The Global Marketer

The recent arrest of three men in Atlanta for stealing Coca-Cola trade secrets and trying to sell them to Pepsi for over $1 million highlights the little-discussed issue of industrial espionage in consumer goods marketing.

Corporate espionage is against the law in the U.S., according to Advertising Age, but it still happens — and marketing materials as well as product development plans are often the target.

The American Society for Industrial Security International (ASIS) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, according to the report, indicate that 69 percent of the time the breaches are initiated by company insiders rather than external spies.

After the Atlanta arrests a number of corporate officials shared stories of incidents with Ad Age that provide insight into the nature and extent of the problem. Via its online newsletter AdAge.com, the trade magazine is currently polling readers for a survey.

One of them, a senior VP-brand marketing for America Online, recalled that roughly once a year when he was at Burger King he would receive a full or partial copy of a McDonald’s marketing plan.

Assuming the info was from disgruntled McDonald’s employees, he said he forwarded the envelopes to the BK legal department — unopened, we hope.