Marketing

U.S. Drops Cool $36 Million to Burson-Marsteller to Promote...Money

Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on

The federal treasury will pay out $36 million over five years to the Burson-Marsteller PR firm to promote redesigned $5 and $100 bills. According to the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the bills need to be promoted and explained to businesses, the media and others in order to ensure that new security features, including "optically variable ink" and watermarks are fully understood.

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Main Source: 
PR Week (sub req'd), December 21, 2006
Topics: 
Marketing
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Society of Professional Journalists, or for Professional Flacks?

Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on

The Society of Professional Journalists is moving ahead on a joint venture with Market Wire, a PR industry firm that, among other services, distributes news releases. Columnist Michael Miner of the Chicago Reader exposed the deal last fall.

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Main Source: 
The Reader, December 15, 2006
Topics: 
Journalism
Marketing
Media
Public Relations

All I Want for Christmas Is an End to Stealth Marketing

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Charlie "was a hip-hop artist, very 'street.' ... He started a blog, alliwantforxmasisapsp.com, where he mused in urban patois about how his cousin Pete really, really wanted a Sony PSP for Christmas." The website was a "flog," or fake blog, launched by Sony to market the game system. "Sony's admission ...

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Main Source: 
Sacramento Bee (California), December 21, 2006
Topics: 
Internet
Corporations
Marketing

Sen. Harkin Hearkens: Junk Food Marketing "Out of Control"

Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on

The new Congress is likely to put new and stronger emphasis on limiting junk food marketing, say aides to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin becomes chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee in 2007. His aides report that food marketing to children "will be one of our top tier agenda items." In recent years, Harkin futilely has sought to push through legislation toughening Federal Trade Commission authority to regulate junk food marketing.

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Main Source: 
San Francisco Chronicle, December 20, 2006
Topics: 
Obesity
U.S. Congress
Children
Marketing

How to Get Ahead in Drug Marketing

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

According to internal marketing documents, "Eli Lilly encouraged primary care physicians to use Zyprexa, a powerful drug for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in patients who did not have either condition." Under U.S. law, companies can't promote "prescription drugs for conditions for which they have not been approved ...

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Main Source: 
New York Times, December 18, 2006
Topics: 
Health
Marketing
Pharmaceuticals

Trans Fat Spin Doctors Chart Legislative Risks

Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on

The spin-driven restaurant and beverage industry front group, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), has created a grass roots compilation of city, county and state efforts to ban added trans fats in restaurant food.

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Main Source: 
Center for Consumer Freedom, December 15, 2006
Topics: 
Food Safety
Obesity
Front Groups
Marketing

A Cause (-Related Marketing) for Joy?

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"Large American nonprofits spend at least $7.6 billion per year on marketing and public relations," according to a consulting firm's analysis of U.S. tax data. "$7.6 billion annually in spending for advertising, communications, public relations and branding ... is not an insignificant business sector," writes Tom Watson. "Total spending on public relations in the U.S. reached some $3.7 billion last year. ...

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Main Source: 
The Huffington Post, December 13, 2006
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Marketing
Public Relations

It's the Little Things

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Walmart used to annoy me with its horrible labor practices, draconian rules, and blatant manipulation of the media, but now it's gone past annoyance to bafflement," writes marketing consultant K.D. Paine. "The latest was the firing of their VP of Marketing because she allegedly went for rides in an Aston Martin and accepted dinners from Agencies pitching their business. ... Their message is: we're all about ethics.

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Main Source: 
KD Paine's PR Measurement Blog, December 8, 2006
Topics: 
Ethics
Marketing
Public Relations

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