Marketing

Market Share Erodes for Brand America

by Sheldon Rampton — November 1, 2004 - 12:00am

Two recent studies of international opinion have found a drop in williness to buy products from American companies. "People felt exploited by global expansion, inundated by our entertainment products, and put off by our arrogance," reports Kristina Sacci. Within the past two years, she notes, "the number of consumers who use U.S. products from companies such as Microsoft and McDonald's had dropped to 27% from 30%. Non-U.S.

Main Source: 
Fast Company, November 2004

Junk Mailers Meet Ms. Brand America

by Sheldon Rampton — October 18, 2004 - 11:00pm

Last year, former advertising executive Charlotte Beersresigned from her job as head of a U.S. State Department effort to improve America's image in the Middle East. This week she spoke to another group with image problems - direct marketers, the people who send you junk mail and other unwanted commercial solicitations. Beers gave them the same advice she gave "brand America": they should "tell positive stories about what direct marketing is about."

Main Source: 
DM News, October 19, 2004

Fake Blogs, True Buzz

by Sheldon Rampton — October 8, 2004 - 11:00pm

To market a new video game, Sega built a PR campaign around a hoax. It created a weblog whose host called himself "Beta-7" and claimed that the game caused him to suffer blackouts and uncontrollable fits of violence. In reality, "Beta-7" was a fictional character, invented by the Portland, Oregon advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy.

Main Source: 
(registration required) Chicago Tribune, October 9, 2004

The Right Angle

by Sheldon Rampton — September 2, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Stephan Savoia glowed about the picture he would take at the end of the Republican National Convention," writes Karen Brown Dunlap. "He planned it hours before the President's speech by suspending a camera high in Madison Square Garden for the right angle. He imagined the beauty of the moment, but he also growled in anger. 'The picture will be exactly what the White House wanted,' he said. It would show President George W.

Main Source: 
Poynter Online, September 3, 2004

A Herculean Effort to Get Your Gold

by Diane Farsetta — August 15, 2004 - 11:00pm

"An event once notable for celebrating the spirit of amateurism has achieved an almost unimaginable level of crass commercialism," writes PR commentator Paul Holmes. The Olympics' organizers "are clamping down on anything that might allow TV audiences a glimpse of a non-sponsor's logo. People carrying bottles of Pepsi (or any bottled water not made by Coca-Cola) will have them confiscated ...

Main Source: 
PR Week (reg. req'd), August 16, 2004

Hacking Young Minds

by Diane Farsetta — August 12, 2004 - 11:00pm

The Business Software Alliance's "copyright-crusading cartoon ferret" appears in "marketing campaigns to teach kids to be good cybercitizens," and its "antipiracy comic book and teacher's guide" is mailed to grade-school classrooms.

Main Source: 
Wired News, August 13, 2004

Have a Gram, Don't Give a Damn!

by Diane Farsetta — June 7, 2004 - 11:00pm

"The leading drug-industry trade group and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are working ... to demonstrate the cost of depression in the workplace and to show employers that treating affected workers would improve the bottom line," reports The Hill.

Main Source: 
The Hill, June 8, 2004

Big Money, Bad Medicine

by Diane Farsetta — June 3, 2004 - 11:00pm

"It's been pretty well established that publication bias is associated with industry funding," says Brown University epidemiologist Kay Dickersin, about drug companies squashing unfavorable research results. Yet the "overwhelming majority" of drug researchers receive industry funding, according to Canadian clinical pharmacist Muhammad Mamdani.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2004

Sweet Smelling Ash

by Diane Farsetta — June 2, 2004 - 11:00pm

British American Tobacco is carrying out animal tests on chocolate, wine, sherry, cocoa, corn syrup, cherry juice, maple syrup and vanilla-flavored tobacco. Former British health secretary Frank Dobson remarked, "We all know that hardly anyone takes up smoking when they are grown up. That is why the tobacco industry wants to target children [with flavored tobacco]." Flavored cigarettes, which were first sold by R.J.

Main Source: 
Independent (UK), June 3, 2004

Brand Name: "War President"

by Diane Farsetta — May 24, 2004 - 11:00pm

How is Bush-Cheney '04 like a marketing campaign? "In 2000, Mr. Bush shattered fund-raising records... by recruiting supporters to join a program called the Pioneers, fund-raisers who pledged to raise at least $100,000.

Main Source: 
The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2004
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