Marketing

First, Do No Harm

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

"As food companies look for ways to cash in on the nation's obsession with healthy eating, an increasing number are copying marketing tactics that long have been used by the pharmaceuticals industry: They are pitching their products directly to doctors. The hope is that doctors will start recommending specific foods - and even brand names - to patients," reports the Wall Street Journal.

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

Not Your Parents' Video Games

by Diane Farsetta — May 14, 2004 - 11:00pm

"To promote America's Army: Overmatch, a free game created by the Army as a recruitment tool, a group of Army Special Forces personnel staged an urban tactical assault exercise outside the [Los Angeles] convention center" hosting the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. The "helicopters, machine guns and face-painted soldiers leaping off tall buildings" startled and even "panicked" passersby. One retired Army major with the game project said: "This game is what we do in reality.

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Wired News, May 15, 2004

Hummer Bummers

by Diane Farsetta — May 10, 2004 - 11:00pm

Chrysler "is recalling more than 326,000 pickup trucks and Durango sport utility vehicles because of two potential safety problems," reports Reuters. Meanwhile, Hummer sales were down 21 percent in April, possibly due in part to "rising gasoline prices." General Motors is responding by "offering discounted financing on its Hummer H2, the icon of the market for supersize sport-utility vehicles," according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Reuters, May 11, 2004

Torture, Brand America and the Bottom Line

by Diane Farsetta — May 9, 2004 - 11:00pm

In its damning report, the Red Cross states that "physical and psychological coercion were used by [U.S.] military intelligence in a systematic way to gain confessions and extract information and other forms of cooperation" from Iraqi detainees.

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Associated Press, May 10, 2004

Big Pharma's Poison Pill

by Diane Farsetta — April 22, 2004 - 11:00pm

The British medical journal The Lancet published a review of "six published and six unpublished trials" studying antidepressant use by children that concluded that, in most cases, "the risks exceeded the benefits." More disturbingly, the review found evidence that pharmaceutical companies "had been aware of problems but did not reveal them." In a memo leaked last month from GlaxoSmithKline, the company warn

Main Source: 
Reuters, April 23, 2004

Baby, It's You

by Diane Farsetta — April 22, 2004 - 11:00pm

A survey of youth marketers, PR and advertising professionals found that, while respondents say children are "unable to make intelligent choices as consumers" until nearly 12 years old, it's OK to market to seven year olds. Just over 60 percent of those surveyed say advertising targets children at too young an age, but others feel "educational purposes" and brand loyalty justify targeting three year olds.

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PR Week, April 23, 2004

And Now, a Word from Our Earth Day Sponsor

by Diane Farsetta — April 21, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Through concerted marketing and public relations campaigns... 'greenwashers' attract eco-conscious consumers and push the notion that they don't need environmental regulations because they are already environmentally responsible.

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New York Times, April 22, 2004

A Not-So-Volunteer Force

by Diane Farsetta — April 14, 2004 - 11:00pm

In an official notice signaling their intention to launch a new "recruiting and advertising program to bolster and retain ranks in the U.S. Army," the Pentagon, Defense Contracting Command and Department of the Army observe that "the market dynamics recruiters continue to face are as challenging as any faced in the history of the All-Volunteer Force," according to O'Dwyer's PR Daily.

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O'Dwyer's PR Daily, April 15, 2004

Bad Times for Brand Martha

by Sheldon Rampton — March 25, 2004 - 8:19pm

"Company founders have long believed that placing their name on their company signals their willingness to stake their personal reputation and stand behind their products," observes the University of Pennsylvania's business school. "That's fine when things are going well and the company and the CEO whose name it bears are held in high regard. But what if the CEO falls from grace? What happens to a company if the CEO's name is in effect its brand o and then that name is tarnished?

Main Source: 
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/956.cfm

Jesus Advertised on My Hotrod

by Diane Farsetta — February 20, 2004 - 12:00am

Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of the Christ" is using a unique "surgical marketing campaign that has zeroed in on the Christian market and built a deafening buzz," according to the Wall Street Journal. "The promotional campaign got its start last year as Mr. Gibson hit the road and visited Christian leaders across America." Now, religious leaders are showing movie trailers and selling tickets to their congregations. But "passionate" marketing isn't just for churches.

Main Source: 
The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2004
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