Advertising Age - Latest News

Super Sunday Becomes Super Monday for CBS

jrash@cmithun.com(John Rash) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:15:55 -0500

MINNEAPOLIS (AdAge.com) -- Sure, Super Bowls -- let alone an NFL-rights contract -- are expensive. But the payoff has been immediate for CBS. The network used the Super Bowl Sunday night to debut the series premiere of "Undercover Boss," which was the highest-rated post-Bowl bow since the season premiere of "Survivor" nine years ago.

Kirshenbaum Bond Co-Founder Says Goodbye to Agency After 23 Years

rparekh@adage.com(Rupal Parekh) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:50:10 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Jon Bond, the co-founder of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, has left the agency, with plans to launch his own venture in the marketing-services arena by this summer, executives familiar with the situation said.

2010 Super Bowl Top 10 Most-Liked, Most-Recalled Ads

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:48:00 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Snickers' "Betty White" spot was the commercial most liked by viewers during Super Bowl XLIV. See the full Nielsen IAG lists of top-liked and top-recalled spots from this year's Super Bowl.

Unilever CMO Simon Clift Announces Retirement

jneff@adage.com(Jack Neff) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:30:50 -0500

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Unilever's outspoken and colorful Chief Marketing Officer Simon Clift is leaving the company, a corporate spokeswoman confirmed, saying he plans to "retire within a couple of months" to spend more time with his family in Brazil.

DMA Names Robert Allen Interim President-CEO

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:57:52 -0500

The Direct Marketing Association has named Robert Allen interim president-CEO.

Does MTV's New Logo Look Too Mainstream?

ahampp@adage.com(Andrew Hampp) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:04:18 -0500

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- For the first time in its 28-year history, MTV has updated its iconic logo. Largely forgoing the network's music heritage, the new three-dimensional design instead showcases MTV's reality-TV talent, such as the casts of "Jersey Shore," "The Buried Life" and "Teen Mom." But is this new look enough for the struggling Viacom brand?

Super Bowl's Twitter Winners? Coke, The Simpsons, Brett Favre, Betty White ...

sdumenco@adage.com(Simon Dumenco) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:29:42 -0500

An informal review of sentiment -- conducted by checking the 50 most recent tweets that name-checked both a given brand and its associated celebrity (e.g., Megan Fox and Motorola) -- suggests that, at least with this subset of Super Bowl spots, consumers were mostly very happy with the match-ups.

Why Visa's Going Big for the Olympics

bbulik@adage.com(Beth Snyder Bulik) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:03:28 -0500

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- Visa Global CMO Antonio Lucio visited with Advertising Age to talk about its new global Olympics campaign and why the Games are a key part of Visa marketing.

Havas Posts Full-Year Revenue Decline of 9.1%

ehall@adage.com(Emma Hall) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:49:34 -0500

LONDON (AdAge.com) -- Havas Worldwide reported full-year 2009 revenue was down 8.1% to $1.99 billion. On a regional basis, Havas said it saw signs of economic recovery in North America, Asia and Latin America but that "the U.K. market is still suffering from the effects of the crisis."

Just How Popular Was Google's Super Bowl Ad, Anyway?

mlearmonth@adage.com(Michael Learmonth) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:12:01 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Occasionally the disconnect between conversation on the web and, well, real conversation, becomes abundantly clear.

Unilever Keeps $1B Western Europe Media Biz With Mindshare

ehall@adage.com(Emma Hall) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:07:06 -0500

LONDON (AdAge.com) -- Mindshare has matched its win of Unilever's $800 million North American media business with a clean sweep of Western Europe. The WPP-owned agency has retained its $1.1 billion media planning and buying business in the U.K., Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain and the Nordics, as well as keeping hold of the business in India and Thailand.

Why Issue-Based Advertising Is Like Walking a Minefield

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:58:25 -0500

Although Focus on the Family's Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad can be examined from many angles, an interesting angle for a CMO relates to understanding issue-based advertising and how it might differ from more traditional brand-advertising efforts.

Super Bowl Is Most-Watched TV Event Ever

jrash@cmithun.com(John Rash) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:56:34 -0500

MINNEAPOLIS (AdAge.com) -- Countless cable options, let alone smaller screens like computers and cellphones. The broadcast business model under assault. Two teams from relatively small markets. Add it up -- as CBS has -- and what do you get? The most-watched TV event of all time.

New Orleans Is a Super Bowl Winner

editor@adageeditor.com(Rich Thomaselli) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:41:10 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The city that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and has struggled to regain its economic footing, particularly through tourism, received a huge jolt from the day-long Super Bowl coverage that culminated in a victory by the New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts.

Why the Super Bowl Doesn't Loom So Large Any More

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:39:01 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Super Bowl has long been -- and probably shall forever be -- known as the Big Game. Yet developments over the past two years make us think it's getting a little smaller.

Budweiser Turns 'Big Brother' for World Cup

jmullman@adage.com(Jeremy Mullman) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:28:06 -0500

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Anheuser-Busch InBev has kept largely mum on its marketing plans for this summer's FIFA World Cup, but it tipped its hand a bit late Friday when agency DDB put out a casting call for an apparent Bud-themed reality show.

Would Your Manager Walk a Mile in Your Moccasins?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:25:25 -0500

In a perfect world, all work leaders would make a practice of role-reversal. Unfortunately, most don't have the luxury of delaying their real work to do the work of their employees. As employees, we can all be proactive. If you feel as though your boss is clueless about your day-to-day activities, empower yourself to enlighten her about your routine.

Mindshare Picks Up Unilever's North American Media Account

mbush@adage.com(Michael Bush) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:15:36 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- After a seven-month review, Unilever has awarded its $800 million North American media-planning and -buying account to Mindshare, executives with knowledge of the review said.

Let the Analysis Begin: Weighing in on Super Bowl Ads

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:07:13 -0500

NEW YORK (Adage.com) -- The Super Bowl is over, but the attempts to figure out how the Super Bowl ads performed are just beginning. With so many different kinds of post-ad analysis available, Ad Age wants to make it easy for you to find where all of it is.

Magazines Slow Their Losses at Newsstand

nives@adage.com(Nat Ives) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:57:24 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Consumers continued to cut back on purchases at magazine newsstands in the second half of last year, but publishers managed to slow the rate of attrition, according to the semi-annual circulation report released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

American Family Insurance Grows Its Family With Trust

ahampp@adage.com(Andrew Hampp) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- American Family Insurance VP-Marketing Lisa Bacus recently spoke with Ad Age about lessons learned from her entertainment programs, the importance of bringing all her agency partners together for quarterly creative meetings and why branding should always prevail over tactics.

Behind Kraft's Marketing Makeover: From New Ad Agencies to New Attitude

eyork@adage.com(Emily Bryson York) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Quick: Name one highly creative advertiser. Bet your first choice wasn't Kraft. The food giant is making strides toward updating the look and tone of its advertising while keeping it as accessible as possible for consumers.

What Will Happen to Media When All the Billionaires Bail?

sdumenco@adage.com(Simon Dumenco) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

If you're a certain sort of still-employed media person, you're probably wondering how much longer you can hold on to your job. But the larger question might be: Just how unreal -- illusory, delusional, unmoored from the realities of the marketplace -- has your job been all along?

Use Your Scale to Cut a Path to Potential Consumers' Attention

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The single biggest challenge marketers face in the next 10 years is attention scarcity. Bank on it.

What Good Are the Words to a Song Without the Music?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Without a visual hammer, an advertising campaign is almost certain to fail.

Online Video One Step Closer to TV-Sized Ad Loads

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In the short history of online TV-watching, one standard has largely held fast: Shows that run online have significantly fewer ads than shows that run on the boob tube. But that could soon change.

Burger King's 'Superfan' Might Just Be Your Grandma

eyork@adage.com(Emily Bryson York) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- After years of talking about how it's targeting young males who consume prodigious amounts of fast food, Burger King's description of its target has recently become a lot more expansive.

Marketers Say TV Spending Will Drop. Nets Stay Bullish. Let the Deals Begin

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Even as major marketers once again threaten to pull back on TV spending -- a new survey indicates they will allocate only 41% of their budgets to the medium this year -- the TV networks are gearing up for an "upfront" ad-sales market they expect will be more robust than in the recent past.

Lightspeed Survey: Toyota's Loss of Consumer Trust Is Domestic Rivals' Gain

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler ought to send Toyota a thank-you card. Toyota's recall is boosting the quality reputation of its domestic rivals in the eyes of consumers.

Why Indie Boutique Toy's Story Came to a Surprise End

rparekh@adage.com(Rupal Parekh) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- After last week's shuttering of the highly regarded, 4-year-old boutique agency Toy, Ad Age queried small-agency leaders across the industry to see how they're tackling the times.