Two new books to add to your marketing bookshelf:
Buying In:
The Secret Dialogue
Between What We Buy
and Who We Are
By Rob Walker
Random House; 291pp; $25
Obsessive Branding Disorder:
The Illusion of Business
and The Business of Illusion
By Lucas Conley
PublicAffairs; 230pp; $22.95
I was first amused and then slightly alarmed when my daughter came home from preschool and asked if I would put a Go-Gurt in her lunch for the next day. One of her older friends, an alpha-girl, had been buzzing about the yogurt you squeeze out of a tube. At five, she was already a trendsetter; at three, my daughter was eager to follow.
My girl's request—fleeting, trivial, and unrepeated—nonetheless says something profound about our high-impact, omni-consuming culture. But what? Is she—are we all—just easy marks? Or is there a more complex dynamic between the marketer and the mark? Rob Walker, the author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, argues for the latter view. Walker, who writes the "Consumed" column in The New York Times Magazine, offers a sophisticated and sometimes lighthearted take on how consumers interact with brands, defining and controlling them as companies struggle to keep up. By contrast, Lucas Conley, a contributing writer for Fast Company, takes a grimmer view. His book, Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and The Business of Illusion, is a bleak assessment of how defenseless we are against ad creep, as he calls it. Walker might have been amused at my daughter's request. Conley definitely would have been alarmed.
Walker begins by introducing the concept of "murketing," the ambiguous relationship that exists between the consumer and the consumed. He argues that it is defined by neither unblinking acceptance nor wholesale rejection of brands or advertising, but rather by the public's frank complicity with them. His coinage is unfortunate, but the point is well-taken. The oft-repeated notion that brands are dead, that advertising doesn't work, simply doesn't jibe with our daily experience. Employing lively reporting, Walker shows how just about everyone from Timberland (TBL)-boot-wearing hip-hoppers to Method-dish-soap-using homemakers is embracing and transforming brands. Moreover, he demonstrates how closely intertwined brands have become with our identities. As he says of Generation Y, supposedly immune to branding after growing up saturated with it: "What's striking about contemporary youth is not that they are somehow brandproof, but that they take for granted the idea that a brand is as good a piece of raw identity material as anything else."
In one of Walker's most interesting sections, he describes the "fresh frontier of murketing—the commercialization of chitchat." In 2001 a marketer named Dave Balter founded a company called BzzAgent with the idea of developing a network of volunteers who would get points for spreading "honest word of mouth" about the new products sold by BzzAgent's corporate clients. The volunteers could cash in their points for all kinds of cool products. It turned out to be pretty easy to recruit "agents." What surprised Balter was how few of them took advantage of the rewards program. Apparently they were satisfied with being considered trendsetters by colleagues, friends, and family. Walker concludes: "The existence of tens of thousands of volunteer marketing agents' raises a surprising possibility—that we have already met the new hidden persuaders, and they are us."
This is just what worries Conley in Obsessive Branding Disorder. He runs through the many old and new ways companies market to us: via product placement, perfume-scented cards in magazines, and more. They even do neuroscientific research into how people respond to stimuli. Conley also airs a litany of complaints about excessive branding that can be condensed into two: It is bad for companies, which are "abandoning the trusty, dusty principles of business—innovative products, good service, [and] solid management." And it's bad for the public, since we "grow skeptical of one another as we try to determine what we're being sold."
If you think, as Conley does, that we consumers are a passive, easily-conned lot, then it would be hard to conclude otherwise. I prefer Walker's more optimistic view. But I did nix my daughter's request for the Go-Gurt.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Airline Marketing
I just got this in my e-mail inbox and thought it was interesting. I am very interested to see how this partnership shakes out from a consumer standpoint or if it'll be business as usual at UAl and Continental.
As a valued Mileage Plus member, we wanted you to be among the first to hear that Continental and United today announced plans to cooperate globally, linking our networks and services worldwide to deliver new benefits to you. In addition, Continental plans to join United in the Star Alliance®, the most comprehensive airline alliance in the world.
Once implemented, this new partnership, will easily enable you to take advantage of the resources of both airlines to enhance your overall travel experience, and receive more value from your Mileage Plus membership.
First and foremost, this partnership will include new frequent flier reciprocity that will enable you to earn miles when flying on either airline and redeem awards on both carriers. Travel on either carrier will count toward earning elite status. Similarly, members of either airline's airport lounge program will have access to both Continental's Presidents Club network and United's Red Carpet Club® lounges.
Second, together with Continental, we will be able to offer you a more comprehensive domestic route network and together with our Star Alliance partners, greater choice of service throughout the entire world.
Starting in the U.S., you are going to see United and Continental develop extensive code-sharing that will facilitate travel whenever your itinerary involves both carriers. We will be able to provide you with a coordinated process for reservations/ticketing, check-in, flight connections and baggage transfer.
Internationally, Continental and United will establish joint ventures that will allow us to cooperate with each other and with other Star Alliance airlines throughout the world. These joint ventures will enable us to provide you with highly competitive flight schedules, fares and service to more destinations than we do today.
In short, once regulatory approval is obtained, this new partnership between United and Continental will expand your choice of flights and destinations, and improve your ability to earn both miles and elite status in Mileage Plus. Together we will offer you more value whenever you fly. We expect to bring you the benefits of our cooperation starting some time in 2009, and until then, we will keep you informed about our progress.
As a valued Mileage Plus member, we wanted you to be among the first to hear that Continental and United today announced plans to cooperate globally, linking our networks and services worldwide to deliver new benefits to you. In addition, Continental plans to join United in the Star Alliance®, the most comprehensive airline alliance in the world.
Once implemented, this new partnership, will easily enable you to take advantage of the resources of both airlines to enhance your overall travel experience, and receive more value from your Mileage Plus membership.
First and foremost, this partnership will include new frequent flier reciprocity that will enable you to earn miles when flying on either airline and redeem awards on both carriers. Travel on either carrier will count toward earning elite status. Similarly, members of either airline's airport lounge program will have access to both Continental's Presidents Club network and United's Red Carpet Club® lounges.
Second, together with Continental, we will be able to offer you a more comprehensive domestic route network and together with our Star Alliance partners, greater choice of service throughout the entire world.
Starting in the U.S., you are going to see United and Continental develop extensive code-sharing that will facilitate travel whenever your itinerary involves both carriers. We will be able to provide you with a coordinated process for reservations/ticketing, check-in, flight connections and baggage transfer.
Internationally, Continental and United will establish joint ventures that will allow us to cooperate with each other and with other Star Alliance airlines throughout the world. These joint ventures will enable us to provide you with highly competitive flight schedules, fares and service to more destinations than we do today.
In short, once regulatory approval is obtained, this new partnership between United and Continental will expand your choice of flights and destinations, and improve your ability to earn both miles and elite status in Mileage Plus. Together we will offer you more value whenever you fly. We expect to bring you the benefits of our cooperation starting some time in 2009, and until then, we will keep you informed about our progress.
One More Blow to Telemarketing
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to rule in favor of cable companies against Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) in a dispute about Verizon's practices for retaining customers.
The vote, which is expected to occur Friday, would overturn a decision by the FCC's staff-level enforcement bureau, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
At issue is Verizon's practice of calling its customers who ask to cancel their telephone service, and offering them incentives to stay, rather than switching to cable telephone service.
Bright House Networks, a privately-owned cable company, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), and Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) filed a complaint with the FCC about the practice, saying Verizon was improperly using proprietary information in attempting to retain its customers.
The FCC's enforcement bureau recommended earlier this year that the complaint be dismissed.
In addition to reversing the staff-level decision, the vote in favor of the cable companies would buck FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who recommended to the five-member commission that they dismiss the cable company's complaint.
One FCC source said the vote is surprising because the two other Republicans on the commission generally side with Martin in taking a deregulatory approach.
Martin considers the practice of "retention marketing" to be good for consumers because it gives them more information about their options.
People at the commission who disagree with Martin plan to cite a 1998 FCC ruling that barred long-distance carriers from using customers' switching information when trying to get them to retain a particular service.
Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke echoed Martin's arguments Thursday. "It's hard to believe a majority of the FCC believes consumers have real choice if people only get information from the cable company," he said.
Verizon said it will likely appeal the decision, arguing in court that it is in full compliance with FCC's rules and that being barred from the practice would impede its First Amendment rights.
Comcast declined to comment. Spokesmen for Time Warner and Bright House didn't return calls for comment.
The vote, which is expected to occur Friday, would overturn a decision by the FCC's staff-level enforcement bureau, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
At issue is Verizon's practice of calling its customers who ask to cancel their telephone service, and offering them incentives to stay, rather than switching to cable telephone service.
Bright House Networks, a privately-owned cable company, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), and Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) filed a complaint with the FCC about the practice, saying Verizon was improperly using proprietary information in attempting to retain its customers.
The FCC's enforcement bureau recommended earlier this year that the complaint be dismissed.
In addition to reversing the staff-level decision, the vote in favor of the cable companies would buck FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who recommended to the five-member commission that they dismiss the cable company's complaint.
One FCC source said the vote is surprising because the two other Republicans on the commission generally side with Martin in taking a deregulatory approach.
Martin considers the practice of "retention marketing" to be good for consumers because it gives them more information about their options.
People at the commission who disagree with Martin plan to cite a 1998 FCC ruling that barred long-distance carriers from using customers' switching information when trying to get them to retain a particular service.
Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke echoed Martin's arguments Thursday. "It's hard to believe a majority of the FCC believes consumers have real choice if people only get information from the cable company," he said.
Verizon said it will likely appeal the decision, arguing in court that it is in full compliance with FCC's rules and that being barred from the practice would impede its First Amendment rights.
Comcast declined to comment. Spokesmen for Time Warner and Bright House didn't return calls for comment.
Hershey Kisses
Faced with competing against a combined Mars-Wrigley, candymaker Hershey Co. said Tuesday it will pour money into marketing its biggest brands to invigorate stagnant sales in the slow-growing U.S. market.
However, the president and CEO of the company behind Hershey's Kisses and Reese's would not give any hint at an investor meeting in New York as to whether the largest U.S. candymaker is looking into a deal with Cadbury PLC. Some analysts expect Hershey to seek such a move to keep pace with Mars Inc., its closest competitor in the chocolate sector.
Hershey will consider the right acquisition if it comes along, CEO David J. West said, and is actively looking at entering more fast-growing foreign markets, such as Russia.
For the time being, Hershey will boost advertising by at least 20 percent in both 2008 and 2009, focusing the money on core brands that generate about 60 percent of the company's domestic sales.
"We are more confident than ever that our core U.S. business can grow," West said.
Today in Business with Reuters
Prosecutors build Bear Stearns case on e-mailsChina sharply raises energy pricesBush faces battle to lift offshore drilling ban, despite high fuel prices
He also said the Hershey, Pennsylvania-based company's extensive customer research showed that 25 percent of customers leave candy aisles without buying, which he said represents a huge opportunity for Hershey to add sales if it can help customers find what they're looking for faster.
In April, the privately held Mars, which makes Snickers and M&Ms, said it is buying mint and gum company Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Hershey sales stagnated in 2006 after it slashed its marketing budget, and Mars began taking away market share. Hershey's efforts to right itself have been complicated by spiraling commodity costs, which West said will be the company's biggest challenge in 2009.
Hershey reaffirmed its 2008 earnings outlook, expecting earnings of $1.85 to $1.90 per share and sales to rise 3 to 4 percent during the year.
Over the long term, Hershey said it has a long-term sales growth of 3 to 5 percent and earnings per share growth of 6 to 8 percent.
Its shares fell 50 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $35.37 in midday trading.
However, the president and CEO of the company behind Hershey's Kisses and Reese's would not give any hint at an investor meeting in New York as to whether the largest U.S. candymaker is looking into a deal with Cadbury PLC. Some analysts expect Hershey to seek such a move to keep pace with Mars Inc., its closest competitor in the chocolate sector.
Hershey will consider the right acquisition if it comes along, CEO David J. West said, and is actively looking at entering more fast-growing foreign markets, such as Russia.
For the time being, Hershey will boost advertising by at least 20 percent in both 2008 and 2009, focusing the money on core brands that generate about 60 percent of the company's domestic sales.
"We are more confident than ever that our core U.S. business can grow," West said.
Today in Business with Reuters
Prosecutors build Bear Stearns case on e-mailsChina sharply raises energy pricesBush faces battle to lift offshore drilling ban, despite high fuel prices
He also said the Hershey, Pennsylvania-based company's extensive customer research showed that 25 percent of customers leave candy aisles without buying, which he said represents a huge opportunity for Hershey to add sales if it can help customers find what they're looking for faster.
In April, the privately held Mars, which makes Snickers and M&Ms, said it is buying mint and gum company Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Hershey sales stagnated in 2006 after it slashed its marketing budget, and Mars began taking away market share. Hershey's efforts to right itself have been complicated by spiraling commodity costs, which West said will be the company's biggest challenge in 2009.
Hershey reaffirmed its 2008 earnings outlook, expecting earnings of $1.85 to $1.90 per share and sales to rise 3 to 4 percent during the year.
Over the long term, Hershey said it has a long-term sales growth of 3 to 5 percent and earnings per share growth of 6 to 8 percent.
Its shares fell 50 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $35.37 in midday trading.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Viral Video Gone Wild
Viral Marketing is the new buzz word among us marketers. But when does it go too far? Well, I can't answer that question of precisely when it happens, but I know that this went too far. This company alleges that the radio activity from a cell phone can pop popcorn and as such a blue tooth is more safe. Granted, the company never reveals itself or the product it is trying to sell.
In my opinion, it's just dumb marketing. Sure, people are talking about the video, which I refuse to give any more publicity by including a link to it, and visiting their site, but I don;'t think that people are stupid enough to believe this marketing hoax and even if they did, I wouldn't patronize a company that uses fear to try to make me buy a product.
Can popcorn be cooked using a mobile phone, or has the internet fallen victim to another viral marketing trick?
Home-made videos appearing to show corn being popped by the heat given off by ringing mobile phones are getting hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
The four clips, all of which were posted in the last few days, show corn kernels exploding after just a few seconds of being surrounded by ringing phones.
Despite the scientific impossibility of the stunt – mobile phones do not produce anywhere near enough heat to cook popcorn – some YouTube commenters appear convinced that the clips provide more evidence of the dangers of technology.
Most bloggers who have watched the videos agree that they are hoaxes, but opinion is divided about how and why they were staged.
Suspicion that they are part of a viral advertising campaign has been fuelled by similarities between the clips, and evidence that their amateurish, home-made feel is contrived.
“Each of the three videos have a similar stagey look and feel with three or four people sitting around a table,” commented Steve Bass on his PC World blog.
“The table is adorned with an assortment of props and the walls have the same off-white, creamy color. The camera's jerky style is the same.”
Despite apparently being filmed by groups of friends in different countries - including the US, France and Japan - the clips were all posted by the same YouTube user, who set up his account last week and has posted no other videos.
But if it is a viral marketing stunt, there is confusion about who could be behind it.
“Would any phone company actually contract videos like these?” asked the US media blog Gawker.
“Can you sell phones by convincing stupid people that they'll fry their brains?
“Seems a bit counterproductive, but I'll admit it would be satisfying to see this uncovered as history's worst viral campaign.”
In my opinion, it's just dumb marketing. Sure, people are talking about the video, which I refuse to give any more publicity by including a link to it, and visiting their site, but I don;'t think that people are stupid enough to believe this marketing hoax and even if they did, I wouldn't patronize a company that uses fear to try to make me buy a product.
Can popcorn be cooked using a mobile phone, or has the internet fallen victim to another viral marketing trick?
Home-made videos appearing to show corn being popped by the heat given off by ringing mobile phones are getting hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
The four clips, all of which were posted in the last few days, show corn kernels exploding after just a few seconds of being surrounded by ringing phones.
Despite the scientific impossibility of the stunt – mobile phones do not produce anywhere near enough heat to cook popcorn – some YouTube commenters appear convinced that the clips provide more evidence of the dangers of technology.
Most bloggers who have watched the videos agree that they are hoaxes, but opinion is divided about how and why they were staged.
Suspicion that they are part of a viral advertising campaign has been fuelled by similarities between the clips, and evidence that their amateurish, home-made feel is contrived.
“Each of the three videos have a similar stagey look and feel with three or four people sitting around a table,” commented Steve Bass on his PC World blog.
“The table is adorned with an assortment of props and the walls have the same off-white, creamy color. The camera's jerky style is the same.”
Despite apparently being filmed by groups of friends in different countries - including the US, France and Japan - the clips were all posted by the same YouTube user, who set up his account last week and has posted no other videos.
But if it is a viral marketing stunt, there is confusion about who could be behind it.
“Would any phone company actually contract videos like these?” asked the US media blog Gawker.
“Can you sell phones by convincing stupid people that they'll fry their brains?
“Seems a bit counterproductive, but I'll admit it would be satisfying to see this uncovered as history's worst viral campaign.”
Monday, June 16, 2008
Proving the worth of PR
Measuring PR success by column inches is old hat – welcome to a new analysis
Monday, 16 June 2008
So where to pitch a story? The increasingly sophisticated science of tracking and monitoring media coverage has decreed that the Edinburgh Evening News, closely followed by the Daily Star, is the news outlet most likely to run a favourable article.
And in spite of the rottweiler reputation of John Humphrys, BBC Radio 4 comes next, ahead of the Aberdeen Press & Journal, The Scotsman and the Daily Record, an indication, perhaps, that Scottish journalists are less hostile than others in the British media.
At the other end of the scale are the International Herald Tribune, the Norfolk-based Eastern Daily Press, the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, as the titles most likely to run a hostile piece.
At least this is the claim of a Media Evaluation & PR Benchmarking Report by Metrica, an exercise that reflects the increasing sophistication of the public relations industry in tracking the impact of its collective efforts. Based on the experiences of 700 organisations, ranging from public bodies to charities and financial companies, it is an analysis of more than three million press articles and items of broadcast news from the past decade.
It finds that newspapers such as The Sun, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express are more likely to take a positive angle than quality titles such as The Independent and the Financial Times. It also reports that, contrary to notions that some chief executives might have, the overwhelming majority of coverage is positive. In daily national newspapers, 90 per cent of articles are designated "favourable" to the organisation mentioned, rising to 97 per cent for items on local radio and local television stations. On average, a UK organisation will enjoy 492 mentions across national and regional media in a typical month, reaching an audience of 16.6 million (35 per cent of the population). Metrica judges less than 8 per cent of all coverage to be "strongly unfavourable".
The report states that: "This empirical evidence flies in the face of general anecdotal feeling that the media tends to promote more "sensationalist" coverage which by its nature is more likely to be negative".
This is not to say that the news media is being tamed – the proportion of "unfavourable coverage" has doubled from 4.3 per cent in 2001 to 7.8 per cent in 2007 – a trend that Metrica assigns to "the increasing competitiveness of the media in the last few years".
What is clear is that the PR industry's impact is huge, with no less than 42 per cent of articles conveying a "key message" from the organisation featured.
The picture is not uniform and some clients will inevitably represent a greater challenge to their PRs than others. The financial sector (15 per cent of stories unfavourable) had a disproportionately bad press in 2007, partly due to the deteriorating economic environment. Technology and telecoms companies find it most difficult to translate their "key messages" into stories that PRs can pitch to journalists.
But the growth of online news has led to a trend that Metrica terms "Haste and Paste", where time-poor websites will automatically publish an organisation's message and a quote from its spokesperson. "High message delivery and spokespeople mentions suggest the emergence of a copy and paste publishing trend in online media," says the report.
The analytical approach of Metrica, and other companies such as Echo Research, Media Measurement Limited, Media Evaluation Research and Precise Media, is challenging the traditional PR measure of advertising value equivalent (AVE), which compared a piece of editorial to the cost of a similarly-sized advertisement.
Claire O'Sullivan, Metrica's associate director, says: "Using an AVE to measure how effective PR has been is like using a thermometer to measure speed – it's the wrong tool. The appropriate way to measure PR is to assemble a dashboard of measures relevant to an organisation's communications objectives – for example, which key messages are reaching which audience and how many times."
Monday, 16 June 2008
So where to pitch a story? The increasingly sophisticated science of tracking and monitoring media coverage has decreed that the Edinburgh Evening News, closely followed by the Daily Star, is the news outlet most likely to run a favourable article.
And in spite of the rottweiler reputation of John Humphrys, BBC Radio 4 comes next, ahead of the Aberdeen Press & Journal, The Scotsman and the Daily Record, an indication, perhaps, that Scottish journalists are less hostile than others in the British media.
At the other end of the scale are the International Herald Tribune, the Norfolk-based Eastern Daily Press, the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, as the titles most likely to run a hostile piece.
At least this is the claim of a Media Evaluation & PR Benchmarking Report by Metrica, an exercise that reflects the increasing sophistication of the public relations industry in tracking the impact of its collective efforts. Based on the experiences of 700 organisations, ranging from public bodies to charities and financial companies, it is an analysis of more than three million press articles and items of broadcast news from the past decade.
It finds that newspapers such as The Sun, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express are more likely to take a positive angle than quality titles such as The Independent and the Financial Times. It also reports that, contrary to notions that some chief executives might have, the overwhelming majority of coverage is positive. In daily national newspapers, 90 per cent of articles are designated "favourable" to the organisation mentioned, rising to 97 per cent for items on local radio and local television stations. On average, a UK organisation will enjoy 492 mentions across national and regional media in a typical month, reaching an audience of 16.6 million (35 per cent of the population). Metrica judges less than 8 per cent of all coverage to be "strongly unfavourable".
The report states that: "This empirical evidence flies in the face of general anecdotal feeling that the media tends to promote more "sensationalist" coverage which by its nature is more likely to be negative".
This is not to say that the news media is being tamed – the proportion of "unfavourable coverage" has doubled from 4.3 per cent in 2001 to 7.8 per cent in 2007 – a trend that Metrica assigns to "the increasing competitiveness of the media in the last few years".
What is clear is that the PR industry's impact is huge, with no less than 42 per cent of articles conveying a "key message" from the organisation featured.
The picture is not uniform and some clients will inevitably represent a greater challenge to their PRs than others. The financial sector (15 per cent of stories unfavourable) had a disproportionately bad press in 2007, partly due to the deteriorating economic environment. Technology and telecoms companies find it most difficult to translate their "key messages" into stories that PRs can pitch to journalists.
But the growth of online news has led to a trend that Metrica terms "Haste and Paste", where time-poor websites will automatically publish an organisation's message and a quote from its spokesperson. "High message delivery and spokespeople mentions suggest the emergence of a copy and paste publishing trend in online media," says the report.
The analytical approach of Metrica, and other companies such as Echo Research, Media Measurement Limited, Media Evaluation Research and Precise Media, is challenging the traditional PR measure of advertising value equivalent (AVE), which compared a piece of editorial to the cost of a similarly-sized advertisement.
Claire O'Sullivan, Metrica's associate director, says: "Using an AVE to measure how effective PR has been is like using a thermometer to measure speed – it's the wrong tool. The appropriate way to measure PR is to assemble a dashboard of measures relevant to an organisation's communications objectives – for example, which key messages are reaching which audience and how many times."
PR for PR
The end of the spin cycle? Why the PR industry wants a change of image
By Ian Burrel
There is a certain symmetry, and some would say an irony, in the fact that the inaugural gathering of Britain's public relations industry took place at the St Bride's Institute, which is not just in Fleet Street but is, even today, the home of the London Press Club.
Since that initial "exploratory" meeting on 10 February 1948, called to discuss forming a professional association "to serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences and to foster the interests of the profession generally", PR professionals have spent six decades struggling to get on with journalists.
The relationship has evolved, to a degree that it is now sometimes said that PR holds an upper hand, cynically spinning and distorting the output of hard-pressed news organisations. Others argue that without the support of a new generation of publicity-conscious communications professionals, the modern media, a content-devouring beast that never sleeps, could not survive.
The evolution of the PR industry in the 60 years since the founding of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, is illustrated by the organisations represented by some of those founding fathers – and they were pretty much all men – such as Bill Vint of Hastings Corporation, Kenneth Day of Erith Town Council and Eain Ogilvie of the International Wool Secretariat. Largely the representatives of local authorities, they reflect only a small fraction of the business-driven multi-million pound PR machine of today.
Yet more than half a century on, why is it that a profession dedicated to protecting and enhancing reputations does not itself have a better name and continues to be tarnished with slurs of spin-doctoring? Martin Loat, founder and director of Propeller Communications, is clear where the problem lies. "Journalists exert a lot of control over what gets spoken and written about PR, so if a journalist encounters a poor PR who can't answer a simple inquiry or a combative PR person who won't roll over, the journalist might have a grumble. That happens in any profession, but in this case the grumbles can end up in print. That can harm PR's reputation; but it's a distorted lens."
Loat points out that the businesses and celebrities who hire PRs, not to mention the students eager to enter the industry, suggest that the scorn of certain journalists is not shared by the wider public.
Lionel Zetter, a former president of the CIPR and a specialist in the public affairs sector of PR, is even more robust in his defence. "PR has a reputation, both in the UK and elsewhere, of delivering value," he says. "Very often, when sitting around the table, it will be the PR professional who will come up with the solution to whatever problem the collective body is facing."
Increasingly, he points out, that PR professional is sitting at the boardroom table. "Ten years ago you might have found that the director of communications would not have had a main board position, but nowadays that would be very much the exception. Any company of size or substance that does not have a PR on the board is probably missing a trick."
Yet there are well-known figures in the industry who are prepared to admit PR's shortcomings. "Some of the biggest fees are for laundering the reputations of some of the major companies. We have to hang our head in shame when we look at what some of the big food, tobacco and energy companies are doing globally," says Mark Borkowski of Borkowski PR. "That's an element where a PR can lose their moral compass because of the enormous fees being offered. Billions of dollars go into selling dodgy political regimes." Nevertheless, Borkowski accepts that "PR is a many-headed hydra, from investor relations to corporate social responsibility to publicists" and he acknowledges the "phenomenal work" being done particularly in the charity sector and in issue-based PR.
The great diversity of the industry is something which Elisabeth Lewis-Jones, the current CIPR president, feels is not always appreciated. As the director of the Bromsgrove-based Liquid PR, she has a perspective that extends beyond the capital and points out that half the institute's members work outside of London. Lewis-Jones believes that PR is a growing business, a reason why it is a popular choice of career for graduates. "Most in-house teams are looking to recruit and it's hard to get senior staff at the moment – the industry wouldn't be growing if it had a bad reputation."
The downturn of the economy will not, she believes, undermine a sector that is "incredibly efficient" in delivering value for clients.
Journalists are fewer and less likely to attend press conferences, but are more likely to rely on the support of a PR, says Lewis-Jones, adding that the CIPR runs a continuous professional development scheme as a means of upholding industry standards.
Despite what journalists think, there is more to a PR's job than providing information to the media, and only a tiny fraction of the industry is involved in political communications. "The vast bulk of the 20,000 practitioners are promoting products and services for businesses," says Ian Wright, corporate relations director at the drinks giant Diageo, which has a team of 250 providing corporate relations information for 60 markets.
He argues that the growth of the PR industry has been beneficial to society, enabling organisations to get across their views in "a coherent and well-organised way" so that people can then "make their own judgments about issues that they may be debating".
James Wright is director of corporate social responsibility at Trimedia UK, part of a Europe-wide PR group. "PR has evolved a lot in the last few years. It is becoming more and more important because it's not just about generating media coverage and column inches, it's about generating relationships that will create traction and have an ultimate business benefit. We encourage clients to engage with other organisations that have a beneficial relationship with their business or organisation."
Wright has taken a proactive role in countering the spread within the PR industry of "green-washing" (where unfounded claims are made for a client's environmental credentials) and has drawn up best practice guidelines for the CIPR. "You need to be able to prove what you say in a much more robust way," he says. "It's not about painting the toilet green, it's about fixing the plumbing. It's not just a marketing opportunity, but a chance to change your whole business."
He says that part of the reason why PR is not better regarded is that the public tend to see the industry as publicists who have a role to "generate publicity". One of Britain's best publicists, Alan Edwards, CEO of the Outside Organisation, which numbers Paul McCartney, David Bowie and The Spice Girls among its clients, says his task requires subtlety and tact. "One reason that the PR industry has a hard time proving its worth is that it's very existence is a bit ethereal. It's influence is massive but not tangible and many of the greatest practitioners prefer to remain in the shadows. PR can stop wars, bring down governments and establish nonentities as celebrities, and if it's good PR you will never know it."
Edwards says that the modern media landscape means that PR has had to evolve into a 360 degree beast. "The days of publicists sending out meaningless releases are numbered," he says. "The really good publicity companies in the future will contribute much more. Speed of thought, global vision, ideas, management reputation and brand enhancement will all play crucial parts and we will finally see the industry get the credit it deserves."
Those pioneers of the post-war years were onto something, but they could hardly have imagined it would turn out like this.
By Ian Burrel
There is a certain symmetry, and some would say an irony, in the fact that the inaugural gathering of Britain's public relations industry took place at the St Bride's Institute, which is not just in Fleet Street but is, even today, the home of the London Press Club.
Since that initial "exploratory" meeting on 10 February 1948, called to discuss forming a professional association "to serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences and to foster the interests of the profession generally", PR professionals have spent six decades struggling to get on with journalists.
The relationship has evolved, to a degree that it is now sometimes said that PR holds an upper hand, cynically spinning and distorting the output of hard-pressed news organisations. Others argue that without the support of a new generation of publicity-conscious communications professionals, the modern media, a content-devouring beast that never sleeps, could not survive.
The evolution of the PR industry in the 60 years since the founding of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, is illustrated by the organisations represented by some of those founding fathers – and they were pretty much all men – such as Bill Vint of Hastings Corporation, Kenneth Day of Erith Town Council and Eain Ogilvie of the International Wool Secretariat. Largely the representatives of local authorities, they reflect only a small fraction of the business-driven multi-million pound PR machine of today.
Yet more than half a century on, why is it that a profession dedicated to protecting and enhancing reputations does not itself have a better name and continues to be tarnished with slurs of spin-doctoring? Martin Loat, founder and director of Propeller Communications, is clear where the problem lies. "Journalists exert a lot of control over what gets spoken and written about PR, so if a journalist encounters a poor PR who can't answer a simple inquiry or a combative PR person who won't roll over, the journalist might have a grumble. That happens in any profession, but in this case the grumbles can end up in print. That can harm PR's reputation; but it's a distorted lens."
Loat points out that the businesses and celebrities who hire PRs, not to mention the students eager to enter the industry, suggest that the scorn of certain journalists is not shared by the wider public.
Lionel Zetter, a former president of the CIPR and a specialist in the public affairs sector of PR, is even more robust in his defence. "PR has a reputation, both in the UK and elsewhere, of delivering value," he says. "Very often, when sitting around the table, it will be the PR professional who will come up with the solution to whatever problem the collective body is facing."
Increasingly, he points out, that PR professional is sitting at the boardroom table. "Ten years ago you might have found that the director of communications would not have had a main board position, but nowadays that would be very much the exception. Any company of size or substance that does not have a PR on the board is probably missing a trick."
Yet there are well-known figures in the industry who are prepared to admit PR's shortcomings. "Some of the biggest fees are for laundering the reputations of some of the major companies. We have to hang our head in shame when we look at what some of the big food, tobacco and energy companies are doing globally," says Mark Borkowski of Borkowski PR. "That's an element where a PR can lose their moral compass because of the enormous fees being offered. Billions of dollars go into selling dodgy political regimes." Nevertheless, Borkowski accepts that "PR is a many-headed hydra, from investor relations to corporate social responsibility to publicists" and he acknowledges the "phenomenal work" being done particularly in the charity sector and in issue-based PR.
The great diversity of the industry is something which Elisabeth Lewis-Jones, the current CIPR president, feels is not always appreciated. As the director of the Bromsgrove-based Liquid PR, she has a perspective that extends beyond the capital and points out that half the institute's members work outside of London. Lewis-Jones believes that PR is a growing business, a reason why it is a popular choice of career for graduates. "Most in-house teams are looking to recruit and it's hard to get senior staff at the moment – the industry wouldn't be growing if it had a bad reputation."
The downturn of the economy will not, she believes, undermine a sector that is "incredibly efficient" in delivering value for clients.
Journalists are fewer and less likely to attend press conferences, but are more likely to rely on the support of a PR, says Lewis-Jones, adding that the CIPR runs a continuous professional development scheme as a means of upholding industry standards.
Despite what journalists think, there is more to a PR's job than providing information to the media, and only a tiny fraction of the industry is involved in political communications. "The vast bulk of the 20,000 practitioners are promoting products and services for businesses," says Ian Wright, corporate relations director at the drinks giant Diageo, which has a team of 250 providing corporate relations information for 60 markets.
He argues that the growth of the PR industry has been beneficial to society, enabling organisations to get across their views in "a coherent and well-organised way" so that people can then "make their own judgments about issues that they may be debating".
James Wright is director of corporate social responsibility at Trimedia UK, part of a Europe-wide PR group. "PR has evolved a lot in the last few years. It is becoming more and more important because it's not just about generating media coverage and column inches, it's about generating relationships that will create traction and have an ultimate business benefit. We encourage clients to engage with other organisations that have a beneficial relationship with their business or organisation."
Wright has taken a proactive role in countering the spread within the PR industry of "green-washing" (where unfounded claims are made for a client's environmental credentials) and has drawn up best practice guidelines for the CIPR. "You need to be able to prove what you say in a much more robust way," he says. "It's not about painting the toilet green, it's about fixing the plumbing. It's not just a marketing opportunity, but a chance to change your whole business."
He says that part of the reason why PR is not better regarded is that the public tend to see the industry as publicists who have a role to "generate publicity". One of Britain's best publicists, Alan Edwards, CEO of the Outside Organisation, which numbers Paul McCartney, David Bowie and The Spice Girls among its clients, says his task requires subtlety and tact. "One reason that the PR industry has a hard time proving its worth is that it's very existence is a bit ethereal. It's influence is massive but not tangible and many of the greatest practitioners prefer to remain in the shadows. PR can stop wars, bring down governments and establish nonentities as celebrities, and if it's good PR you will never know it."
Edwards says that the modern media landscape means that PR has had to evolve into a 360 degree beast. "The days of publicists sending out meaningless releases are numbered," he says. "The really good publicity companies in the future will contribute much more. Speed of thought, global vision, ideas, management reputation and brand enhancement will all play crucial parts and we will finally see the industry get the credit it deserves."
Those pioneers of the post-war years were onto something, but they could hardly have imagined it would turn out like this.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The PR of Gas
Automakers place premium on efficiency
As the national average of gas prices sits at $4 per gallon for the first time, fuel efficiency has become a key messaging point for car manufacturers that recognize a new market that prioritizes cost-effective spending and environmental responsibility.
Where consumers lead, car manufacturers now follow. Although fuel efficiency was always a selling point for some manufacturers, consumers weren't always as tuned in to mpg ratings as they are today, say some PR pros in the industry. What might seem like an about-face in the marketing of smaller cars over trucks is actually a refocus, they add.
Kathleen Hamilton, assistant VP of PR in the automotive practice at Coyne Public Relations, says that in the past, fuel efficiency was often an afterthought for consumers.
"For years, fuel economy was not a top concern among customers in [the] mass market when making a purchasing decision, though [it became] important when [they] got it home," she says. "[Today] PR pros are seeking to guide purchase decisions by emphasizing fuel economy and new technology."
Stuart Schorr, Chrysler's senior manager of sales, motor parts, and dealer communications, agrees.
"Talking about fuel economy is a way of life now, like safety design or performance," he says. "It's critical, [though] everything [now] gets better fuel efficiency than past vehicles."
To promote those new green technologies, such as hybrid and electric models, though, Hamilton says PR needs to take a cautious approach given the current volatility of the marketplace.
"Right now, [fuel prices] can change very quickly," she says. "An issue that can come up with so much promotion of future models is how do you not overload and create cynicism with so many stories about electric cars and so few on the road."
When Chrysler announced its Refuel America Program this May, which offers consumers three years of stable gas prices if they buy certain models, it was met with some initial criticism, including claims of being a gimmick that was ecologically unfriendly. These criticisms were outweighed by consumers whose interest caused Chrysler to extend the incentive program through July 7, Schorr says. He adds that media relations was key to explaining the program's efficacy to consumers.
It's crucial to stay attuned to the news cycle and consumer concerns when crafting communications strategies, echoes Hamilton. "Consumers, of course, started paying so much more attention when it hit their pocketbooks," she says.
GM, for example, said it would gradually diminish its truck production and seek review of its Hummers, though it began promoting fuel efficiency in 2006. (PRWeek, June 9)
Its communications strategy will focus more and more on its small to midsize cars, moving away from its reputation as a big truck manufacturer, according to Tony Cervone, VP for global strategy and integration at GM.
"We have to re-earn our position in cars," he says. "As our truck [production decreases] and we launch more cars and crossovers, the [brand] discussion will shift more toward the newest vehicles [we're producing]."
Companies that have put fuel efficiency at the forefront of their communications for years, such as Honda, say that strategy continues.
"[We put] the [fuel efficiency] message in every product we promote," says Chris Martin, American Honda Motor Co. senior PR administrator. "It may not be [the] number-one selling point in [our] SUV, but we promote [it] all the way through."
Joseph Molina, president of JMPR, which represents Ducati and Bentley among others, says that PR in the luxury auto market focuses on lifestyle rather gas prices, given that luxury cars are not typically the primary vehicle.
"In [the] luxury market, mileage is not the primary issue," he says. "This is an experience being sold." PR, however, must still reflect greater environmental concerns, he adds.
"[Luxury car buyers] have not chosen to back away from [SUVs] on mileage, but due to green issues and social conscious. Nobody wants to be made fun of."
As the national average of gas prices sits at $4 per gallon for the first time, fuel efficiency has become a key messaging point for car manufacturers that recognize a new market that prioritizes cost-effective spending and environmental responsibility.
Where consumers lead, car manufacturers now follow. Although fuel efficiency was always a selling point for some manufacturers, consumers weren't always as tuned in to mpg ratings as they are today, say some PR pros in the industry. What might seem like an about-face in the marketing of smaller cars over trucks is actually a refocus, they add.
Kathleen Hamilton, assistant VP of PR in the automotive practice at Coyne Public Relations, says that in the past, fuel efficiency was often an afterthought for consumers.
"For years, fuel economy was not a top concern among customers in [the] mass market when making a purchasing decision, though [it became] important when [they] got it home," she says. "[Today] PR pros are seeking to guide purchase decisions by emphasizing fuel economy and new technology."
Stuart Schorr, Chrysler's senior manager of sales, motor parts, and dealer communications, agrees.
"Talking about fuel economy is a way of life now, like safety design or performance," he says. "It's critical, [though] everything [now] gets better fuel efficiency than past vehicles."
To promote those new green technologies, such as hybrid and electric models, though, Hamilton says PR needs to take a cautious approach given the current volatility of the marketplace.
"Right now, [fuel prices] can change very quickly," she says. "An issue that can come up with so much promotion of future models is how do you not overload and create cynicism with so many stories about electric cars and so few on the road."
When Chrysler announced its Refuel America Program this May, which offers consumers three years of stable gas prices if they buy certain models, it was met with some initial criticism, including claims of being a gimmick that was ecologically unfriendly. These criticisms were outweighed by consumers whose interest caused Chrysler to extend the incentive program through July 7, Schorr says. He adds that media relations was key to explaining the program's efficacy to consumers.
It's crucial to stay attuned to the news cycle and consumer concerns when crafting communications strategies, echoes Hamilton. "Consumers, of course, started paying so much more attention when it hit their pocketbooks," she says.
GM, for example, said it would gradually diminish its truck production and seek review of its Hummers, though it began promoting fuel efficiency in 2006. (PRWeek, June 9)
Its communications strategy will focus more and more on its small to midsize cars, moving away from its reputation as a big truck manufacturer, according to Tony Cervone, VP for global strategy and integration at GM.
"We have to re-earn our position in cars," he says. "As our truck [production decreases] and we launch more cars and crossovers, the [brand] discussion will shift more toward the newest vehicles [we're producing]."
Companies that have put fuel efficiency at the forefront of their communications for years, such as Honda, say that strategy continues.
"[We put] the [fuel efficiency] message in every product we promote," says Chris Martin, American Honda Motor Co. senior PR administrator. "It may not be [the] number-one selling point in [our] SUV, but we promote [it] all the way through."
Joseph Molina, president of JMPR, which represents Ducati and Bentley among others, says that PR in the luxury auto market focuses on lifestyle rather gas prices, given that luxury cars are not typically the primary vehicle.
"In [the] luxury market, mileage is not the primary issue," he says. "This is an experience being sold." PR, however, must still reflect greater environmental concerns, he adds.
"[Luxury car buyers] have not chosen to back away from [SUVs] on mileage, but due to green issues and social conscious. Nobody wants to be made fun of."
Produce industry directs outreach in tomato scare
The tomato industry concentrated its outreach efforts on buyers to bolster the message that some tomatoes are safe to eat, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) try to identify the variety or region of tomatoes that triggered the salmonella outbreak in recent weeks.
"Everyone realizes that public health has to be in a good place," said Julia Stewart, PR director for the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), one of the groups behind the industry's united effort. "While public health goes first, there's a whole industry at stake. We have to help find that balance... It's incredibly delicate. We risk being perceived as inconsiderate of public health."
Early communications focused on keeping the industry - tomato farmers, buyers, and others - informed and supplying information to the FDA to aid the investigation, Stewart added.
The FDA issued a warning June 7 not to eat raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, due to possible contamination by salmonella. At press time, the agency had reported 167 cases of salmonella since mid-April, including 23 hospitalizations. The FDA's warning presented communication challenges, because it did not apply to certain types of tomatoes - cherry and grape varieties and those sold with the vine attached - as well as tomatoes grown in some states.
Seven trade organizations, including PMA, sent out a unified letter to produce buyers on June 12 to encourage them to place orders for cleared tomatoes.
The trade organizations - Alliance for Food and Farming, California Tomato Farmers, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, Florida Tomato Committee, PMA, United Fresh Produce Association, and Western Growers Association - will also provide follow-up calls to the buyers.
When retailers and restaurants began to remove all tomato varieties, the focus shifted to providing awareness about what tomato varieties and regions were cleared by the FDA. "It's starting to morph," Stewart noted.
McDonald's, for one, voluntarily pulled sliced tomatoes, but not grape tomatoes, from its menus on June 6, and focused its communications efforts on its franchises, employees, and customers.
"Other people look to us be-cause we are the largest," said Danya Proud, senior manager of US media relations for the fast-food chain. "There's been a dialogue since the FDA put out the recommendation."
Stewart said the letter represents the traditional first step for crisis communications in produce recalls, but the group was just beginning to consider consumer outreach.
"We're just starting to talk about consumer outreach, but, even yesterday, there were way more questions than answers," she said.
Fleishman-Hillard represents Desert Glory,* a San Antonio-based tomato grower, and it has reached out to online media and bloggers on the grower's behalf with immediate news, as well as provided sound bytes and video footage to other outlets.
"It's a stepped process," said Janet Greenlee, GM of Fleishman's Austin, Texas, office. "It's such a complex, serious endeavor... There is illness, and we don't want to take that lightly."
A major part of Fleishman's effort involved supplying correct information to media and trade groups about what varieties and regions were cleared by the FDA, because the information changed every day, Greenlee noted.
"Our response needs to be metered, not a clutter," she added.
"Everyone realizes that public health has to be in a good place," said Julia Stewart, PR director for the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), one of the groups behind the industry's united effort. "While public health goes first, there's a whole industry at stake. We have to help find that balance... It's incredibly delicate. We risk being perceived as inconsiderate of public health."
Early communications focused on keeping the industry - tomato farmers, buyers, and others - informed and supplying information to the FDA to aid the investigation, Stewart added.
The FDA issued a warning June 7 not to eat raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, due to possible contamination by salmonella. At press time, the agency had reported 167 cases of salmonella since mid-April, including 23 hospitalizations. The FDA's warning presented communication challenges, because it did not apply to certain types of tomatoes - cherry and grape varieties and those sold with the vine attached - as well as tomatoes grown in some states.
Seven trade organizations, including PMA, sent out a unified letter to produce buyers on June 12 to encourage them to place orders for cleared tomatoes.
The trade organizations - Alliance for Food and Farming, California Tomato Farmers, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, Florida Tomato Committee, PMA, United Fresh Produce Association, and Western Growers Association - will also provide follow-up calls to the buyers.
When retailers and restaurants began to remove all tomato varieties, the focus shifted to providing awareness about what tomato varieties and regions were cleared by the FDA. "It's starting to morph," Stewart noted.
McDonald's, for one, voluntarily pulled sliced tomatoes, but not grape tomatoes, from its menus on June 6, and focused its communications efforts on its franchises, employees, and customers.
"Other people look to us be-cause we are the largest," said Danya Proud, senior manager of US media relations for the fast-food chain. "There's been a dialogue since the FDA put out the recommendation."
Stewart said the letter represents the traditional first step for crisis communications in produce recalls, but the group was just beginning to consider consumer outreach.
"We're just starting to talk about consumer outreach, but, even yesterday, there were way more questions than answers," she said.
Fleishman-Hillard represents Desert Glory,* a San Antonio-based tomato grower, and it has reached out to online media and bloggers on the grower's behalf with immediate news, as well as provided sound bytes and video footage to other outlets.
"It's a stepped process," said Janet Greenlee, GM of Fleishman's Austin, Texas, office. "It's such a complex, serious endeavor... There is illness, and we don't want to take that lightly."
A major part of Fleishman's effort involved supplying correct information to media and trade groups about what varieties and regions were cleared by the FDA, because the information changed every day, Greenlee noted.
"Our response needs to be metered, not a clutter," she added.
Even Sex Shops Need to market Themselves
So, I had to do a double-take when I saw this. I realize that sex shops have a somewhat seedy reputation, which in my opinion, is part of their charm. The harkens back to the era when Times Square was scrubbed of its hookers, junkies and other ne'er do wells to make way for The Lion Kings and Phantoms of the Opera. As a sidebar, this era was lovingly captured (on Broadway, no less) in the short-lived musical The Life.
Family-Friendly Sex Store Opens in New York City
In the p.c. enclave of hipster Brooklyn, N.Y., residents are hardly batting an eye over the opening of a new kind of sex shop.
The high-design Babeland shop, which sells itself as being "kid-friendly," doesn't exactly scream sex though.
Unlike the older sex shops, which are dark and dingy, the Babeland store has upbeat music, well-dressed saleswomen and infant changing tables -- marketing itself as a fun place for couples to shop. It's part of a growing trend that has been spreading from Louisville to Los Angeles in an attempt to take the industry out of the shadows.
“If you walk into a mainstream sex store, you’ll probably be greeted with explicit imagery and a sort of artificial sexuality, like a woman with blonde hair with her head thrown back, something that’s meant to titillate in the moment,” said Babelands's owner Claire Cavanah.
This is the fifth Babeland for Cavanah, who opened the first store in Seattle, Wash., with friend and business partner Rachel Venning in 1993. Since then, the two have opened shops in New York City and one in Los Angeles, which closed this year.
• Click here to see the store and an interview with owner Claire Cavanah.
Even its unobtrusive window displays — looking out over the stroller packed streets in family-friendly Park Slope — is so low key some residents don't even know it's there.
When asked for her opinion on the store’s location, Lisa — who declined to give her last name— didn’t know the store’s name or what it sold, but deposited her young son on the front stoop so she could take a quick peek inside. She declared it “tastefully done” when she came back out.
Despite all the window dressing, not everyone is excited by the store’s arrival. “It’s completely unmoral, it’s unclassy — it shouldn’t be here,” said Brooklyn resident Anthony Vedetta.
In other cities and towns — like Forest Lake outside St. Paul, Minn., or Avon outside Indianapolis or Jefferson near Charleston, W.Va. — local government have been fighting pitched battles to try and restrict such businesses.
Cavanagh agreed this shop wouldn't fly just anywhere.
It’s all “a part of fitting in,” said Cavanah, a Brooklyn resident herself and a mother who looks more like a PTA president than the proprietor of a sex toy shop.
Sandwiched between a maternity clothing store and an organic coffee shop, Babeland tries to blend into its environment.
“It’s a diverse, pretty accepting open community of people in Park Slope. It’s in the perfect location,” said Natalia Zukerman, a Park Slope resident, who is an enthusiastic supporter of the store.
And at least for now, the shop has been met with mostly positive reviews.
“I think the ladies are going to be pretty excited about it, and I’m sure there are some gentlemen who will be as well,” said Zukerman.
Cavanah and staff aim to make women feel empowered, not embarrassed, they say. A sign in the front of the store implores customers to “relax, take a look around, and enjoy,” and the employees “try to have a sense of humor and be intelligent and warm,” said Cavanah.
“Here we’re really trying to sort of greet everyone where they are sexually.” This means everything from a “Sexy Moms Series” for mothers looking to spice up their sex lives to plenty of products for those looking to experience some bonding — or bondage.
It's too early to tell if some of the open-minded Brooklyn residents would in time object to some of the more colorful of Cavanah's past clientele that may be traipsing through — like one man whose fetish was to come to her other store dressed as an infant wearing a cloth diaper, sucking on a pacifier and clutching a rattle.
But Amanda Asrelsky, an employee of the neighboring maternity-wear store Bump, said sex is a natural thing that should be fun.
“Where else would you put a store like this? It seems wrong to put it in a bad neighborhood or a dirty neighborhood,” she said.
• Click here to see reactions from Park Slope residents.
Family-Friendly Sex Store Opens in New York City
In the p.c. enclave of hipster Brooklyn, N.Y., residents are hardly batting an eye over the opening of a new kind of sex shop.
The high-design Babeland shop, which sells itself as being "kid-friendly," doesn't exactly scream sex though.
Unlike the older sex shops, which are dark and dingy, the Babeland store has upbeat music, well-dressed saleswomen and infant changing tables -- marketing itself as a fun place for couples to shop. It's part of a growing trend that has been spreading from Louisville to Los Angeles in an attempt to take the industry out of the shadows.
“If you walk into a mainstream sex store, you’ll probably be greeted with explicit imagery and a sort of artificial sexuality, like a woman with blonde hair with her head thrown back, something that’s meant to titillate in the moment,” said Babelands's owner Claire Cavanah.
This is the fifth Babeland for Cavanah, who opened the first store in Seattle, Wash., with friend and business partner Rachel Venning in 1993. Since then, the two have opened shops in New York City and one in Los Angeles, which closed this year.
• Click here to see the store and an interview with owner Claire Cavanah.
Even its unobtrusive window displays — looking out over the stroller packed streets in family-friendly Park Slope — is so low key some residents don't even know it's there.
When asked for her opinion on the store’s location, Lisa — who declined to give her last name— didn’t know the store’s name or what it sold, but deposited her young son on the front stoop so she could take a quick peek inside. She declared it “tastefully done” when she came back out.
Despite all the window dressing, not everyone is excited by the store’s arrival. “It’s completely unmoral, it’s unclassy — it shouldn’t be here,” said Brooklyn resident Anthony Vedetta.
In other cities and towns — like Forest Lake outside St. Paul, Minn., or Avon outside Indianapolis or Jefferson near Charleston, W.Va. — local government have been fighting pitched battles to try and restrict such businesses.
Cavanagh agreed this shop wouldn't fly just anywhere.
It’s all “a part of fitting in,” said Cavanah, a Brooklyn resident herself and a mother who looks more like a PTA president than the proprietor of a sex toy shop.
Sandwiched between a maternity clothing store and an organic coffee shop, Babeland tries to blend into its environment.
“It’s a diverse, pretty accepting open community of people in Park Slope. It’s in the perfect location,” said Natalia Zukerman, a Park Slope resident, who is an enthusiastic supporter of the store.
And at least for now, the shop has been met with mostly positive reviews.
“I think the ladies are going to be pretty excited about it, and I’m sure there are some gentlemen who will be as well,” said Zukerman.
Cavanah and staff aim to make women feel empowered, not embarrassed, they say. A sign in the front of the store implores customers to “relax, take a look around, and enjoy,” and the employees “try to have a sense of humor and be intelligent and warm,” said Cavanah.
“Here we’re really trying to sort of greet everyone where they are sexually.” This means everything from a “Sexy Moms Series” for mothers looking to spice up their sex lives to plenty of products for those looking to experience some bonding — or bondage.
It's too early to tell if some of the open-minded Brooklyn residents would in time object to some of the more colorful of Cavanah's past clientele that may be traipsing through — like one man whose fetish was to come to her other store dressed as an infant wearing a cloth diaper, sucking on a pacifier and clutching a rattle.
But Amanda Asrelsky, an employee of the neighboring maternity-wear store Bump, said sex is a natural thing that should be fun.
“Where else would you put a store like this? It seems wrong to put it in a bad neighborhood or a dirty neighborhood,” she said.
• Click here to see reactions from Park Slope residents.
This Bud's Not For You
Another example of how shareholders are king and consumer be damned!
June 13 (Bloomberg) -- InBev NV, the world's biggest brewer, contacted John Sleeman when the Canadian put his 157- year-old beermaker up for sale in 2006. He told them no thanks and sold to a Japanese buyer who pledged not to close plants or fire workers.
Sleeman had watched as InBev's Brazilian managers took charge of Labatt Brewing Co. in 2004, shut down a plant, cut staff and slashed perks, including first-class airfare.
While employees may have suffered, shareholders didn't. Between 2005 and 2007, cash flow from InBev's North American operations climbed 25 percent to 597 million euros ($916 million), and InBev's shares doubled.
Now InBev has come calling on Anheuser-Busch Cos., making an unsolicited $46.3 billion bid that would be the largest cash takeover in history and combine Budweiser, the so-called King of Beers, with InBev's Stella Artois and Bass brands. Investors sent shares of both companies up more than 5 percent yesterday on the news.
``It looks like the market likes this deal and they're expecting this thing to happen,'' said Malcolm Polley, who helps oversee about $1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
A purchase of Anheuser-Busch would be the second-biggest acquisition of a consumer-products company after Procter & Gamble Co. bought Gillette Co. for $57 billion in 2005. It would be the third-biggest U.S. company to be taken over by a foreign buyer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Brazilian Bankers
InBev, dominated by a group of Brazilian investment bankers and managers, has succeeded by focusing on costs and selling into the developing world, where there is a fast- growing population of young, male beer drinkers. The challenge for InBev will be executing a similar strategy in the U.S., where the law protects distributors and the market is growing more slowly, without damaging the Budweiser brand.
``They're an efficiency machine and they'll stop at nothing,'' said Claudio Bueno, a distributor forced out of business when the Brazilian brewer that combined with Interbrew SA to form InBev increased the amount of beer it shipped directly to retailers to cut costs.
The Leuven, Belgium-based brewer also faces a reluctant target in Anheuser-Busch, a five-generation, family-run business that has made Budweiser for 132 years.
A sale of the brewer wasn't going to happen ``on my watch,'' Chief Executive Officer August Busch IV told distributors at an April meeting in Chicago, according to John Economos, CEO of Eagle Rock Distributing Co. in Atlanta, who was present.
Modelo Talks
Anheuser-Busch was holding talks with Corona-maker Grupo Modelo SAB on a combination that might derail InBev's $65-a- share bid, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Anheuser-Busch, which already owns 50 percent of the Mexican brewer, approached Modelo Chief Executive Officer Carlos Fernandez, who is an Anheuser-Busch board member, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Combining with the Mexican company may also face obstacles. Grupo Modelo said in an e-mailed statement that it plans to remain a Mexican-owned company and will make any needed decisions should Anheuser-Busch and InBev decide to merge.
Randolph Baker, Anheuser-Busch's chief financial officer, declined to comment on the report.
Busch, the great-great-grandson of co-founder Adolphus Busch, sent an e-mail to the company's beer distributors this week saying a decision may take months or longer.
Lacking Shares
Even if it tries, the Busch family doesn't have enough shares to derail a purchase. The company's executives and directors, including family members and outsiders, have just 4.5 percent of Anheuser-Busch's outstanding stock. Besides August Busch III, the father of the CEO, no family member holds more than 1 percent of the company, according to a March regulatory filing.
Some members of the family support negotiations with InBev, while others oppose it, the Journal said, citing family member Adolphus Busch IV. Directors are similarly split, the newspaper said.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the brewer's second-biggest shareholder with a 5 percent stake, behind Barclays Global Investors' 6.1 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Even as banks worldwide offer fewer loans, InBev plans to pay for Anheuser-Busch with debt arranged by lenders including Banco Santander SA. Depending on the size of the loan, InBev may have to sell less stock than some analysts had expected to fund the purchase.
Maintaining Breweries
InBev pledged not to dismantle Anheuser-Busch, the top U.S. brewer for half a century. ``Given your efficient brewery footprint in the United States, we will maintain all your existing breweries,'' Carlos Brito, InBev's chief executive officer, said in a letter to CEO Busch.
Brito, 48, said the acquisition would be ``a big international opportunity'' to bring Budweiser to more than 30 countries where InBev has breweries. The combined company's more than $36 billion in annual sales and 12 billion gallons of shipments would also allow the negotiation of better terms from suppliers as expenses soar for barley, hops, electricity and metal for beer cans, he said.
InBev, which traces its roots to 1366, took its current form in 2004 when Leuven-based Interbrew SA bought Sao Paulo- based Cia. de Bebidas das Americas, or AmBev, in an $11 billion transaction. In less than two years, Interbrew's American CEO had been replaced by Brito, a Brazilian who had been groomed by Jorge Paulo Lemann and two other Brazilian investment bankers who had built their company from a brewer they acquired in 1989.
Beer Sales
Interbrew's combination with AmBev created the largest beermaker in the world. InBev sold 20.6 billion liters of beer globally in 2006, compared with 14.7 billion liters for third place Anheuser-Busch. SABMiller Plc sold 16.3 billion liters, according to Euromonitor International Inc. in Chicago.
Since the merger, InBev's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as a percentage of sales have increased to 35 percent from 25 percent.
Anheuser-Busch fell 28 cents to $61.12 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. InBev shares dropped 78 cents, or 1.6 percent, to 49.43 euros in Brussels while Grupo Modelo declined 82 centavos, or 1.5 percent, to 54.83 pesos.
Some Fat
``Bud does have some fat in its business, and InBev, or the Brazilians I should say, are the experts in extracting it,'' said Christopher Gower, an analyst at MF Global Securities in London. InBev might offer as much as $73 a share should Anheuser-Busch reject its advances, according to analysts.
A trained engineer, Brito describes InBev as a meritocracy, where top-performers are rewarded and expensive perks aren't tolerated. Success is measured by numbers, and those who don't fit often leave.
``I don't want a company car, I don't care,'' he said in a February speech at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received an MBA in 1989. ``I don't want the company to give me free beer. I can buy my own beer.''
Brito said during a conference call yesterday that he will cut costs by exploiting the combined company's size to get lower prices for ingredients and packaging materials, eliminating some market overlap and cutting redundant corporate expenses. Brito wouldn't say how much savings he was targeting.
InBev may have trouble lowering costs given potential resistance from Anheuser-Busch's unions and the low market overlap between the two companies, said Jonathan Feeney, an analyst with Wachovia Securities Inc. in New York.
`Deal Difficulties'
``The highly regulated nature of the beer industry could pose other deal difficulties,'' Feeney said.
Governor Matthew Blunt of Missouri on June 11 called InBev's approach ``deeply troubling'' and said he opposed any sale. The Web site saveab.com in St. Louis says it's trying to rally Americans to ``fight the foreign invasion'' of Anheuser- Busch.
The name of the combined company would ``evoke Anheuser- Busch's heritage,'' InBev said this week.
Anheuser-Busch said in a statement that its board will ``pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders'' and make a decision ``in due course.'' InBev's bid is 18 percent higher than Anheuser- Busch's previous high in October 2002.
The Belgian company hired Lazard Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as financial advisers. In addition to Banco Santander, banks financing InBev's proposed takeover are Deutsche Bank AG, Barclays Capital, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Fortis and ING Groep NV.
Culture Clash
InBev's acquisition strategy might clash with the culture of Anheuser-Busch, which has a reputation for close relationships with distributors and expensive marketing.
The prospect of an InBev takeover is frightening to Anheuser-Busch distributors, said Joe Thompson, president of Independent Beverage Group in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, which brokers buyouts between beer distributors.
``They just worry about losing their influence with their supplier,'' he said. ``If you can pick up the phone and call Vice President of Marketing Dave Peacock because you've known him for 20 years, it's a lot better than picking up the phone and calling someone in Brazil.''
While InBev sells beer in more than 130 countries and is growing in China and Russia, it generates less than 1 percent of its beer volume in the U.S. Anheuser-Busch's domestic sales have slowed in recent years because of competition from wine and smaller craft beers, with annual domestic shipments of Budweiser declining 17 percent from 2004 to 2007, according to industry newsletter Beer Marketer's Insights.
Cut Victim
Bueno, 42, the former AmBev distributor in Taubate, a town in Sao Paulo state, says he fell victim to the brewer's cost- cutting zeal in 2002 when he lost the 15-truck business founded by his grandfather. He alleges AmBev put him out of business by allowing wholesale outlets to sell cans of beer at a discount to what he charged bars and restaurants for the same product.
At the time, AmBev was trimming costs by deploying its own trucks to distribute beer, cutting out middlemen such as Bueno. Marianne Amssoms, an InBev spokeswoman in Leuven, said the company is simply trying to control costs.
``We are cost-conscious and we try to use the company's resources in the most efficient way,'' she said.
June 13 (Bloomberg) -- InBev NV, the world's biggest brewer, contacted John Sleeman when the Canadian put his 157- year-old beermaker up for sale in 2006. He told them no thanks and sold to a Japanese buyer who pledged not to close plants or fire workers.
Sleeman had watched as InBev's Brazilian managers took charge of Labatt Brewing Co. in 2004, shut down a plant, cut staff and slashed perks, including first-class airfare.
While employees may have suffered, shareholders didn't. Between 2005 and 2007, cash flow from InBev's North American operations climbed 25 percent to 597 million euros ($916 million), and InBev's shares doubled.
Now InBev has come calling on Anheuser-Busch Cos., making an unsolicited $46.3 billion bid that would be the largest cash takeover in history and combine Budweiser, the so-called King of Beers, with InBev's Stella Artois and Bass brands. Investors sent shares of both companies up more than 5 percent yesterday on the news.
``It looks like the market likes this deal and they're expecting this thing to happen,'' said Malcolm Polley, who helps oversee about $1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
A purchase of Anheuser-Busch would be the second-biggest acquisition of a consumer-products company after Procter & Gamble Co. bought Gillette Co. for $57 billion in 2005. It would be the third-biggest U.S. company to be taken over by a foreign buyer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Brazilian Bankers
InBev, dominated by a group of Brazilian investment bankers and managers, has succeeded by focusing on costs and selling into the developing world, where there is a fast- growing population of young, male beer drinkers. The challenge for InBev will be executing a similar strategy in the U.S., where the law protects distributors and the market is growing more slowly, without damaging the Budweiser brand.
``They're an efficiency machine and they'll stop at nothing,'' said Claudio Bueno, a distributor forced out of business when the Brazilian brewer that combined with Interbrew SA to form InBev increased the amount of beer it shipped directly to retailers to cut costs.
The Leuven, Belgium-based brewer also faces a reluctant target in Anheuser-Busch, a five-generation, family-run business that has made Budweiser for 132 years.
A sale of the brewer wasn't going to happen ``on my watch,'' Chief Executive Officer August Busch IV told distributors at an April meeting in Chicago, according to John Economos, CEO of Eagle Rock Distributing Co. in Atlanta, who was present.
Modelo Talks
Anheuser-Busch was holding talks with Corona-maker Grupo Modelo SAB on a combination that might derail InBev's $65-a- share bid, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Anheuser-Busch, which already owns 50 percent of the Mexican brewer, approached Modelo Chief Executive Officer Carlos Fernandez, who is an Anheuser-Busch board member, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Combining with the Mexican company may also face obstacles. Grupo Modelo said in an e-mailed statement that it plans to remain a Mexican-owned company and will make any needed decisions should Anheuser-Busch and InBev decide to merge.
Randolph Baker, Anheuser-Busch's chief financial officer, declined to comment on the report.
Busch, the great-great-grandson of co-founder Adolphus Busch, sent an e-mail to the company's beer distributors this week saying a decision may take months or longer.
Lacking Shares
Even if it tries, the Busch family doesn't have enough shares to derail a purchase. The company's executives and directors, including family members and outsiders, have just 4.5 percent of Anheuser-Busch's outstanding stock. Besides August Busch III, the father of the CEO, no family member holds more than 1 percent of the company, according to a March regulatory filing.
Some members of the family support negotiations with InBev, while others oppose it, the Journal said, citing family member Adolphus Busch IV. Directors are similarly split, the newspaper said.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the brewer's second-biggest shareholder with a 5 percent stake, behind Barclays Global Investors' 6.1 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Even as banks worldwide offer fewer loans, InBev plans to pay for Anheuser-Busch with debt arranged by lenders including Banco Santander SA. Depending on the size of the loan, InBev may have to sell less stock than some analysts had expected to fund the purchase.
Maintaining Breweries
InBev pledged not to dismantle Anheuser-Busch, the top U.S. brewer for half a century. ``Given your efficient brewery footprint in the United States, we will maintain all your existing breweries,'' Carlos Brito, InBev's chief executive officer, said in a letter to CEO Busch.
Brito, 48, said the acquisition would be ``a big international opportunity'' to bring Budweiser to more than 30 countries where InBev has breweries. The combined company's more than $36 billion in annual sales and 12 billion gallons of shipments would also allow the negotiation of better terms from suppliers as expenses soar for barley, hops, electricity and metal for beer cans, he said.
InBev, which traces its roots to 1366, took its current form in 2004 when Leuven-based Interbrew SA bought Sao Paulo- based Cia. de Bebidas das Americas, or AmBev, in an $11 billion transaction. In less than two years, Interbrew's American CEO had been replaced by Brito, a Brazilian who had been groomed by Jorge Paulo Lemann and two other Brazilian investment bankers who had built their company from a brewer they acquired in 1989.
Beer Sales
Interbrew's combination with AmBev created the largest beermaker in the world. InBev sold 20.6 billion liters of beer globally in 2006, compared with 14.7 billion liters for third place Anheuser-Busch. SABMiller Plc sold 16.3 billion liters, according to Euromonitor International Inc. in Chicago.
Since the merger, InBev's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as a percentage of sales have increased to 35 percent from 25 percent.
Anheuser-Busch fell 28 cents to $61.12 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. InBev shares dropped 78 cents, or 1.6 percent, to 49.43 euros in Brussels while Grupo Modelo declined 82 centavos, or 1.5 percent, to 54.83 pesos.
Some Fat
``Bud does have some fat in its business, and InBev, or the Brazilians I should say, are the experts in extracting it,'' said Christopher Gower, an analyst at MF Global Securities in London. InBev might offer as much as $73 a share should Anheuser-Busch reject its advances, according to analysts.
A trained engineer, Brito describes InBev as a meritocracy, where top-performers are rewarded and expensive perks aren't tolerated. Success is measured by numbers, and those who don't fit often leave.
``I don't want a company car, I don't care,'' he said in a February speech at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received an MBA in 1989. ``I don't want the company to give me free beer. I can buy my own beer.''
Brito said during a conference call yesterday that he will cut costs by exploiting the combined company's size to get lower prices for ingredients and packaging materials, eliminating some market overlap and cutting redundant corporate expenses. Brito wouldn't say how much savings he was targeting.
InBev may have trouble lowering costs given potential resistance from Anheuser-Busch's unions and the low market overlap between the two companies, said Jonathan Feeney, an analyst with Wachovia Securities Inc. in New York.
`Deal Difficulties'
``The highly regulated nature of the beer industry could pose other deal difficulties,'' Feeney said.
Governor Matthew Blunt of Missouri on June 11 called InBev's approach ``deeply troubling'' and said he opposed any sale. The Web site saveab.com in St. Louis says it's trying to rally Americans to ``fight the foreign invasion'' of Anheuser- Busch.
The name of the combined company would ``evoke Anheuser- Busch's heritage,'' InBev said this week.
Anheuser-Busch said in a statement that its board will ``pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders'' and make a decision ``in due course.'' InBev's bid is 18 percent higher than Anheuser- Busch's previous high in October 2002.
The Belgian company hired Lazard Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as financial advisers. In addition to Banco Santander, banks financing InBev's proposed takeover are Deutsche Bank AG, Barclays Capital, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Fortis and ING Groep NV.
Culture Clash
InBev's acquisition strategy might clash with the culture of Anheuser-Busch, which has a reputation for close relationships with distributors and expensive marketing.
The prospect of an InBev takeover is frightening to Anheuser-Busch distributors, said Joe Thompson, president of Independent Beverage Group in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, which brokers buyouts between beer distributors.
``They just worry about losing their influence with their supplier,'' he said. ``If you can pick up the phone and call Vice President of Marketing Dave Peacock because you've known him for 20 years, it's a lot better than picking up the phone and calling someone in Brazil.''
While InBev sells beer in more than 130 countries and is growing in China and Russia, it generates less than 1 percent of its beer volume in the U.S. Anheuser-Busch's domestic sales have slowed in recent years because of competition from wine and smaller craft beers, with annual domestic shipments of Budweiser declining 17 percent from 2004 to 2007, according to industry newsletter Beer Marketer's Insights.
Cut Victim
Bueno, 42, the former AmBev distributor in Taubate, a town in Sao Paulo state, says he fell victim to the brewer's cost- cutting zeal in 2002 when he lost the 15-truck business founded by his grandfather. He alleges AmBev put him out of business by allowing wholesale outlets to sell cans of beer at a discount to what he charged bars and restaurants for the same product.
At the time, AmBev was trimming costs by deploying its own trucks to distribute beer, cutting out middlemen such as Bueno. Marianne Amssoms, an InBev spokeswoman in Leuven, said the company is simply trying to control costs.
``We are cost-conscious and we try to use the company's resources in the most efficient way,'' she said.
Creative Marketing
Red Cross turns to Nascar in unique marketing campaign
By Elizabeth OlsonTHE NEW YORK TIMES
Sunday, June 15, 2008
In a perfect world, donating blood would be purely an altruistic pursuit. In the real world, the American Red Cross is finding that a little corporate sponsorship — plus a few freebies — helps to coax people to roll up their sleeves.
The organization embarked this year on its first corporate-style marketing effort. In January, it hired its first brand manager, Elizabeth Reitman, who had spent seven years in marketing and advertising at Discovery Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. In April, the Red Cross named a new president and chief executive, Gail McGovern, who has taught marketing at Harvard Business School and held senior positions at AT&T and Fidelity Investments.
The Red Cross announced its first national campaign, supplementing a patchwork of local marketing initiatives. The umbrella effort, called Red Cross Racing, aims to turn the more than 75 million fans of the NASCAR racing circuit into regular blood donors.
For now, the outreach is focused on NASCAR fans, but the broad approach represents a small but important foray for the Red Cross. Last year, the organization was plagued by a leadership scandal, a large deficit and faced millions of dollars in fines from the Food and Drug Administration for mistakes in blood collection and distribution.
As part of a self-examination, the Red Cross began to reassess its blood drives. The collection process has been highly decentralized, with each of 36 regions in the United States conducting its own marketing and advertising. That meant that on any day, there were about 500 blood drives across the country.
"What we needed was not to have one look in Southern California and a completely different look in Boston," said Reitman. "It's been a definite mind-shift to get a consistent look."
The Red Cross also sought advice from a corporate supporter, 3M Worldwide, which has long conducted blood drives among its workers and donated products and money to the Red Cross. 3M has also been a corporate sponsor of NASCAR for four years.
"NASCAR reaches one in four Americans," said Robert MacDonald, 3M's senior vice president for sales and marketing. "Its geographical reach has been growing from where it started in the South, and now it's pretty much all over."
3M offered to donate advertising space on one of its race cars, the No. 16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing. The Red Cross emblem then appeared on the hood of the 3M car in Talledega, Ala., in April. The same car will also appear in the race in Phoenix in November, with the Red Cross logo appearing on the car's side in eight other NASCAR races this season.
The Red Cross has been setting up tents at NASCAR events, where fans can pick up literature and register online to donate blood. The Red Cross follows up with e-mail messages to each person signing up to donate blood.
At Talledega, Thomas said, the Red Cross fell a little short of its goal to register 4,000 fans. More fans have registered on www.redcrossracing.com, but the Red Cross said it had no overall figure.
"What we're trying to do is take this marketing technique, so instead of 50 donors who give one time a year, we have 75 donors who give two times a year," Thomas said.
The cost to 3M? The advertising space on the hood of the No. 16 race car, MacDonald said, is worth about $500,000 each race, based on the average of $20 million it costs to sponsor a full NASCAR season.
But "more important than the money," he said, "is a marketing program that is working for the Red Cross and one that they can build on."
Local Red Cross divisions are still engaged in efforts of their own. After all, the Red Cross is responsible for 43 percent of the country's blood supply, so it needs to rely on more than NASCAR fans.
In May, the Red Cross in Massachusetts worked with the Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., the company that runs the Uno Chicago Grill franchise, on a campaign called "Give a pint, get a pizza." The idea was to collect blood for the summer months when supplies are low because people are on vacation.
Uno sent out 100,000 postcards about the blood drive and wound up giving away 20,000 vouchers to donors for a free pizza, said Richard Hendrie, Uno's senior vice president for marketing.
"We've had a great response so far," he said. "It's enough that we're thinking about doing it again later this year."
Independent blood centers have also figured out that giveaways are a good supplement for donors' altruistic impulses. The New York Blood Center, which serves 200 hospitals in New York and New Jersey, is aiming at younger donors with offers of VIP passes to concerts and a $500 college donation for each student who organizes a blood drive that brings in 50 pints.
"We're working to develop a new generation of givers," said Robert L. Jones, president and chief executive for the center.
Right now, the center is exploring the idea of giving each donor a free cholesterol screening or cardiovascular profile. As Jones put it, "This would benefit the donor a lot more than a mug or a T-shirt."
By Elizabeth OlsonTHE NEW YORK TIMES
Sunday, June 15, 2008
In a perfect world, donating blood would be purely an altruistic pursuit. In the real world, the American Red Cross is finding that a little corporate sponsorship — plus a few freebies — helps to coax people to roll up their sleeves.
The organization embarked this year on its first corporate-style marketing effort. In January, it hired its first brand manager, Elizabeth Reitman, who had spent seven years in marketing and advertising at Discovery Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. In April, the Red Cross named a new president and chief executive, Gail McGovern, who has taught marketing at Harvard Business School and held senior positions at AT&T and Fidelity Investments.
The Red Cross announced its first national campaign, supplementing a patchwork of local marketing initiatives. The umbrella effort, called Red Cross Racing, aims to turn the more than 75 million fans of the NASCAR racing circuit into regular blood donors.
For now, the outreach is focused on NASCAR fans, but the broad approach represents a small but important foray for the Red Cross. Last year, the organization was plagued by a leadership scandal, a large deficit and faced millions of dollars in fines from the Food and Drug Administration for mistakes in blood collection and distribution.
As part of a self-examination, the Red Cross began to reassess its blood drives. The collection process has been highly decentralized, with each of 36 regions in the United States conducting its own marketing and advertising. That meant that on any day, there were about 500 blood drives across the country.
"What we needed was not to have one look in Southern California and a completely different look in Boston," said Reitman. "It's been a definite mind-shift to get a consistent look."
The Red Cross also sought advice from a corporate supporter, 3M Worldwide, which has long conducted blood drives among its workers and donated products and money to the Red Cross. 3M has also been a corporate sponsor of NASCAR for four years.
"NASCAR reaches one in four Americans," said Robert MacDonald, 3M's senior vice president for sales and marketing. "Its geographical reach has been growing from where it started in the South, and now it's pretty much all over."
3M offered to donate advertising space on one of its race cars, the No. 16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing. The Red Cross emblem then appeared on the hood of the 3M car in Talledega, Ala., in April. The same car will also appear in the race in Phoenix in November, with the Red Cross logo appearing on the car's side in eight other NASCAR races this season.
The Red Cross has been setting up tents at NASCAR events, where fans can pick up literature and register online to donate blood. The Red Cross follows up with e-mail messages to each person signing up to donate blood.
At Talledega, Thomas said, the Red Cross fell a little short of its goal to register 4,000 fans. More fans have registered on www.redcrossracing.com, but the Red Cross said it had no overall figure.
"What we're trying to do is take this marketing technique, so instead of 50 donors who give one time a year, we have 75 donors who give two times a year," Thomas said.
The cost to 3M? The advertising space on the hood of the No. 16 race car, MacDonald said, is worth about $500,000 each race, based on the average of $20 million it costs to sponsor a full NASCAR season.
But "more important than the money," he said, "is a marketing program that is working for the Red Cross and one that they can build on."
Local Red Cross divisions are still engaged in efforts of their own. After all, the Red Cross is responsible for 43 percent of the country's blood supply, so it needs to rely on more than NASCAR fans.
In May, the Red Cross in Massachusetts worked with the Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., the company that runs the Uno Chicago Grill franchise, on a campaign called "Give a pint, get a pizza." The idea was to collect blood for the summer months when supplies are low because people are on vacation.
Uno sent out 100,000 postcards about the blood drive and wound up giving away 20,000 vouchers to donors for a free pizza, said Richard Hendrie, Uno's senior vice president for marketing.
"We've had a great response so far," he said. "It's enough that we're thinking about doing it again later this year."
Independent blood centers have also figured out that giveaways are a good supplement for donors' altruistic impulses. The New York Blood Center, which serves 200 hospitals in New York and New Jersey, is aiming at younger donors with offers of VIP passes to concerts and a $500 college donation for each student who organizes a blood drive that brings in 50 pints.
"We're working to develop a new generation of givers," said Robert L. Jones, president and chief executive for the center.
Right now, the center is exploring the idea of giving each donor a free cholesterol screening or cardiovascular profile. As Jones put it, "This would benefit the donor a lot more than a mug or a T-shirt."
Back from Chicago and Iowa
I was away for a few days and intended to post while I was traveling, but I was without an Internet connection in the midst of the floods in Iowa City. But I am back now and ready to talk marketing!
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