Advertising Age back issues from October 2008:
Creativity Top five.(Work)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008 ... In this week's episode of Creativity's Top Five, Google distributes Earth Water by Tetra Pak to keep Advertising Week hydrated; Stockholm's Fi gets Mario's tubby evil twin to shake it; Hovis and agency MCBD loaf through history;Showtime makes Dexter a cover boy; and Diesel promotes its ...
Idea of the year: READER-generated content; Magazines are handing over space and even entire issues, but how much is too much?(Magazines: The A-List)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: LARRY DOBROW Upon receiving the Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America in 2000, industry legend Don Logan noted the simplicity and ingenuity of the business model he helped perfect while he was overlord of Southern Progress Corp. The company's ...
Magazine of the year: the economist; North American edition's ad pages, circulation rise as other newsweeklies' sink.(Magazines: The A-List)(advertising pages)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: NAT IVES Five years ago, The Economist published an article headlined "House of Cards,'' surveying rising home prices from Washington to Sydney. Doesn't this heated market, the article asked, look just a bit dangerous? A bursting housing bubble wouldn't just ...
DIGITAL CLIMBS AS AD PAGES SLIP; Time Inc. takes three of top five spots; Advance leads in overall pages; PC World earns biggest share from new platforms: 38%.(Magazine 300)(advertising)(Financial report)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: MAUREEN MORRISON Magazine publishers trudged through a sputtering economy, holding ad pages comparatively steady while making solid digital gains. Magazine 300 ad pages in 2007 slid 1.3%, while circulation revenue fell 1.2%. But U.S. magazine employment last ...
Executive of the year: elle's carol a. smith; Group publishing director has established magazine's position among fashion titles and capitalized on a partnership with 'Project Runway'.(Magazines: The A-List)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: NAT IVES Carol a. smith brought little fashion experience with her when she arrived as publisher of Elle in 2002, the magazine's worst year ever. But Ms. Smith, former president of Time Inc. Ventures' Parenting Group and group publisher at Miller Sports Group, had been ...
Newspapers see rise in ads from financial companies.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: michael bush Could the financial meltdown actually be good news for the newspaper industry? Of course the near-daily collapse and sale of banks has made for hot copy in business papers such as The Wall Street Journal. But it also appears to have given them a ...
It doesn't matter what exactly drinkability is; it just works.(Garfield's AdReview)(Bud Light)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Bob Garfield McCain v. Obama. Rescue v. bailout. Jimmie Johnson v. Carl Edwards. Roe v. Wade. As polarized as our society is, surely we can agree on one thing: Light beer isn't really beer. Oh, it's beer-ish. It's carbonated and alcoholic. It's ...
Communications agencies keeping busy during crisis.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: michael bush Banks aren't the only thing getting run on lately. The economic crisis has caused a near run on financial-communications agencies by companies looking for help in managing mergers or allaying customer fears. According to Mergermarket, major ...
FROM THE EDITOR: SOME NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR AD AGE.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: jonah bloom Here at Ad Age we not only try to be first with news and smartest with analysis and data, we are also on the lookout for ways to make our products more relevant and useful to more of you. In that vein we've made a few additions in the past couple of weeks. ...
ESQUIRE'S BIG ANNIVERSARY IDEA.(Magazines: The A-List)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: nat ives The digital cover may have turned out to be more a blinking gimmick than a game changer in the mold of that real-time USA Today front page in "Minority Report,'' but we still congratulate Esquire and Editor in Chief David Granger for the achievement marking the ...
THE question: Do you think it was a good idea for John McCain to suspend his campaign? 72% of poll respondents said Mr. McCain's move was a bad idea.(News)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: max lakin The political circus took up all three rings when John McCain said he would suspend his campaign in order to deliver his economic prowess to Washington. We asked Ad Age readers if they thought the move was effective, and a whopping 72% of respondents said no. ...
Movers & Shakers.(Talentworks)
Oct 06, 2008 ... The rise of Jeff Lanctot continued last week as the 36-year-old was promoted from senior VP-global media to chief strategy officer at Avenue A/Razorfish. Ad Age has tracked Jeff's career for a few years now, and recognized him as one of our Media Mavens back in 2005. As we said ...
Small brands could be J&J's next big thing; Company pushes niche skin-care line as rival behemoths lose share.(News)(Johnson & Johnson)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: JACK NEFF Selling big, heavily extended brands at large retailers has been a cornerstone of success for the personal-care marketers for most of the decade. But as that business model shows signs of fraying, $61 billion Johnson & Johnson increasingly is trying something a ...
Which has the best ROI?(News)(return on investment)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008 ... Shopper marketing was top-ranked in ROI and just behind web/interactive advertising in spending-growth plans among package-goods executives and retailers who took part in a study by Deloitte and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Ranked in order by manufacturers: ...
Bentley eyes consumers with $25M annual income.(News)(Bentley Motors Ltd. revenue report)(Financial report)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY The rich may be different, but maybe not all that different in the current economic climate. Bentley Motors' U.S. sales slipped "25-odd percent'' this year, due to a combination of market conditions and new-product cadence, according to a ...
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE WITH NEW AD STRATEGY; Howe and his team target rivals with help from political advisers.(CMO Strategy)(advertising)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: ANDREW HAMPP Time warner cable is going on the offensive with a marketing push that takes direct aim at its growing ranks of rivals and owes more to negative political advertising than classic brand efforts. In a TV campaign that just started airing, comedian ...
Current woes could lead to collaboration economy; on digital communications.(Digital)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Steve Rubel Gloom and doom are everywhere this fall. So I am not going to perpetuate it. Instead, I see the global economic meltdown finally kicking the industry into gear toward becoming more efficient, open and collaborative. The ad industry is woefully ...
It's not just what bloggers are saying, it's who they are; PR becomes part of social media as marketers such as PBS Kids Sprout analyze, interact with costumers.(Digital)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: BETH SNYDER BULIK When pbs Kids Sprout launched three years ago, it hired BuzzLogic to help monitor what bloggers were saying online. As useful as that was as a new player in the kids' TV space, Sprout execs soon realized they could do even more than check ...
Keeping fit keeps business healthy, say top execs.(Talentworks)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Max Lakin If you were to happen upon imc2's Dallas office, chances are good that you would find a lot of people with their eyes closed. They're not asleep, though-not necessarily, anyway. More likely they're taking advantage of the dedicated meditation room built right ...
LESSONS FOR MAD AVE FROM WALL ST; Take risks and change your business model to connect with consumers, but don't get greedy.(CMO Strategy)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: AVI DAN Agencies can learn something from Wall Street these days-and there is no punch line here. In all the analysis, palpable anger, accusations and finger pointing of the past couple of weeks, one thing seems to have been forgotten: Before they got greedy ...
The A List.(Magazines: The A-List)
Oct 06, 2008 ... 1 The Economist North American edition Parent: The Economist Group North American publisher: Paul Rossi Editor in chief: John Micklethwait Ad pages: 1,497.4 7.2% Total circulation: 747,254 7.6% ...
BofA, Sears lead minority brand-preference survey; Study followed Asians, African-Americans and Latinos in Dallas.(Hispanic)(Bank of America)(Sears Roebuck & Co.)(Survey)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: LAUREL WENTZ In a survey of multicultural consumers' brand preferences in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Bank of America was rated the most popular bank, with Chase a not-very-close second among Hispanics, blacks and Asian-Americans. Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual ...
The American Magazine Vanguard Awards.(MediaWorks)(Column)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Simon Dumenco Presenting the first annual AMVA's, recognizing magazines that are innovating smartly beyond print in the spring, around the time the American Society of Magazine Editors announced the nominees for the National Magazine Awards, I had yet another ...
Brand giants weakened as retailers get savvier; As media dollars, talent shift to stores, can CPG players preserve margins?(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: JACK NEFF The store increasingly is becoming the focus not just of distribution but of marketing for package-goods players. But as attention and dollars shift there, it's raising big questions about the balance of power in the industry-and whether consumer-package-goods ...
Subaru shows how to cut path through rough terrain.(Viewpoint essay)
Oct 06, 2008 ... As the marketing world tries not to panic amid all the talk of crises and bailouts, perhaps executives should turn to Subaru as an example. The auto manufacturer might not often be lumped in with the likes of Apple and Nike, but consider its success over the past year while some of the ...
As seen on AdAge.com.(Columns)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008 ... As seen on AdAge.com/ smallagency Cleveland: This biz is always perilous A number of our employees have asked my partners and me if this economic situation is going to adversely affect us. Who knows what the future holds? Good or bad economy, ours is a precarious ...
Grass roots: General Mills promotes healthful eating.(Hispanic)(General Mills Inc.)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: laurel wentz General Mills is expanding its Hispanic-marketing platform Que Rica Vida (What a Healthy Life), which includes a website and magazine about healthful living, with a grass-roots program to offer lessons about nutrition to up to 10,000 Hispanic women at ...
Media Morph: CBS gets a rude lesson in citizen journalism.(Digital)(CBS Broadcasting Inc.)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008 ... Byline: michael learmonth Like a lot of news networks, CBS jumped on the citizen-journalism bandwagon with a free iPhone app, EyeMobile for iPhone, to enable users to upload news to its user-generated site, cbseyemobile.com. Interesting, though, the citizens' definition of ...
How local media feel recession; Advertising may be cut as regional markets take impact of credit crunch.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN Unlike the last recession around 2001, when local markets stayed relatively insulated from the fallout of the dot-com bust, they are anything but immune to this one. And that's bad news for local media. "The flu is universal,'' said Paul ...
P&G's Lafley: There's nothing we can do about it.(News)(A.G. Lafley of Procter & Gamble Co.)(Interview)
Oct 06, 2008 ... Byline: jack neff You might expect Procter & Gamble Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley to disagree with the retailer-ascendancy theory. But he doesn't. Instead, interviewed briefly following a P&G press conference at Cannes in June, he outlined an "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'' ...
Execs offer their 2o on $700B bailout plan.(News)(marketing executive's opinions on financial system and consumer confidence)
Oct 06, 2008 ... Byline: AD AGE STAFF Despite the passage of a massive bailout package, consumer confidence isn't likely to rebound anytime soon. The major stock indexes closed at their lowest levels in years, despite the bailout news, which came in the final hours of trading Oct. 3 ....
People & Players.
Oct 06, 2008 ... new york: the city's most stylish Us Weekly throws a celebration for those on its "25 Most Stylish New Yorkers" list, including Tyra Banks and Kelly Ripa. (From l.) Ms. Banks; Ms. Ripa; Janice Min, editor in chief, Us Weekly; and Vicci Lasdon Rose, publisher, Us Weekly. ...
Price of a 30-second spot slumps 4.1; Networks' prime-time ratings last year brought ad costs down with them.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG Continued audience erosion, combined with the effects of the writers strike, helped drive the average cost for a 30-second commercial in prime time down 4.1% to $130,089 during the 2007-2008 season, according to an analysis performed by independent media ...
Consumers curtail consumption; Exclusive: Surveys show Americans texting less, brown-bagging more.(News)(Survey)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER The financial meltdown that's shaken the American economy to its core has already affected consumer spending, and in the coming months will make consumers more tightfisted when it comes to eating in restaurants, traveling and shelling out for big-ticket ...
Jewish group uses creativity, comedy to fight politics as usual.(Columns)(Column)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Teressa Iezzi in the october issue of Harper's, Bernard Avishai writes about the purported importance of the Jewish vote to the Democratic presidential nominee. The article is called "Obama's Jews.'' In the piece, Avishai notes that though Barack Obama is cited as ...
McCain makes big strides on YouTube; Obama leads in videos, but GOP nom increases visibility on site with ads.(News)(John McCain,Barack Obama)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: MICHAEL LEARMONTH Sen. barack Obama is beating Sen. John McCain in the YouTube sphere, but with the help of advertising, the Republican candidate has been able to close the gap some. Where Mr. Obama has been posting vast quantities of video from appearances ...
Distributors, networks push for more ads in TV shows online.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: MICHAEL LEARMONTH Want more ads with your free web video? Not to worry; they're coming. Until now, online viewers have been able to watch TV with one substantial perk: fewer ads than if they watched the same show on TV. But that will soon change ....
States use tough times to tout their lotteries; Gov'ts alter messages, employ social networks to reach new audiences.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: RUPAL PAREKH Pay a little for the chance to dream big. That's the appeal of the lottery, and it seems it is recession proof. Even so, state governments are taking marketing of their lottos more seriously than ever, with different pitches and value-added offers such as ...
LETTERS: McD's takes issue with credit claims.(Viewpoint)
Oct 06, 2008 ... The Sept. 29 Ad Age article "Credit Crunch Takes Bite Out of McDonald's'' leaves readers confused. In it, the headline contradicts the article, and the article contradicts the facts. The introduction claims that issues with a major banking lender threaten the national rollout of McDonald's ...
'Sunday Night Football' beats 'Grey's Anatomy'; Medical drama doesn't cost most anymore as live events attract ad dollars.(News)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG And ANDREW HAMPP Nbc's "Sunday Night Football'' has muscled its way past ABC's "Grey's Anatomy'' to become the most expensive fall program for advertisers on network TV in the 2008-2009 season. The NBC sports program commands an average cost of $434,792 ...
The biggest hit of the fall season.(News)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: john rash After all the speculation, America was very, very interested in the vice-presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin on Oct. 2- so interested that 69.9 million Americans tuned in to watch. That surpasses the 56.7 million people who watched ...
THE MORE-FOR-YOUR-MONEY RACE; From Home Depot to Red Lobster, marketers pour on price cuts and promos in faltering economy.(News)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK And NATALIE ZMUDA Call it the great American fire sale. Marketers across the board are dialing up the more-for-your-money messaging in an effort to coax cash-strapped customers into opening their wallets, and price cuts and promotions are ...
Killing business casual at P&G one small step at a time.(Adages)(Kenyatte Nelson the brand manager of Procter & Gamble Co. awarded for his business clothing)(Honda's online marketing)(Newsweek Inc. preparing for its annual Women & Leadership conference)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Ken Wheaton Cincinnati is not exactly known as a fashion mecca. And Procter & Gamble Co., particularly since adopting "business casual'' a decade ago, isn't either. Or wasn't, until Kenyatte Nelson came along. The brand manager for P&G's Clairol Nice 'n Easy ...
Very Short List offers glimpse at power of simplicity, editing.(Columns)(Editorial)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: Jonah Bloom As someone whose main function in life is editing, I wonder, in the dark moments, whether I will soon be redundant. Perhaps I'll be outsourced. This year we've seen The Miami Herald and The Orange County Register outsource copy editing to India, ...
Tampa Bay Rays get a P&G-style makeover.(News)(Procter & Gamble Co.)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN Under the guidance of a former Procter & Gamble brand manager, the Tampa Bay Rays have gone through the sort of transformation typical of deodorant sticks and shaving razors. First off, the team got a new name-Devil is gone-and a fresh logo and ...
Fall shows' ratings fall despite post-strike hype; 'House,' 'Heroes' and 'Grey's' all take beating as TV viewers tune out.(News)(Survey)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG All that brand-spanking-new TV programming that was going to lure viewers back after last season's writers strike? Not really doing the job. Ratings among viewers between the ages of 18 and 49-advertisers' favored demographic-during the first ...
Luxury cruisers wary of appearing too indulgent.(News)(Celebrity Cruises)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN Here's a conundrum in this worsening economy: If you're taking a luxury cruise, is it OK to flaunt it? That question seems to plaguing the advertising strategy at Celebrity Cruises, the upscale imprint of the Royal Caribbean cruise line. Though ...
Wal-Mart grinning big through the tough times.(News)(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: JACK NEFF Looking for a silver lining in the economy? It's shining brightly from Bentonville, Ark. Same-store-sales growth for Wal-Mart Stores is well ahead of dismal levels a year ago. Amazingly, Wal-Mart's margins are up too. And the stock has soared more ...
Presidential race goes to the dogs.(News)(Brief article)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: andrew hampp The presidential race hit an unfortunate snag in contextual advertising with the Sept. 25 issue of Nature magazine. The U.K.-based science journal's cover featured a split-screen image of Barack Obama and John McCain accompanied by the cover line "Why ...
Some bright spots in a gloomy year for magazines.(Magazine A-List)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: NAT IVES It had been that kind of year: bad. When Ad Age editors started searching for the 10 outstanding titles that would compose our 2008 A-List, we found ourselves confronting some unpleasant news about the magazine business. Ad pages in the ...
EDITOR OF THE YEAR: nat geo's Chris johns; Former staff photographer has overseen redesign, expansion of title's editorial scope.(Magazines: The A-List)(National geographic)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: LARRY DOBROW National geographic Editor in Chief Chris Johns is unassuming and thoughtful in ways most magazine editors are not. A question about the experiences that have influenced the way he edits the magazine prompts a response that touches on, among other ...
How much will you save with a hybrid? Prius maps it out; Toyota tests Pixelometro app in increasingly environmentally aware Hispanic market via Terra.(Hispanic)
Oct 06, 2008; ... Byline: LAUREL WENTZ If pixels were miles, measuring the distance your computer mouse travels could be a cool way to digitally demonstrate that the Prius hybrid saves drivers fuel money they can spend on other things. And that's just what the Pixelometro does, in a test to see ...
People & Players.
Oct 13, 2008 ... special report: american magazine conference The Magazine Publishers of America and American Society of Magazine Editors' annual gathering brought leaders from the worlds of publishing, movies, TV, advertising and politics to San Francisco to share insights and celebrate ...
Creativity Top Five: Oct. 6.(Work)(top five television programs)
Oct 13, 2008 ... In this week's episode of Creativity's Top Five, Sonic goes episodic and ties in to MTV's "The Hills"; Peter Sluszka directs one child's stop-motion imagination for EA Games SimCity Creator; 180 Los Angeles grows a Seventh Generation tree online; Ogilvy, Toronto, offers up a Shreddies ...
Online video popular across most demographics; on digital consumers.(Digital)(Brief article)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: Mike Vorhaus As if you needed me to tell you, video is a hot consumer web product. In fact, half of all internet users in the U.S. ages 12 to 64 watch at least one video a week , and 10% watch every day-counting all age groups. Even older people, ages 55 to ...
CROSSING BORDERS BY BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS; Coke Pacific exec on the opportunities and challenges of marketing in Asia.(CMO Strategy)(Darren Marshall)(Interview)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: NORMANDY MADDEN For a sneak peek at the cool drink your 10-year-old will clamor for next year, look at what Asian kids are drinking today. Coca-Cola has long looked to Japan for ideas, and now other Asian markets such as China are also hotbeds of innovation, particularly ...
Where the marketing elite meet.(Power Players)(Brief article)
Oct 13, 2008 ... Each Power Player is ranked according to measured and estimated unmeasured 2007 U.S. ad spending (40% of total score); marketing successes (30%); and 10% each for other marketing spending (such as sponsorships and ...
Pay TV enjoys shelter from recession; Consumers loath to do without cable entirely, but some services suffer.(News)(Financial report)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: ANDREW HAMPP Could "dexter'' get axed by the recession? As the credit crunch tightens, consumers might be eating out less, buying fewer cars and clothing, but it's a safe bet they won't cut off their cable or satellite-TV service. As the theory goes, even the ...
`Rescued' marketers must earn back consumer trust.(Viewpoint)(Viewpoint essay)
Oct 13, 2008 ... Note to those marketers lucky enough to be "rescued'' by the government: That bailout isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card. Why? It's simple. Despite the self-congratulatory hosannas raining down from Capitol Hill after a handful of companies were rescued and the $700 billion ...
Even search not immune to financial malaise; Google preps for worst as ad budgets get cut but might actually benefit.(News)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN How bad is the economy getting? Bad enough that even Google is learning to cinch its purse strings. The online-advertising giant-which reports earnings this week-has, as usual, been tight-lipped about its business outlook. But last week Tim ...
THE HEAT INDEX; Weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle and fizzle.(MediaWorks)
Oct 13, 2008 ... 10 'The Daily Show' Averaged 2.2 million viewers per night last month, its most ever. Also had its most-viewed night Oct. 1 and has topped itself three weeks running. 8 'The Colbert Report' Riding on Jon Stewart's coattails, it averaged 1.7 million nightly viewers, up 36%, in ...
Movers & Shakers.(TalentWorks)(Steven Scebelo appointed as VP-business development at Creative Properties)(Howard Handler appointed as VP-head of marketing, North America, at EMI Music.)(Luane Kohnke promoted to senior VP-managing director, analytics and accountability at R/GA)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: emily bryson york Arnold tapped a very qualified managing director and executive director of its McDonald's business last week: former Wendy's adman Gary Steele. During his decades with the Wendy's business, Mr. Steele worked closely with founder Dave Thomas to develop ...
Stars come out to celebrate Macy's 150th; Retailer taps heritage of celebrity partnerships, pop-culture integration.(Madison & Vine)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: Natalie Zmuda The selection of a star as Macy's logo some 150 years ago can only be described as fortuitous. Since its founding in October 1858, the retailer has attracted star wattage in the form of actors, singers, designers and public personalities and has ...
Brands use web to tread once-forbidden ground.(DigitalNext)(Brief article)
Oct 13, 2008; ... Byline: Craig Daitch Is technology the catalyst for mixing politics and brands? Burger King's latest widget capitalizes on the presidential election. Burger King has just rolled out a campaign in the theme of the presidential campaign. Facebook and MySpace ...
Agencies should work on recruiting skills.(GenNext)(Advertising agencies)
Oct 13, 2008 ... Byline: Kelly Eidson Around this time in the fall semester, my inbox starts to flood with invitations to interview with organizations that are on campus looking for entry-level hires. I know it's only October and it seems way too early to start courting fresh talent, but like ...