8/3/2019 Positioning n Differentiating

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8/3/2019 Positioning n Differentiating

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Monsantos financial fortunes turned as hostile public receptions throughout the worldleft it unable to either sell expected volumes existing products or introduce newproducts. Following a merger with drug company Pharmacia & Upjohn, thepharmaceuticals division of Monsanto became part of the new Pharmacia Corporationin 2000. The remainder of the Monsanto Company is now a subsidiary of Pharmacia

and strictly a biotechnology corporation. Pharmacia spun off part of Monsanto into apublic company while retaining majority ownership. In 2000, Monsanto issued astatement apologizing for its insensitivity and arrogance and formally pledged to be"honorable, ethical, and open" in all its future actions. New CEO Hendrik Verfailleadmitted that the company "missed the fact that this technology raises major issues forpeople of ethics, of choice, of trust, even of democracy and globalization. When we triedto explain the benefits, the science and the safety, we did not understand that our tone,our very approach, was arrogant."

Amid mounting consumer concerns about GM crops, in November 2000 Monsantoadopted a restricted planting schedule for a GM corn product and delayed introduction

of another variety until 2002. The growth potential for the company is huge: Monsantoestimates that more than 70 percent of the worlds insect- and herbicide- resistant cropscome from the company. Anywhere public contempt for GM products lessens,Monsantos opportunities improve dramatically. The company has undertaken variousadvertising, public relations, and education campaigns to improve public perception ofits products. The prevailing attitude at the company is now much humbler than it wasduring the mid-1990s, when then CEO Robert Shapiro declared that "worrying aboutstarving future generations wont feed them. Biotechnology will."

(New sources: Amy Barrett, "Rocky Ground for Monsanto?" Business Week, June 12,2000; Scott Kilman and Helene Cooper, "Crop Blight: Monsanto Falls Flat Trying to Sell

Europe on Bioengineered Food." Wall Street Journal, May 11, 1999; "Pledge to TurnOver a New Leaf." The Guardian, December 14, 2000.)

1. What marketing mistakes did Monsanto make to cause the firm to receive suchbad press in Europe and elsewhere?

2. What lessons concerning public relations marketing does the Monsanto spotlightcase indicate? Are there additional issues that Monsanto should consider for thefuture?