours," reports Advertising Age.

    Main Source: 
    Reuters, May 19, 2005
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