Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-related advertising is on the rise as companies look to capitalize on consumer concern over the disease, industry sources said yesterday.
"With SARS rampant around the nation, more and more products are linked directly or indirectly to fighting SARS," an account executive of Dentsu (Tai-wan) Inc (
The total volume of ads, however, did not significantly increase because of SARS related advertisements, said the executive, who asked to remain anonymous.
"They were afraid of appearing to be profiteering from SARS, but I believe SARS has created considerable profits for some of these companies," she said.
Newspapers and TV ads are plugging products to combat the disease, including vitamins, air purifiers, health food and hand-washing products.
Lu Chia-yu (
The advertising department of the Chinese-language Liberty Times, however, said SARS-related product ads have recently increased by 20 percent. The Taipei Times is part of the Liberty Times Group.
ING Antai Life Insurance Co (安泰人壽) has run ads recently that encourage a traditional Chinese greeting of clasping one hand over the other to avoid shaking other people's hands. The company says it ran the ad to promote awareness of public hygiene and that it cost 15 to 20 percent of its annual advertising budget.
"Our business didn't grow due to the fear of SARS," said Ingrid Chen (
"Some of our customers have extended their insurance coverage for potential SARS contamination, but the travel insurance business is dropping due to fewer and fewer people going abroad," she said.
Meanwhile, Consumers' Foundation (
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS