A WHALE OF A SALES DRIVE
The tourists had left for the day, but New York's Museum of
Natural History was far from empty. A thousand formally dressed guests
mingled in the Hall of Ocean Life, entertained by Eddie Kenrick and
David Ruffin (ex-Temptations) while overshadowed by the huge sperm whale
that hangs from the ceiling.
This was the climax of last November's $2 million campaign to
launch the new dollar index contract of the Financial Instrument
Exchange (FINEX). Other extravagances of the promotion included
marketing trips to Paris and London, and a whistle-stop tour of US
financial centres in a private railroad car.
In the great scheme of things it doesn't much matter whether
the dollar index fails at FINEX, a division of the New York Cotton
Exchange. It is important only because it shows how desperate the
marketing efforts of stock exchanges around the world have become. Each
exchange...
