Marketing

Sneaky Manufacturers Shrink Packaging, While Keeping Prices the Same

by Anne Landman — November 17, 2008 - 3:32pm

Prices of your favorite grocery items are skyrocketing, but you probably don't know it.

Main Source: 
CBS5.com (KPIX, San Francisco), November 17, 2008

U.S. Army Recruiting Gets Younger and Less Violent

by Diane Farsetta — November 12, 2008 - 5:33pm

For years, military recruiters have focused on adult "influencers" -- parents, teachers and coaches who could encourage or discourage a young person from joining the military. Now, the U.S.

Main Source: 
New York Times, November 10, 2008

Advertisers Elect Obama "Marketer of the Year" for 2008

by Anne Landman — November 7, 2008 - 1:34pm

Barack Obama has been named Advertising Age's 2008 Marketer of the Year for the simplicity, consistency and relevance of his campaign.

Main Source: 
Advertising Age, November 5, 2008

When Pink Becomes Deadly: Virginia Slims' New, Pink "Purse Pack"

by Anne Landman — November 5, 2008 - 4:15pm

Philip Morris (PM) hopes to make cigarettes even more appealing to women by introducing a new, pink "purse pack" of its Virginia Slims brand in the fi

Main Source: 
MarketWatch, October 30, 2008

Marketing Through the Looking Glass

by Diane Farsetta — November 5, 2008 - 1:23pm

"'Brand integration' and 'immersive' commercial environments" are becoming more commonplace, as the range of media formats and platforms widens and viewers can increasingly avoid commercials, reports Gloria Goodale. This "blurring of story and selling" goes beyond traditional product placement.

Main Source: 
Christian Science Monitor, November 3, 2008

Health Warning Labels Make People Want to Smoke

by Anne Landman — October 24, 2008 - 2:32pm

A three-year, $7 million neuromarketing study done in Oxford, England has found that cigarette health warning labels actually make smokers want to smoke more, not less. Neuromarketing research studies how the brain reacts to various types of marketing stimuli.

Main Source: 
Advertising Age, October 21, 2008

US Navy's Elite Force Seals Deal for an Image Upgrade

by Diane Farsetta — October 16, 2008 - 11:38am

The U.S. Navy Seals have hired Gallup Consulting on a $500,000 contract, to help the force "develop a new branding and marketing strategy," reports PR Week. Gallup will write a two-year marketing plan for the Seals, including the "development of market segmentation, target candidate profiles, key marketing messages, competitive analysis, and positioning." One of the contract's goals is to increase recruitment. The U.S.

Main Source: 
PR Week, October 2, 2008

Another Attempt to Change Brand Israel

by Diane Farsetta — October 8, 2008 - 3:32pm

The British "country brand capital development" firm Acanchi is crafting a "new image" for Israel. "Our research shows that Israel's brand is essentially the [Israel-Palestine] conflict," explained Israeli Foreign Ministry official Ido Aharoni.

Main Source: 
Haaretz (Israel), October 5, 2008

Will Marketers Say: Save the Planet, Buy Less Stuff?

by Diane Farsetta — September 24, 2008 - 4:07pm

"The ultimate selling proposition might just be saving the planet," said International Advertising Association (IAA) executive director Michael Lee.

Main Source: 
AdWeek, September 22, 2008

Stealth Marketers Gone Wild: Will the FCC Act?

by Diane Farsetta — September 23, 2008 - 2:21pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Children, Fake TV News, Marketing, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • One of my favorite critiques of our ad-saturated modern world is in "Infinite Jest," the epic novel by recently-departed author and essayist David Foster Wallace. In the novel's not-too-distant future, time itself has become a corporate marketing opportunity. There's the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar and the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. That's not to mention the Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile, which is often abbreviated.

    The novel's system of Subsidized Time is hilarious ... and you can almost imagine it really happening. At least corporate-sponsored years wouldn't present the disclosure problems of today's stealth ads -- marketing messages that masquerade as entertainment or news content.

    The Center for Media and Democracy believes that all advertising should be as clearly announced as the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar. That's why we just filed a comment with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is debating how its sponsorship identification rules apply to product placement, product integration and other types of "embedded advertising" relayed over television or radio stations.

    In 2003, Commercial Alert urged the FCC to address product placement disclosure. "Advertisers can puff and tout, and use all the many tricks of their trade," the watchdog group wrote (pdf). "But they must not pretend that their ads are something else."

    Especially, we would add, when that "something else" is news programming.

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