Alas, times have changed, and – unlike 1998 – when screenings of Brad Pitt drama Meet Joe Black drew packed houses due to the attachment of The Phantom Menace's teaser, today's marketing played to a small house.
For his part, Mr. Buffett invests like a riverboat gambler, limiting his market plays to a few big bets and buying up companies with little in common except that they are moneymakers with superb managers and products that he personally likes.
"Our hope," he continues, "is that the growth of Europe's fixed- income markets will play to PIMCO's strengths, since the U.S. corporate bond market for many years has required a bottom-up approach.
Will American-style marketing play to European gardening fanatics?
That does not seem like a strong marketing play to me in this day and age.
And all that lore about British men's clubs and codes of confidentiality is mostly a marketing play to pump up the exclusivity quotient.
Tinder confirmed to TechCrunch that this isn't a revenue-generating partnership but rather a marketing play to give users exclusive access to cool people and products.
This is a somewhat similar marketing play to Fitbit, which partners with bigger brands to embed its software and use the data.
Still, Mr. Ecko has his sights set on more than one arena, and his marketing campaigns play to an array of youthful interests.
Still, Experian continued to spend heavily on marketing that played to the anxiety many Americans feel about their credit amid the financial crisis.
