RE: UKNM: Stealth Marketing

[Mat Morrison]

Yeah -- which was why it was mentioned in the original message: 


> Cafe Herpe is SmithKline Beecham's useful 

> little marketing programme for people with 

> embarrassingly personal itches. 

> (http://www.cafeherpe.com)



Remember, Carl; read THEN reply.


> -----Original Message-----

>

From: Carl Christensen [carldomino [dot] com (mailto:carldomino [dot] com)]

> Sent: Friday, July 31, 1998 7:19 PM

>

To: uk-netmarketing-digestchinwag [dot] com

> Subject: UKNM: Stealth Marketing

> 

> 

> Subject was "Herpes, pregnant women and other custom 

> publishing projects..."

> 

> 

> This got me thinking about Stealth Marketing which is I 

> believe manifested

> at its best at a site called, CafeHerpe, a resource for all 

> things related

> to genital herpes

> 

> Designed as a "virtual coffee shop" to make it easy for 

> visitors to explore

> and learn how to live with genital herpes, the site is 

> organized into five

> thematic sections :-.

> 

> "The Buffet" serves up "a mixture of viral facts" where 

> visitors can pick

> from one of three items on "Le Menu": virology, a herpes 

> virus briefing, and

> an awareness quiz.

> "Reading Lounge" details how visitors can access information 

> on how one

> contracts herpes

> "Espresso Bar" provides a wealth of product information

> "The Terrace" focuses on online support groups

> "Your Waiter" provides a helpful section for those who can't 

> quite find what

> they're looking for.

> 

> It is stylish, lavishly illustrated, very well put together 

> and serves as an

> informational support resource

> 

> But is it all helpful? or is there a hidden commercial agenda?

> 

> Scroll down, and at the bottom of the index page you will see that the

> site's "sponsor" is the well known pharmaceutical giant 

> SmithKline Beecham

> 

> Also at the bottom of the page, next to the legal disclaimer 

> is a hyperlink

> to a form where upon providing your name and address, 

> information about a

> potential treatment for the disease,  a prescription drug 

> called Famvir,

> will be mailed to you. No prizes for guessing which 

> pharmaceutical company

> is behind Famvir

> 

> At first (and second) glance, the site appears as a resource providing

> medical information on herpes in an entertaining cafe-style 

> environment, but

> be in no doubt that SKB provide all the content. Their 

> marketing agenda may

> not be immediately visible, but by providing volumes of 

> useful information


> they have leveraged the Web as a data collection and 

> marketing tool and

> successfully achieve the overall purpose of the site - to 

> promote Famvir

> 

> Interesting that when we started doing some development work 

> for SKB here in

> the UK and discussed the reasoning behind cafeherpe, the UK 

> boys considered

> the site "avant garde" and "ahead of its time"

> 

> 

> The site has been live in the US for over 18 months

> 

> 


http://www.cafeherpe.com



Carl Christensen

Domino Systems