Pfizer to Pay $2.3B Pfine

The days of extravagant wining and dining your prospective clients may be a thing of the past. Today, Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer, Inc. with $2.3 billion in fines for engaging what they called "illegal marketing."

This entailed inviting doctors to all-expense-paid meetings at plush resorts, providing free golf, spa treatments and accommodations. Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting that this is the company's fourth such offense in the past decade.

The allegations include the marketing of 13 drugs, including Viagra, Zoloft and Lipitor.

As part of its ongoing campaign to lower drug prices and increase access, AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded the U.S. Justice Department`s crackdown
on Pfizer, Inc. for its fraudulent drug marketing practices.

"We believe that such practices are, unfortunately, widespread within the pharmaceutical industry. The time has come for all drug companies-not just Pfizer-to be held responsible for harm done to public health in the name of exorbitant profit," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Yet another reason why healthcare is so expensive. What do you think?

Tidewater Marketing Scandal Washes up in NY

Back in February, I write about our friends at Tidewater Marketing, a Florida marketing company accused of deceptive promotion practices by offering free gas, then never delivering. Apparently, this company has gotten the attention of NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is currently going after the company for fraud.

According to LeagalNewsline,Cuomo claims that Tidewater Marketing Global Consultants, Inc., headquartered in Clearwater, Fla., and President Crystal M. Clark, repeatedly deceived consumers through a promotional free gas gift card program in order to generate business for several New York-based companies.

"This company chose to disregard important consumer protections that exist in New York and instead engage in a deliberately deceptive scheme," Cuomo said. "Consumers who thought they were taking part in a free promotion instead ended up shelling out hundreds of dollars in order to get their 'free gas.'"

I'm getting reports from Marketing Don't readers that Ms. Clark has changed her name and has also been indicted on drug trafficking charges.

I guess there's no such thing as free gas.

Marketing Lessons From The Weinermobile

I just love the title of this article.

Many of us have seen the pictures of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile that crashed into a home in Wisconsin. This prompted Rob Strasberg to share five marketing strategies that he has learned from this incident:

1. Your brand is a big responsibility. Take it seriously. Understand the brand, the voice, the identity and the company point of view.

2. Advertising is more than just placing ads in a publication or on television. Everything is advertising, from creating public relations, setting up events, speaking with press, working with the salespeople and talking to consumers.

3. Get along with your business partners. People skills cannot be stressed enough. Stay positive and you will create bigger ideas together than you ever thought possible.

4. Stay away from crude or sexually obvious marketing. It may get attention, but it does not get respect.

5. Be prepared. Do your homework. Know your stuff. One wrong move and you could become a national joke.

Nothing says credibility like the sight of a giant wiener demolishing a house.

Is The Twitter Craze Dying A Slow Painful Death?

Interesting post by Jonathan Richman raises some questions regarding the long-term life expectancy of Twitter. While Twitter has shown incredible growth over the past year (1,448 percent according to PCmag.com), the pace is slowing (as it would be impossible to keep that pace up indefinitely).

However, according to The New York Times, "a report from Nielsen Online suggests that most users are tempted by Twitter’s novelty, then lose interest. For most of the last year, Twitter’s audience retention rate — users who return the next month — was below 30 percent."

As Richman points out, "when you take those two facts together, you quickly realize that Twitter is headed in the wrong direction."

Also, Twitter is spammers dream come true. It's much harder to spam via email, but Twitter makes it a breeze. Getting followers is a heck of a lot easier than guessing email addresses. Anyone who has an account can easily see this for themselves.

I can say for myself that I was initially fascinated by Twitter. I even had the Tweet Grid up on my screen all day, like a day trader, checking out tweets in real time all day. But it was exhausting. I have automated my Twitter account to update via this blog or Facebook, so I have no need to physically tweet any longer.

What are your experiences with Twitter? What can it do to improve?

5 Marketing Don'ts for Email Lists

I am on pop culture overload and need to get back to the basics as far as Marketing Don'ts are concerned.

Every marketer worth their salt has incorporated email marketing into their plans. Some do it very well -- others need a refresher. The rules keep changing. It used to be that building the biggest list possible and blasting it out weekly was the effective way to go. No more. Now, the name of the game is targeted response and basically becoming a mind reader and hitting the recipients at just the right time.

In this article by Morgan Stewart, he outlines five ways to sabotage your email list building efforts as follows:

1. Building a list before building a worthwhile program.
Your product or service has to be good. Period. No amount of marketing is going to make up for that. Build your foundation before putting the siding on the house.

2. Thinking subscribers are "out there."
"Your best prospective subscribers are already interacting with your company in one way or another," Stewart says. Don't take them for granted or forget about them. "Invest in implementing organic tactics before you invest money in hunting tactics."

3. Invading inboxes.
No one likes uninvited visitors, which is what spam is. Email append only makes sense if subscribers opt in. At the end of the day, you want responders, not dead weight.

4. Not diversifying list growth efforts.
Stewart points out that "You want to present your value proposition to consumers at as many points possible -- not only to people who are already interacting with your brand, but ideally to their friends as well." Using Social Media is one way to do this. Stewart advises that you can encourage subscribers to become fans on Facebook, to get exposure to a broader audience. Place an offer on that fan page requiring people to provide an email address so you can send them the offer, and you have a new list growth tool.

5. Setting it and forgetting it.
With apologies to Ron Popeil, this tactic does not work in the world of email marketing. You must cultivate your list regularly. Analyze where you got certain names and measure if they are indeed your target audience. As you look at the quality of the names collected through each source, this level of detail will allow you to go back and address issues, make improvements, or terminate ineffective programs.

Don't Let the Facts Get in the Way

It has been a perfect storm of insane events all converging over the past few weeks. While the death of Michael Jackson seems to be getting plenty of press, none of it is particularly good. As the world is slowly getting over the shock of it, numerous unsavory details are starting to emerge.

The facts are the facts to be sure, in all of the above named cases. Michael Jackson was eccentric, to put it nicely, and the gory details of his drug use and paternity of his children are coming to the fore. The Gosselins put fame and fortune ahead of the well-being of their young children by annoncing their separation on an episode of their show to sky-high ratings. Gov. Sanford put his own selfish needs ahead of those of his family and the state of South Carolina when he pulled his disappearing act.

All of these folks are using PR in different ways. But certain truths cannot be avoided. Bottom line is that no mattter what excuses or explanations are put forth, the fact remains that no matter how odd or creepy, it seems that Jackson is the only one who put the needs of his children, (however misguided), ahead of most anything else. the same absolutely cannot be said of Jon & Kate Gosselin or Gov. Stanford.

Michael Jackson the better parent? It is indeed a world gone mad.

The Fall of the House of Gosselin

Like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was inevitable that the house of Gosselin would eventually collapse under the weight of six out of the seven deadly sins.

Lust: Allegedly this whole firestorm was set off by rumors of affairs between Jon and the 23 year old teacher as well as Kate and her bodyguard.

Gluttony: How many different handouts has this family gotten? Well, it is never enough. Apparently, Kate has raised begging to an art form, charging $150 for "Tea with Kate" and $20 a pop for photos of the sextuplets.

Greed: When Kate first had the tups, her parents' church rallied, donated cribs, highchairs, food, diapers and childcare to the struggling couple. Allegedly, Kate was incensed that the cribs "didn't match" and that she was getting used things.

Wrath: Just watch one episode and watch Kate unleash on Jon for not giving the kids her pre-made organic meals. Got news for you -- the four million diapers you have put in the landfill for your kids alone have more than ate up your carbon footprint allotment.

Envy: It was Kate's obssession with the McCaughey septuplets that led to her taking the fertility drugs, then shopping around the documentary (and later TV show) idea to various media outlets when the kids were in utereo.

Pride: Pride goeth before the fall. Demanding freebies, compromising their children's privacy and reveling in their newfound fame has brought the inevitable fall and those who are cheering about it.

Sloth is the only one left out. Admittedly, they certainly are not lazy. That I will give them.

I feel for those kids. They just look miserable. To carry on with this charade when the family is clearly in crisis makes no logical sense. For a supposedly religious family, God has had very little to do with their recent actions. They are too busy trying to spin this whole thing so they can keep the cash cow going.

I hope this family finds their way soon. No house, car or vacation is worth this.