Shape of things to come?

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 27, 2000

DETROIT (AP) -- Volvo will launch its new S60 sedan online rather than on television to avoid high advertising costs during the run-up to the November presidential election. Volvo, a subsidiary of Ford, struck a deal with Internet service provider America Online, which has an estimated 24 million subscribers. Ford also has stopped producing television advertisements during the Screen Actors Guild strike against the advertising industry. The deal with AOL is unique in the auto industry because carmakers rely heavily on television to whet consumers' appetites for new models.

Phil Bienert, manager of consumer relations and e-business for Volvo's North American sales arm, said Volvo was abiding by the parent company advertising policy. He said, however, that the actors strike was not the reason Volvo decided on the AOL launch for the S60. "We know that 85 percent of our customers are online. This is just catering to them."

Under the deal, Volvo will buy banner ads throughout AOL and offer AOL subscribers free options valued at up to $2,100 on the S60, which has a base price of $26,500. The ads will link to a Volvo Web site, where the company will sponsor a giveaway of 10 S60s and trips to Sweden. AOL also will feature Volvo on the "splash screen" that subscribers see when they first sign on. The ads will begin Oct. 9. The car goes on sale Nov. 1. Volvo will resume advertising in print or on television after January.

Seeking equality in benefits

WASHINGTON (NYT) -- More companies are offering health insurance benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees than ever before, including more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, a new study has found. As of August, 3,572 companies, colleges, universities, states and local governments were offering or had announced that they would offer health insurance coverage to domestic partners of their employees -- an increase of 25 percent from last year, the study found. In August 1999, 2,856 of these companies, educational institutions and governments offered such benefits. Sixty-five percent of those in the survey provide domestic partner benefits to same-sex and opposite-sex couples; 35 percent offer benefits only to same-sex couples, the study found. The study was conducted by Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based group that represents gay, lesbian and transgender Americans.

Sharing the wealth

BOSTON (AP) -- Many bosses say they value their employees. Charlie Butcher backed up his words last week with a grand gesture, distributing $18 million among 325 workers after selling the floor- care products and cleaning supplies company his family had owned for 120 years. "It was like Christmas on Tuesday," said Cindy Hanam, human resources manager of The Butcher Co., which is headquartered in Marlboro, Mass. "Brawny men you would never think would drop a tear were crying," said Patricia Pazzaneze, 69, a receptionist. "Charlie always told us he loved us, and it wasn't phony."

The bonuses were handed out last Tuesday, just one day after the business was sold to Johnson Wax Professional, a spinoff of S.C. Johnson & Sons of Racine, Wis. Butcher hinted at a recent farewell barbecue that some kind of bonus was in the offing. But he didn't let on how much. Workers would not say how much they were paid. But plant manager Larry Eaton said one worker with 27 years' experience "received something that was well beyond a year's salary." "People were astounded," he said. "Everyone was walking around with their mouths open."

The firm was founded in 1880 by Charlie Butcher's grandfather, Charles Butcher, who invented a wax for wooden floors. The company also has plants in Alsip, Ill., and Compton, Calif. Earlier this year, Butcher, realizing he did not have enough money to make needed capital improvements, decided to sell to S.C. Johnson, another family- owned business. Butcher, who lives in Boulder, Colo., said it has long been his belief that his employees were what made the business a success. "And when the opportunity came to put my money where my mouth was," he said, "that's exactly what I did."

Here comes the sponsor

NEW YORK (NYT) -- When Natasha Allen recalls her wedding, in a historic village outside Cincinnati last fall, she breathlessly describes arriving in a horse-drawn carriage, the way her satin gown trailed through the autumn leaves -- and the table at the reception with her sponsors' brochures laid out. "Of course, we placed the table a pinch off to the side, so it wouldn't be obtrusive," Allen said in a honey-sweet voice suggestive of an overconsumption of bridal magazines.

Allen, 22, a financial broker in Cincinnati, convinced 15 local businesses to supply free goods and services -- a $250 wedding gown from Bridal Discount Warehouse, a $200 cake from Patricia's Weddings and Custom Cakes, and $400 matching bands plus an engagement ring from Mr. Bill's Family Jewels -- in exchange for advertizing at what was once the most intimate and commercial-free of occasions. The merchandise was touted, subtly, to guests. Allen drew up a contract guaranteeing her sponsors a five-tiered "presence" at her nuptials: their names were listed in the invitations, they were thanked in the programs and on the couple's Web site, 4-by-6-inch placards were placed beside their products, and brochures were displayed on a table. Needless to say, they were all invited to the wedding.