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It is hard to believe that only six short months ago, SARS and Monkey pox were the biggest news stories in the country. Scarcely passed a day where CNN lacked new footage of Chinese business executives in suits and medical masks. Scores of newspapers from coast to coast printed contamination guidelines in their back pages to save the public from mass infection. And on April 3 President Bush added SARS to the list of communicable diseases that Americans can be involuntarily quarantined for carrying.
SARS and Monkey pox were riding high on a wave of good timing and outright intimidation. The enormous buzz generated by these two calamities was any publicist's dream. Worldwide success seemed all but inevitable.
Yet, where are these once-promising diseases today? How did something with so much potential lose the public's interest so quickly? What else could these diseases have done to maintain popularity while still evading a cure?
Simply put, in the world of terminal infections, there is only one sure way to inoculate that critical mass user base: Celebrity endorsements. If you have ever taken a basic marketing class, then you know star power is the professional way to take your mom-and-pop pathogen permeation operation to international success.
Consider the widely successful and often cited example of NBA legend Magic Johnson and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In November 1991, when he announced his endorsement of HIV-related projects, only 10 million people worldwide were infected. However, just four years later, the user base doubled to a whooping 20 million. And the long-term growth continues, as market watchdog the World Health Organization reports over 40 million infected today.
The numbers do not lie. Celebrity endorsements are essential to reaching that target audience your homegrown disease craves. Consider all the exposure HIV got after old number 32 made his announcement. Magazine covers, talk shows, even his own one-hour specials! And cheers to a crackerjack financial team for finding creative tax loopholes. Apparently, some of these commercials were subsided by the federal government as public service announcements. Boy, I'd love to have those accountants doing my taxes!
The HIV story is an uplifting example of celebrity endorsements completely altering the image of a brand. Before Magic, HIV could not shake off that gay disease reputation no matter how many heterosexuals it inflicted. The penis-goes-in-a-vagina demographic refused to believe HIV could be the right fit for them. Then, straight (and how!) Magic Johnson sleeps around and suddenly manwhores and sluts alike are running to the local free clinic for anonymous testing. Talk about your overnight success!
Most importantly, all types of new markets opened up on the heels of Magic's contraction. HIV in Africa exploded in the 1990s. For several generations, Fortune 500 companies have wondered how to market to the second most populated continent on the planet. Executives knew there had to be a way to get a share of the 12 cents a day South Africans make in diamond mines. Now, HIV is just the revolutionary marketing break-through they need to pave the way. Sounds like someone took their lemons and made lemon-AIDS!
Furthermore, HIV prescribed a whole new doctrine on devout brand loyalty. Some tribes in Africa actually believe they can rid themselves of the disease by having intercourse with three virgins. What other product gets such great word-of-mouth advertising? Selling to one is like selling to four! Plus, nearly all HIV users continue to be HIV-positive for life ... and a repeat customer is a happy customer!
I hope the fluttering businessmen behind SARS and Monkey pox are taking notes. Celebrity endorsements are the only way to achieve mass-market success for up-and- coming diseases. Federal regulators at the Center for Disease Control warn such success can be replicated all too easily. All it takes is a little touch of Magic.
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Andrew Sager
