Promoting Products to Cynical Consumers:: One Method Discussed at a Forum: Word-of-mouth ads.

When it comes to advertising, Americans have gone from cynicism to active resistance.

Almost two-thirds of us say we are extremely concerned about the practices of marketers. Nearly half think the amount of marketing and advertising is out of control.

"Trust has eroded to the point now where we are almost in a state of distrust in the marketplace," Steve Bodhaine, group president of Yankelovich Inc., said yesterday, citing his company's surveys.

Bodhaine, who runs The Segmentation Co., a custom research division of Yankelovich, spoke at a conference on marketing in the 21st century at St. Joseph's University. He and others discussed how to promote products to savvy, stressed-out, demanding consumers.

One trendy way is to let consumers play a bigger role in critiquing and selling products. Companies are enlisting thousands of influential consumers to try new stuff, hoping they will say good things to their friends.

"Many people look at us as new media," said Steve Knox, chief executive officer of Tremor, a word-of-mouth marketing company created by Procter & Gamble Co. that sends new products and marketing information to 225,000 well-connected teens and 600,000 moms. "No. We're old media. We're the oldest media." More than 90 percent of word-of-mouth advertising is "offline," he added.

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Comic Books draw in Ads:: Product Placement Expands to New Territory

A young, handsome New York City firefighter had it all, including a loving fiancée whose daughter from a previous relationship adored him and his Pontiac Solstice GXP.

Then, tragedy struck and he lost his job and the two people he cared most about to a deadly fire -- but he still had his car. So, he became an action hero and tricked out his Solstice with shotguns and other gadgets to save the lives of others.
If this sounds like a story ripped from the comics, it is. However, Time Warner Inc.'s DC Comics created this series as a paid product placement for General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac brand. DC, which will launch the six-issue series, called "Rush City," in stores July 19, debuted it on its Web site, www.dccomics.com, on Wednesday.

"We think it's a great story and a great way for Pontiac to reach guys in their 20s and 30s," said "Rush City" editor Ron Perazza.