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OMD Wins Pepsi's Chinese Media Business

mbush@adage.com(Michael Bush) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:56:52 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Omnicom Group's OMD has won media planning and buying duties for PepsiCo's drinks business in China, according to executives close to the matter. The account, which also includes digital, is reported to be worth between $150 million to $225 million.

In-house and Outsourced Aren't the Only Options for Your Clients

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:05:44 -0500

We didn't want to stand by and watch our clients take their retail-focused work in-house, nor was it in their best interest for us to try to force-fit it into our standard agency model. So, a few years ago, we created a second model, one we call the "in-house outsource," or studio model.

House Health-Care Bill Would Require Restaurants to Post Calorie Counts

eyork@adage.com(Emily Bryson York) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:38:28 -0500

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- The proposed health-care legislation that is so much the subject of debate stands to force changes not only for doctors and insurers but also for chain restaurant marketers: The House bill also contains a provision requiring that they post calorie information.

It's 10 O'Clock ... Do You Know What's on TV?

adageeditor@adage.com(Brad Adgate) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:52:16 -0500

The 10 p.m. prime-time hour used to be the broadcast networks' showcase for their best programming. But those days are waning as audience patterns shift and DVRs affect how people use that hour. With the networks becoming more timid programming the 10 p.m. hour, coupled with the continued aggressiveness of cable, perhaps Fox had the right idea all along. The most-watched network among adults 18-49 for the past few seasons has never programmed at 10 p.m., opting to give the last hour of prime time to its affiliates. Can the three other networks be far behind?

Association of National Advertisers Join Protest of Nielsen's Metric Switch

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:33:49 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The battle for local-media measurement has intensified in the last 24 hours, with the Association of National Advertisers now lobbing a protest against Nielsen's recent decision to incorporate DVR users into its official estimates of how many people watch programming on local TV stations. Just a week ago, the media committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies sent a blistering letter to Nielsen protesting the switch.

Coca-Cola Lays Out Its Vision for the Future at 2010 Meeting

nzmuda@adage.com(Natalie Zmuda) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:00:56 -0500

ATLANTA (AdAge.com) -- Amid some 200 analysts, investors and media last week, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent made a confession. "There was a period when our company did lose its way," he said. "We were too internally focused and not focused enough on the changes taking place with our consumers and customers. In essence, we were too busy looking at the dashboard and were not sufficiently paying attention to the world outside of our windshield."

Branson Says Competing Airlines Should Start From Scratch

mbush@adage.com(Michael Bush) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AdAge.com) -- Richard Branson sat down with Ad Age to talk about the future of the airline industry, what he hopes legacy carriers can learn from Virgin America, TV as an ad medium, what marketers need to do to get through the economic downturn and, of course, commercial space travel.

Must Weep TV: Bringing Ma, Pa and Biological Child Together

ldobrow@adage.com(Larry Dobrow) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:34:16 -0500

Come tomorrow afternoon, many of us will congregate with family members we haven't seen in a full 12 months. We'll banter about the weather, feign interest in meandering anecdotes and quietly critique every aspect of each other's being. Come nightfall, we'll embrace warmly and promise to re-adjourn 365 days hence, then set about covering the freshly picked emotional scabs with ointment. But for the next few hours at least, we're all about bringing families together. In that blithely unaware spirit, I heartily recommend ABC's new celebration of unity and forgiveness, "Find My Family".

What Landing Cadbury Would Mean for Kraft, Ferrero, Hershey

eyork@adage.com(Emily Bryson York) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:55:15 -0500

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Cadbury is the chess piece that could determine who leads the world's confectionery market, depending on whose hands the company ends up in. If it lands in the portfolio of Kraft, that marketer would topple Mars from its perch as the globe's leading confectioner. But now, Ferrero has confirmed an interest in acquiring Cadbury, and The Wall Street Journal reported that it is considering a linkup with Hershey to do the job.

AT&T Strikes Back at Verizon With Its Own Comparison Campaign

rchang@adage.com(Rita Chang) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:09:05 -0500

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- AT&T launched a new ad campaign that hits back at Verizon Wireless, aiming to put some polish back in the reputation of its network coverage.

Reckitt Benckiser Consolidates Media Buying with Havas, Publicis Shops

mbush@adage.com(Michael Bush) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:24:52 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Reckitt Benckiser has consolidated its $1.3 billion global traditional and digital media account for its 17 Powerbrands, which include products such as Lysol, Woolite and Calgon, with Havas' and Publicis' media groups, the marketer said in a statement. Both had previously worked with the packaged goods giant. Shops from Omnicom and WPP also pitched the business.

What Does Black Friday Even Mean Anymore?

sdumenco@adage.com(Simon Dumenco) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:51:15 -0500

What does "Black Friday" circa 2009 mean anyway? It's always been a weird marketing construct -- as if consumers ever really cared that the day after Thanksgiving is the chance for retailers to clear the red ink from their ledgers and go into the black (though who knows how realistic that expectation is this year). And while the supposed joy of frenzied bargain-hunting still gets celebrated in the media (shots of bustling mall scenes will surely open local newscasts across the country Friday evening), the darker possibilities, like last year's gruesome Walmart stampede remain an unsettling subtext. ,

Farfar Co-founder Nicke Bergstrom Joins Mother, New York

adiaz@creativity-online.com(Ann-Christine Diaz) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:48:04 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- And another Swede enters the building. Nicke Bergstrom, one of the co-founders and creative director of the much decorated Swedish digital agency Farfar, has found a new home at Mother, New York.

Bloomberg Seeks Agency for Global Branding

nives@adage.com(Nat Ives) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:18:48 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- As it gets ready to officially take ownership of BusinessWeek magazine, Bloomberg is looking for help with global branding and advertising across its portfolio of media properties.

Hulu's Massive Traffic Bump? Thank ABC, New TV Season

mlearmonth@adage.com(Michael Learmonth) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:06:08 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Fueled by the fall TV season and the addition of ABC shows to its library, traffic to the video site backed by NBC, ABC and Fox spiked nearly 47% in October from the prior month, the biggest single-month percentage gain of the past year.

A Pair of Advertising Pros Win Peparami's Crowdsourcing Contest

ehall@adage.com(Emma Hall) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:13:49 -0500

LONDON (AdAge.com)-- Unilever's meat snack brand Peperami has announced the results of its crowdsourcing experiment, awarding a $15,000 prize to two professional advertising creatives with 50 years' experience between them.

Beiersdorf Gives Makeover to Chinese Hair Care Brand

nmadden@adage.com(Normandy Madden) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:37:07 -0500

Beiersdorf has launched a major campaign promoting Slek Night Repair as part of the German personal care giant's efforts to position Slek as a premium hair care brand, a segment that has been dominated by foreign brands such as Rejoice, Pantene and Lux.

Calculating the Tim Armstrong Premium as AOL Goes Public

mlearmonth@adage.com(Michael Learmonth) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:14:46 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Tim Armstrong has a nice analogy for how the ad business works. Think of it, he says, as marketers driving around the neighborhood in trucks laden with cash, just looking for the right lawn to dump it on.

Pop-Up Retail Goes Mainstream in the U.K.

ehall@adage.com(Emma Hall) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:37:22 -0500

LONDON (AdAge.com) -- Temporary pop-up shops have become a permanent fixture in the U.K. No longer an underground phenomenon, these one-off marketing tactics designed to get instant buzz have graduated to the mainstream, with Unilever, Cadbury and Britain's biggest entertainment retailer, HMV, all setting up shop for the holiday season.

The Coming Darwinism of IPhone Apps

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:40:34 -0500

I'm confident that if Charles Darwin were here today, he'd have something to teach us about apps. Namely, that most around today won't be in the next few years.

Marketers Hop on Augmented Reality Bandwagon to Promote 'Avatar'

ahampp@adage.com(Andrew Hampp) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:21:09 -0500

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- Is augmented reality ready for prime-time? Twentieth Century Fox and a quartet of brands are about to test the emerging technology's mettle as a marketing tool to promote the Dec. 18 release of "Avatar," the first live-action movie to be produced and released entirely in stereoscopic 3-D.

Behind the Redesign: Virgin.com Mixes Social Activity and Lead Generation

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:30:49 -0500

The total overhaul of Virgin.com had two equal goals: to generate leads and spur social activity. It had to weave together corporate content, user-generated content called for a distinct creative approach that skewed a little more toward e-commerce/online review sites. Here's how they did it.

In His Nike Work, Dan Wieden Is the Prototypical CCO

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:19:01 -0500

The corporation is good at many things, but culture has never been one of them. The time has come to put this right. What better way than to open the C-suite to a senior manager who contents with culture full-time? The question: Where to find people who've served the corporation as unofficial, prototypical CCOs? It wasn't long before I stumbled upon Dan Wieden's magnificent work for Nike, highlighted in this edited book excerpt.

Can You Predict Successful Innovation? You Bet You Can

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:09:14 -0500

Popular opinion suggests that great innovation results from a mysterious combination of forces that make it appear to fall from the sky. However, based on a 30-year analysis of 300 product categories covering 225 countries, it becomes clear this perception is false: Tomorrow's winning innovation can actually be predicted.

Do You Have What It Takes to Dodge Layoffs?

jrooney@adage.com(Jennifer Rooney) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:23:35 -0500

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Industry layoffs are rampant; colleagues are dropping like flies. Still, some stand the test of time and circumstance. Who are these people, and what skills and qualities are keeping them in the mix? Donald Minnick, a clinical psychologist and organization consultant, set out to answer that question in his new book, "Survive Downsizing: How to Keep Your Job and Become Indispensable to Your Company."

We Still Have Plenty For Which to Be Thankful

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:22:59 -0500

With adversity comes perspective and I think we can all agree that this year we received an abundance of perspective for which to be thankful

Tipsy Turkey Brought to You by Georgi Vodka

kwheaton@adage.com(Ken Wheaton) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:41:32 -0500

Vodka isn't the only thing this Thanksgiving-turkey story is full of.

How Black Friday Can Be Brown Friday

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:40:08 -0500

As the largest minority group in the U.S. with a population of more than 50 million and a buying power expected to reach $1.2 trillion in the next year, Hispanic consumers are key to any retailers' plan for success. Whether you've already allocated a small radio buy in L.A. or N.Y. to drive in-store traffic or have even put a few bucks behind a buy on Spanish-language TV, here are five steps you can take now to ensure your Black Friday doesn't stay red.

'Giving Thanks': Helping the Hungry

kegolf@adage.com(Karen Egolf) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:04:53 -0500

In place of its holiday food gifts, Mediaspace Solutions has sent out 430 food-drive starter kits to clients and partners around the country in an effort called "Giving Thanks." The Norwalk, Conn.-based newspaper and online advertising services provider is hoping its bags of packaged goods will encourage people to continue to add to the packages and donate them to local food banks.