X-Message-Number: 3579 Date: Mon, 02 Jan 95 13:54:35 From: Steve Bridge <> Subject: SCI.CRYONICS Marketing cryonics To CryoNet >From Steve Bridge, Alcor January 2, 1995 Pete Merel and Bob Ettinger (primarily) have been discussing marketing of cryonics, especially concerning AIDS patients. I have some comments on that myself. My column in the 4th Quarter CRYONICS magazine is devoted to [non-AIDS] marketing questions ("Selling Cryonics", p.10- 13). Since I assume that a large number of CryoNet readers already get CRYONICS, I will send Kevin a copy of the article separately and anyone interested may request it once he posts the information about it. Of course, we invite subscriptions or individual copy sales, too. Currently, CRYONICS is still $15.00 per year (although we are considering a small price increase later this year) and individual copies are $4.50. A free copy can be sent if you haven't been a subscriber before. On AIDS: 4 of Alcor's 27 patients died of AIDS-related causes. I know of at least one other cryonicist who did. 5 of 52 (total currently in suspension) is about 9.5%. Of Alcor's four AIDS patients, only one (Richard Clair Jones) was a long-time member. The other three signed up only after becoming very ill with the disease. I know of several current Alcor members who are HIV positive. I don't know in most cases whether or not this was an influence in their decision to join Alcor. I think there really is a market for cryonics among the AIDS "community;" but we must recognize that tapping that market will be tricky. Most AIDS patients are using their incomes for medical bills. Many have lost their jobs because of their illnesses or even because their sexual orientations have been revealed. Since the average AIDS patient is a young man, he will not usually have obtained life insurance before contracting the disease. Many of you will recall Alcor's financial problems in 1993 when we suspended a man who had obtained his life insurance by lying about his medical condition. The insurance company did not pay, leaving us with an almost unfunded patient (a friend of his gave us $1,000). That situation taught me something else. This gentleman's attorney was a well-known female AIDS activist. She was incensed that Alcor was offering "false hope" to people with AIDS, and then "bilking" them of their funds that should go toward better medical treatment and families (and attorneys?). That attitude will be out there as we try to make our services known to this community. This doesn't mean we should AVOID talking to AIDS activists. It *does* mean that we should talk to them carefully and that we should avoid projecting the attitude that we are miracle workers bringing salvation. I think that a well-constructed presentation could be made which would present cryonics as an option for those who are interested and able to consider it. I think that advertisements directed at AIDS patients are likely to be perceived wrongly, even with a sensitive design. Better would be more general approaches, which might mention AIDS only in passing -- but enough to catch the attention of people concerned with that disease. As far as Peter Merel's idea of offering free suspensions to famous Hollywood people: We have actually tried this with famous people in the past, including people who seemed to think cryonics was a good idea. Nothing ever happened. My theory (also developed while working for a free newspaper that was delivered to every home in Bloomington IN for several months, which nearly got the owners lynched) is simple: Consider manure. If people need it and want it, they will pay for it. If they don't want it, you can't pay them to take it. And most people will only be public about things like cryonics if a couple of situations apply: 1. They have a deep personal interest 2. They are more worried about being dead than being publicly embarrassed. The "what will the neighbors think" is important to most of us, ever more so to those with a "public image" to project and protect. Also, famous people get dozens of solicitations for assistance and money. (And most are surrounded with a protective layer of assistants.) They only respond to those appeals which come through people they trust or organizations they know. Cryonics would rank low on the list. Money is always a problem in cryonics marketing. If we had had to pay for Alcor's ad in the January, 1993 issue of OMNI, it would have cost about $30,000. While the ad has generated several thousand calls for information (mostly from students, by the way), it and the contest with it have only produced about 20 new members so far. I anticipate more in the future as people see other ads or articles and their level of awareness increases. Still, a large investment in cryonics advertising produces only a small immediate return. Is this cost-effective? We aren't selling cars or cookies here. Selling cryonics is like selling someone an expensive home, which they may not occupy (or have to PAY for) for decades. How can you stay in business advertising for a sale which does not take place for 40 years? Bob or I or other cryonics leaders would be delighted if some people would fund a marketing campaign or convince some famous person they know personally to sign up and be public about it. Otherwise, please see my article for practical ways most people can help spread the word. Steve Bridge Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3579