Central Marketing Unit was formed up based on an LRH advice from the 1980s to consolidate all church marketing under one roof and then get real marketing going for the Church with the emphasis on driving in new public per HCO PL "Proportionate Marketing." Instead, DM grabbed control of the organization and subverted it to doing the "marketing" for his continual stream of releases, which was really nothing more than a huge propaganda machine. Books and Lectures were "re-released" on a frantic schedule to create enthusiasm amongst Scientologists and willingness to donate large sums to David Miscavige programs. When the marketing staff realized what was going on, they left. Today Central Marketing Unit has only about 5 staff. They are located at the Int Base. Gone are the days of major dissemination campaigns getting people to buy LRH books.
Central Marketing Unit was originally run by Ronnie Miscavige, a decent person who was not trained in marketing. After a few years Ronnie was promoted to be Marketing Exec Int a post he held for 10 years, and Bill Dendiu became the Commanding Officer CMU. David Miscavige visited a campaign of destruction on Bill Dendiu and Bill finally escaped the Int base in 1998. Ronnie was also targeted and he left the Church in 2000 with his wife.
CMU was originally part of Executive Strata under Marketing Exec Int and was located in the 3rd floor of the main blue building in LA on the corner of Fountain and Berendo. Central Marketing Unit had approximately 35 staff and was moved to the Int Base on order of David Miscavige in late 1989. About a year later it was moved into Golden Era Production where it was easier to conquer. In the early 1990s, the name was changed to the Planetary Dissemination Org.
The predecessor of CMU was the Strategic Books Marketing Unit (SBMU) started by Jeff Hawkins in the early 1980s as a wildcat operation he put together with no authorization whatsoever. He wanted to get real marketing going and soon won support from LRH through Author Services. This LRH air cover protected SBMU and enabled it to grow. The result of SBMU was the "Questions" Dianetics TV ads and a massive campaign that culminated with the return of Dianetics to New York Times bestseller status after almost 40 years, a feat unheard of in the publishing industry.
CMU was a tight-knit and remarkable group, remarkable for the creativity, affinity and humor of its members. Today almost all of the original CMU staff are outside the Sea Org, still friends, and one of them created this very website and others in his spare time. Namely, Scientology-cult.com, RediscoverScientology.com, FreeandAble.com, iScientology.org.
