Last year’s headline: Pharmilink debuts online drug sampling

Synopsis: A new online ordering and information service is launched for Canadian doctors. Through Physicians Pharmilink, pharmaceutical marketers can present their products to doctors, and provide sample ordering with a 24-hour turnaround, all online. Cornerstone Inter-Active Communications, the Mississauga, Ont.-based creator, says it’s a cost-effective way to reach doctors, and provide services in geographic areas where regular face-to-face visits from reps may not be financially feasible. The company’s revenues come from the manufacturers, whose products and information are distributed through the site.

One year later: The prognosis for the service is good, according to Phil Isaac, Cornerstone Inter-Active account executive. ‘It’s doing very, very well,’ he says. Participation is ahead of projections, he says, pointing out the company recently sent out its third product catalogue, which was distributed to 35,100 practising doctors. The response to the campaign ‘is very encouraging,’ he says, adding that it is better than the client had expected. At the same time, those who respond to each mailing are different, so the program is not simply maintaining repeat users. The glossy catalogue dedicates a half-page to each of the products in the company’s portfolio, and is currently running 16 pages. CS

Last year’s headline: Campaign keeps policyholders onside

Synopsis: It was a big word that, in some circles, presented a huge challenge to Canada’s major insurance industry players. ‘Demutualization’ – the transformation of Canada Life, Manulife Financial, Mutual Life and Sun Life from policyholder-owned businesses to publicly-traded, stockholder-owned businesses – meant nothing less than the wholesale transformation in the ownership of Canada’s insurance industry. Accordingly, it required a massive and co-ordinated marketing effort among the four insurance companies involved in order to explain demutualization to policyholders. The companies wanted to avoid the public anger and acrimony that characterized and ultimately killed off merger bids in Canada’s banking industry the year before. A full-page display ad was placed in 30 daily newspapers across Canada. In addition, the companies briefed their agents, established call centres, updated Web sites and created and sent printed material to their policyholders.

One year later: For the most part, demutualization went ahead without the posturing and rancor that came out of the big banks’ merger efforts. According to Clark Fraser, a consulting associate with Shandwick Canada – the Toronto-based public relations firm hired to oversee the companies’ common campaign – the insurance firms involved knew early on that the public would want and need information. ‘It came at a time when the four companies were working jointly,’ he notes. ‘Since then, of course, competitive issues have kicked in.’ Of the four, only Sun Life has yet to hold an initial public offering, although at press time one was expected before the New Year. Manulife Financial and Canada Life are now both shareholder-owned, as is Mutual Life – which changed its name in June to Clarica. DE

Last year’s headline: iMac branches into DM

Synopsis: Apple Computer follows up its successful launch of the iMac by ramping up a direct mail campaign designed to upsell existing Mac users. The campaign was timed to come after the October launch of iMac and before the Christmas buying period. The mailing, created by Toronto-based Wunderman Cato Johnson, was targeted to about 100,000 prospects, primarily in Ontario and Western Canada. The direct mail package asked for ‘experts…to test drive iMac,’ with an inducement of a free, limited edition watch for those who took the company up on its offer. Apple Canada national marketing manager Patricia Heath told Strategy DirectResponse the initiative was ‘to get the message out to the market that we are very much, and aggressively, back in the consumer market space with an innovative, exciting new product.’

One year later: Apple Canada public relations manager Dennis Manning says the company considers the test-drive campaign to have been a runaway success. ‘It was so successful, in fact, we had to double the quantity of watches we had to order,’ he says. ‘Consumers went right to our resellers to do the test drive, and we got some valuable data in the process. The direct mail initiative certainly accomplished what we wanted.’ Since the campaign was built around the launch, it has not been sustained. DE