State of the Brand

Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. The US Justice Department fined Pfizer $2.3 billion for illegal marketing practices; taking doctors on golf trips, paying for massages, and the like to encourage off-label prescriptions of popular drugs. 2. With such a hefty penalty, conventional wisdom would say Pfizer’s market perception should suffer. By objective measures, that is not happening. 3. Pfizer has insulated its corporate brand by positioning its blockbuster drugs as the stars, and not marketing itself. That seems to be working. For now.

Remember the dad in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”?

He used Windex® for everything. He went so far as to carry around a bottle at all times, spraying things (and people) at comically inopportune times. Clearly, neither the FDA nor our friends at S.C. Johnson and Company in Racine, Wisconsin endorse Windex for the treatment of cold, flu, arthritis, and acne. The depiction was so ridiculous, most (reasonable consumers) wouldn’t take it seriously.

Now, let’s change the scenario.

Imagine you are recovering from a surgical procedure. Let’s pick appendix removal, but it could be anything. Clearly, you’re in pain, and your attending physician prescribes a medication - in this case, Bextra®. She tells you to take the prescribed dosage as needed and come back in three weeks.

Let me ask you something: In that scenario, do you look up the drug name in the formulary? Did you learn your doctor just prescribed well beyond the recommended dosage? Did you also learn Bextra; was not approved to treat post operative pain? That is was really an arthritis drug? And a Cox-2 inhibitor? The same Cox-2 inhibitor class of drugs you’ve heard about?

But your doctor knows best, right? (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. The US Army spends 10 times what the average college or university spends for each new recruit. That just is not sustainable. 2. A combination of regulatory changes and careful data-mining - combined with smart sponsorship and coaching for the popular video game Halo 3 - are likely to turn the tide. 3. The inevitable targeting of younge r and younger children by recruiting messages could be seen as both a threat to the innocence of youth as well as an opportunity to communicate civic virtue to young citizens.

It costs the US Army, on average, $24,500 for each new recruit.

$24,500.

That may not sound like a lot of money until you consider the average university spends just over $2000 to achieve the same result. Street math: The Army spends 10 times what the U of M spends. Yikes.

Let’s do more math, shall we. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. There is little doubt the “Cash for Clunkers” generated intense activity and excitement, running out of money in the space of one week. 2. However, the real-dollar impact on the auto industry (or on any other tangible measure you like) of the program is modest at best. 3. The true impact is psychological, working quite efficiently to change the public outlook.

Incentives matter.

I was on the phone last week catching up with the professor who taught me that essential marketing truth more than 15 years ago. He was just back from a trip to Europe. What struck him was how Europeans drove. They owned small, efficient cars that they did not drive very often. In most of the EU, gas ranges from US$5 to $8 per gallon, so it’s not hard to understand why.

On the other hard, Europe has no “car culture” to speak of, and plenty of efficient transit options.

All of that got the good doctor thinking about the old Jeep in his driveway and the “Cash for Clunkers” program (Car Allowance Rebate System - or CARS - is the neato government acronym) and how he could drive a more efficient vehicle. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Conventional wisdom tells us the down economy should negatively impact Weight Watchers International and businesses in its category. 2. However, Weight Watchers has positioned itself ideally in the public mind and within the medical community. 3. When the times comes (sooner than we think) for sliding-scale, health-impact pricing, Weight Watchers will benefit from insurance plans who adjust premiums based on health metrics.

We all know what it supposed to happen in a “down” economy.

We all know discretionary purchases will take a hit. We all know recurring monthly fees in the household budget will get another look. We all know people will forgo expensive healthy food in favor of cheaper options and greasy comfort food.

Apparently, investors and analysts also know those things, and have pummeled Weight Watchers International stock (NYSE:WTW) over the past six months, down some 40 percent.

All of which begs the question: Are the analysts correct? (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Hemorrhaging job losses in the financial sector make recruiting easier for the CIA’s financial counter-terrorism division. 2. The agency should experience short-term success with a combination of decent pay, patriotic appeals, and challenging work. 3. Long-term image problems remain, however, and the CIA must act to retool its image to retain its young and talented financial agents.

Out of a job in the financial sector?

The CIA wants you. And they know they’ve got your attention.

Times are (comparatively) tough for freshly minted Ivy League MBAs. Hopes of six-figure investment banking careers are gone; this new crop of grad students has entered a brutal Wall Street job market.

To put it in real terms, the Financial Times reports over 130,000 financial sector jobs have been shed in the past 12 months. And as employment is often a lagging indicator of economic growth, this summer’s (and this fall’s) graduates had better keep their options open.

As (comparatively) sad as this situation may sound, the news is music to the ears of hiring managers at the Central Intelligence Agency. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. The pork industry feels the use of the word “swine” flu to describe this latest outbreak will hurt consumption. 2. In addition to short-term market data, they cite other examples of virus-induced hysteria. 3. All that said, long-term data for public health shocks in the poultry, tomato, and spinach markets (and even the last swine flu in 1976) show little impact.

Hog farmers were hog-raving mad.

Scientists just did what scientists do: In the midst of a cacophony of technical language most journalists wouldn’t understand, they mentioned the words “swine flu” to describe this latest swine virus that was able to mutate - just enough - to infect humans. Admittedly, the term “swine flu” is a bit inaccurate, but it’s catchier than H1N1, for sure.

Guess what name stuck? (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Leasing for the new One World Trade Center has proven difficult, and the name “Freedom Tower” was complicating matters. The Port Authority dropped it. 2. Risk analysts point to the name’s symbolism as a reason for terrorists to again target the site. 3. However, emergent branding tells us “Freedom Tower” is here to stay anyway, and planners would do well to take advantage of it.

One World Trade Center.

Last week, the New York Port Authority - who owns the land under the fallen Twin Towers and is building a new skyscraper in their place - decided to drop the moniker “Freedom Tower” from the upcoming tower’s official street address as well as all future planning and marketing.

Port Authority spokespeople said it’s just easier to market the building by its formal address. And unless they can get the building marketed and leased, the whole project risks becoming a financial quagmire.

Seem a little strange to you? Think potential tenants would be chomping at the bit to sign on to such a notable upcoming landmark? Think again. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Wisconsin’s new slogan has some individuals and companies in quite a tiz over possible trademark infringement. 2. This common string of words, however, isn’t really “protectable” in a meaningful way. 3. This is not a legal, but rather a branding problem: Wisconsin’s slogan fails the “uniqueness” test.

“Live like you mean it.”

Last week, Governor Jim Doyle unveiled the state tourism department’s new logo and slogan. As with every other state in the union, this one is meant to promote Wisconsin as a tourism and business destination.

And like most other states, Wisconsin has set its sights on a federal trademark to protect its investment.

However, nearly as soon as it was introduced, some businesses and individuals cried foul.

As you could probably guess, Wisconsin’s use of the phrase “live like you mean it” is not the first time those five words have been strung together. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Increased violence along the U.S./Mexico border has led the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory. 2. The warning has spooked some parents, but many younger spring break travelers are taking it all in stride. For now. 3. This issue has the potential to damage the image of Mexico as a tourist destination; they should act now to inoculate the issue.

Ordinarily, spring break preparation does not include a warning from the U.S. State Department.

But this year is different. With violence on the rise in Mexico - especially along the U.S./Mexico border - the State Department issued a travel advisory notice to American citizens. And the timing (just before the surging ’spring break’ travel season) undoubtedly was intentional.

The notice opens in the standard perfunctory way: For most people in most circumstances, travel in and about Mexico is safe. However, the text quickly takes an abrupt and ominous turn. One of the more parent-spooking phrases reads, “Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in violent attacks in cities across the country, demonstrating the heightened risk of violence in public places. In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped across Mexico. Many of these cases remain unresolved.” (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. PETA hopes renaming fish “Sea Kittens” will change attitudes, leading to less fish consumption as food. 2. Ridiculous on its face, the campaign ignores thousands of years of cultural programming. 3. Worse yet, PETA risks losing the slim credibility it still maintains with the mainstream public.

No. This is not a headline from The Onion.

PETA is serious.

Against meat-consumption of all kinds, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is trying a word association strategy. By renaming fish “Sea Kittens”, PETA hopes people will think differently regarding killing and eating fish. (more…)

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