• Ad Age, Wednesday, February 22, 2006 11 AM

Stung by harsh criticism and a negative public perception, a leading pharmaceutical marketer is turning its entire sales force into goodwill ambassadors in a massive, grassroots public relations effort to improve its image. The effort is being undertaken by GlaxoSmithKline, a $35 billion pharmaceutical giant that has decided to forgo a traditional corporate branding image in favor of this new approach. The initiative is the brainchild of Michael Pucci, the company's vice president-external advocacy. "What we're leveraging here is asking our employees to talk to people, even if they just start with their family members," he said. Armed with salient talking points and answers to tough questions, the sales force is out speaking to Rotarians, Elks, Lions Club members, senior-citizen groups, weekly newspapers, schools and every community group they can think of. Topics include the affordability of prescription medication; how today's medicines fund the next generation of drugs; access to state and federal programs that offset drug prices; and misconceptions about direct-to-consumer advertising.

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