I have today emailed the British Chiropractic Association with the following queries.
1. Does the British Chiropractic Association still endorse the "Happy Families" leaflet? If not, when did this endorsement cease and why?
2. Does the British Chiropractic Association still support chiropractic as a treatment for colic? If not, when did this support cease and why?
I will let you know any response.
And finally...
Longstanding readers of this Blog may recall the (perhaps condescending) response to a previous query I had from Publicasity, the BCA's PR company:
"Thank you for your request. We are indeed the PR Consultancy for the BCA but as such our remit is limited to the mainstream media on matters relating to the promotion of Chiropractic. Thanks..."
You will recall that I delighted in the throwaway "Thanks...". You could just tell one was dealing with such a cool PR executive... :-)
Oh well, the internet and blogosphere clearly didn't matter to the British Chiropractic Association.
But I have news: possibly emboldened by their successful PR work with the British Chiropractic Association, Publicasity now describe themselves as not a PR company but as Brand Alchemists instead.
The requirements to be one of these Brand Alchemists?
"1. One who creates or amplifies valuable brands
2. Offers a bespoke comms mix to achieve your end goal
3. Transformative or turns brands into gold
4. ‘A top-notch agency with THE right chemistry’
5. ‘Guarantees results - if we don’t deliver, we work for free until we do’ "
And so...
"We have over 50 carefully hand picked brand alchemists who are always hungry to perform their magic".
You really couldn't make it up.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
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9 comments:
On the BCA's "Information for health professionals" web page, a rather short list of conditions is given, which does not include colic or asthma.
Some chiropractors are still advertising that they can "help with" colic and digestive conditions. See http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/northumberland/business-guide/feature/hexham-family-chiropractic/5398
Normally, I'd feel bad being a terrible pedant but in this case I'm willing to make an exception.
Dear Publicasity Mongoloids,
1. Alchemists are THOSE who create or amplify. It's a plural thing.
2. "Free" not "for free".
That's without even flexing my sad pedantry muscles.
Not only but also...
Their case studies are:
1. A bunch of smelly old (but definitely not bogus) quacks; and
2. The London Fricking Air Ambulance - "Keeping The Service Alive". You'd have thought London Air Ambulance would have wanted to work with Brand Alchemists that had some basic understanding of science or...
Oh wait - yep "alchemy" would be a made up science. Obviously they do what they say on the tin. (Hint, the tin is basically marked "cockmasters" for anyone who takes a look at their About Us page).
I shouldn't be too mean, though: their main office is in Hemel Hempstead. Bless. One day they'll be real contenders.
I'm fascinated by their claim of reaching (a ludicrously precise) 53,998,551 people, particularly as they admit to distributing only around 109,000 leaflets in print and digitally.
Did every leaflet get read by an average of 50 people?
Have they just mobbed together all the sales of all media where it was mostly missed by the potential audience, as most advertising is? And are they counting the same people over and over again in their 'reach' figures, by adding up consecutive exposures through the same channels? (Rhetorical)
They also received fewer than 50,000 page hits on their vodcast "to date", which I take to mean: "mostly beyond the campaign end date of September 2007".
Based on leaflets and site hits (which are active signs of your message getting across), it looks like the BCA are spending a few pounds on media coverage for every sign of interest, yet still aren't getting that much.
http://www.publicasity.co.uk/case-study/bca.html
A good point well made, Frank, but you didn't refer to them as "cockmasters" so I'm going to have to appeal to the ref to deduct marks.
Jack?
Sorry, Owen, I didn't realize it was necessary to state the bleedin' obvious round these parts, but I'll defer to Jack on this matter, of course.
Frank prevails on this one.
Jack,look at this, please:
http://www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk/gfx/uploads/textbox/Singh/FURTHER%20UPDATE%20ON%20BCA%20v%20SIMON%20SINGH%20-%20090526FVFV.pdf
What is it? What a delirium!
The BCA represented by alchemists? Thank you Jack, you've made my day.
Are Publicasity representing homeopaths as well?
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