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Viagra firm gets the blues over spam accusations
25 September 2004
TIRED of seeing Viagra ads
in your e-mail in-box? Think how Pfizer
feels.
The Viagra maker has been deluged with complaints about spam that it has not sent.
So much so that last month, it embarked on an advertising campaign to inform consumers that it is not the source of all those 'make her want you more then ever' e-mail messages.
Mr Tim Pigot, who leads Pfizer's men's sexual health division: 'I, unfortunately, get a lot of Viagra spam myself.'
The campaign, which will also focus on the dangers of ordering drugs from unlicensed online pharmacies, features banner advertisements and text messages on search engines like Google, among others, explaining to consumers that Viagra does not send spam.
E-mail ads will not be part of the campaign.
SABOTAGED
'Even if customers requested it, the e-mail might not get through the spam filters,' Mr Pigot said.
'We'd love to be able to talk more intimately with the people who are interested in engaging with us that way.
'If we didn't live in a world full of Viagra spam, it'd be easier.'
Few companies, if any, have seen their e-mail marketing efforts sabotaged as extensively by spam as Pfizer has, reported the New York Times.
But industry analysts say the company's campaign points to a larger problem for businesses sending e-mail to people who were, at one time at least, willing recipients.
The spam backlash could be damaging a cost-effective marketing vehicle.
Spam weariness could also be a factor.
While spam was a problem for some time, it has grown by 65 per cent since early 2002.
According to estimates, 72 per cent of all e-mail is now spam.
But with a bit of creativity, e-mail can become a good marketing tool.
One company that has improved the performance of its e-mail programme is Provide Commerce, the parent company of the Proflowers.com floral service and the food merchants Cherry Moon Farms and Uptown Prime.
According to Mr Jeremy Arnone, who oversees Provide Commerce's e-mail efforts, the less recently a customer has shopped with the company, the more generous the promotion.
'If you haven't ordered in a year, say, the subject line might say, 'Two dozen roses for $35',' Mr Arnone said.
More recent customers, by contrast, would receive an offer of a free glass vase with a flower order.
Thanks mostly to a more customised e-mail approach, Mr Arnone said, the company has seen customers open their e-mail at a rate that is 5 per cent higher than last year.
The rate at which customers click on the e-mail offers has jumped 10 per cent. This is despite Proflowers sending 30 per cent more e-mail to its customers than last year. source :-http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg | 
