february 3, 2006
American Family Association Accuses NBC of Anti-Christian Bigotry
The American Family is denouncing an episode of Will and Grace that portrays Britney Spears as a Christian Conservative talk show host who introduces a cooking segment on the show called “Cruci-fixin’s.” The group calls the segment a “direct attack on people of faith” and urges affiliates and advertisers to protest.
2006-02-03 Adage
Louis Vuitton – Purse or Art?
The Louis Vuitton brand, looking for the additional level of allure to compete for the attention of luxury-sated Europeans and Americans hopes the new art gallery at its flagship store on the Avenue des Champs Elysées, featuring ‘fashionable’ artists will differentiate the brand by linking it to serious contemporary art. One photgraph on exhibit depicts groups of naked black and white women, wearing pastel wigs, forming the Louis Vuitton logo.
2006-02-03 The Economist (Requires paid subscription)
The Secret Life of Keds
The Keds footwear brand, owned by Stride Rite, is hitting the road with 21 year-old twins Jess and Lisa Origliasso from Australia, known as pop-rock duo The Veronicas, in a co-marketing promotion of the group’s debut album, Spring 2006 US tour and Keds latest footwear fashions. Not bad for a 90 year-old brand. 2006-02-03 PRNewswire
Surprising Growth in “Stitch n’ Bitch” Niche Young people, including celebrities like Julia Roberts, are leading a resurgence of interest in knitting, crocheting and needlework, as a way to relax and spend time with family and friends. 2006-02-03 The Economist (Requires paid subscription)
Overworked Americans – Fact or Fiction?
Most Americans would insist that the amount of free time they enjoy has decreased over the years. But the reality is that while the amount of time devoted to paying activities has increased, time spent on other activities, such as housework, has decreased due to labor-saving products and services amounting to a net gain of five extra leisure hours per week.
2006-02-03 The Economist (Requires paid subscription)
february 2, 2006
Super Banned Bowl
Heavy.com is premiering ads from Super Bowl outcasts, including exhibitionistic GoDaddy.com, in the Heavy.com “Super-Banned Bowl.” Also included are commercials for the OTC drug Airborne featuring Mickey Rooney and his derriere, as well as two PETA spots for its own NHL (National Heavy League) including “Milk Gone Wild” and “Sausage,” which both promote a veggie lifestyle.”
Heavy.com Co-Ceo David Carson says” The Super-Banned Bowl is for those companies and organizations who were denied their inalienable right to spend millions of dollars for 30 seconds of glory during the Super Bowl.”Heavy .com receives “10 million monthly unique visitors according to Nielsen stats, as well as a viral reach of “65 million taste-challenged pop-culture junkies.” Only in America.
2006-02-01 Adotas.com
The King Goes Public
Burger King has announced that for the first time in the fast-food chain's 52-year history they will go public in an attempt to recoup ground lost in fierce competition with rivals McDonald's Corp. and Wendy's. Reportedly, in 2004 the company U.S. Sales declined 2% versus the year before.
Greg Brennenam, the 10th CEO of Burger King in 15 years and a turnaround specialist who helped lead Continental Airlines Inc. out of bankruptcy and into profitability has been credited with launching several popular new products at Burger King and an aggressive new advertising campaign targeting "Superfans," young men who eat frequently at the chain.
Burger King will advertise on the Super Bowl broadcast for the first time in a decade on Sunday, with a one-minute spot that will also be sent to owners of Sprint cell phones that show video.
2006-02-01 CBS News
Internet Replay
If you miss out on this years’ vaunted SuperBowl XL ads this Sunday, don’t despair. You can see any of the roughly 40 glossy big-budget spots to run on ABC Sunday — at a record average cost of $2.5 million for each 30 seconds — all you need do is click on over to numerous websites including espn.com, nfl.com, video.google.com, video.yahoo.com, video-on-demand programs on digital cable; for downloading to PC's and video iPods, on Sprint cellphones…
2006-02-01 New York Times
Cell Phone Companies Calling Tweens
With the adult market saturated, cell phone companies are eying the 8-12 year old tween market. Companies are providing simplified phones with “Dad” and “Mom” icons on speed dial keys. While Sprint is looking to co-brand a line of kids’ phones with Walt Disney, their core customers will be 8-9 year olds. By the time they’re 10-12, kids are looking for products with “coolness.”
2006-1-31 The News Sentinel
Let the Big Hotels Fight over Beds
These hospitality upstarts are creating unique one-of-a-kind experiences for their guests, from New York’s “Dream” Hotel that places guests in a surreal environment where the lower lounge is like night-time all the time and thrift-store objects sit on the coffee tables. Or, Hotel Fox in Denmark where guests pick one-of-a-kind rooms designed by artists and decide with what amenities it is stocked.
2006-02-01 Fast Company
february 1, 2006
American Idol Worship
The fifth season of American Idol has defied the odds by delivering a 15 percent increase in audience share on its opening night among the coveted and elusive 18-49 audience. The next night it came in at a 25% increase, from the same week a year ago, in total viewers and in the 18-49 audience.“Among teenage girls, the show had an extraordinary 49 share — meaning that of every girl in the country watching television for those two hours, with about 100 channels to choose from in most homes, half were watching Fox.” Even Simon Cowell must be smiling.
2006-01-30 New York Times (May require registration)
American Idol Take Two
If you have an invention and you yearn to be humiliated on national TV you’ll be happy to hear that in March Simon “I-don’t-mean-to-be-rude” Cowell is premiering “American Inventor.” Inventors and entrepreneurs will present their ideas to a team of four judges who’ll narrow down the pack so that the American public can choose the winner of $1million dollars and the chance to manufacture and sell their product.
2006-01-31 BusinessWeek (May require paid subscription)
U.S. Brands Losing Global Popularity Contest among World’s Youth
About half of the most popular brands worldwide in 2005 are U.S. brands versus last year when 80% of most popular brands were American. Experts attribute the declines to a wave of cultural nationalism abroad, a drop in U.S. popularity, and widespread use of the Internet diluting the influence of U.S. brands. Coca-Cola, Adidas and Nike remain among top ten favorites.
2006-01-31 Women’s Wear Daily ViaYPulse
Newsflash: Arrogant, Insensitive Ads Are Not the Way to Appeal to Teen Girls
What may seem obvious to you is apparently not to some print advertisers who talk to their teenage female target audience like “a nightmare date.” Mocking girls’ two top priorities, boys and self-esteem, is “cruel or just plain stupid.”
So don’t do it no matter how clever you think your copy is. 2006-01-26 BusinessWeek
The Selective Simple Life
Cycles of affluence, such as the one we’re now in experts say, are followed by cycles of austerity. At one extreme is the ‘home’ designed by a Japanese architect to become “one” with nature and the community. The dwelling is little more than a series of boxes. Residents can only get from box to box, including the bathroom, by walking outside, and exposing themselves to the elements. Those less committed to a life of austerity can simply opt to vacation in a resorts featuring accommodations without electricity or running water.
2006-01-31 Wired.com
MTV’s Reality Show Gets Real
MTV’s documentary-style program, “True Life” provides a peek into the lives of real-life families dealing with real-life issues such as kids with obsessive-compulsive disorders, kids of gay parents, one of whom wants to be the drum major in her conservative town, another who meets his sperm donor father and the third who wants to prove to her two dads that she’s old enough to make her own decisions. A breath of fresh air. 2006-01-26 New York Post via YPulse
january 30, 2006
Customers Taking Fewer Trips down The Grocery Aisle
Customers are shopping less and eating out more, part of the reason the American restaurant industry is projecting a 5.1 percent increase in sales this year while the packaged-food industry is expecting growth of about two percent. Higher oil prices are also making it more expensive for manufacturers to make packaging and transport products. Kraft brands have suffered more than competitors, due in part to a dearth of innovative new products. 2006-01-31 New York Times
The Hotel Bed Wars are over and the Winner is…?
Westin Hotels and Resorts offers guests the “Heavenly Bed” and Marriott beds feature “300-thread-count sheets, a feathered mattress topper, stylish pillow shams, a decorative bed scarf and extra pillows.” While customers enjoy the improvements most seem to feel the hotels have gone a little overboard. No matter, the real winners here are the hotels who have been able to charge customers more for the promise of a better night’s sleep. 2006-01-31 New York Times
Are You Frazzing?
Lots of people think that if they’re not frazzing, a term coined by Massachusetts psychiatrist Edward Hallowell to describe “frantic multi-tasking,” they’re not getting anything done. But all that frazzing has resulted in a lack of focus, exacerbated by the technology onslaught, and the likelihood of being interrupted by someone, on average, every 10.5 minutes. It then takes an average of 21 minutes to get back on track. Stresses us out just thinking about it. 2006-01-27 ABCNews via MediaPost Minute
Accenture to Audit Ford’s Media Plans
Nobody at Ford or Accenture is talking except to confirm that Accenture has been hired provide a U.S. media measurement and optimization program for the carmaker that could “dramatically change its thinking on launch-ad spending and media mix.” Needless to say, WPP doesn’t like it. 2006-01-30 Adage
Agencies can’t claim this has taken them by surprise. For years, they have struggled with client requests to demonstrate RO or blithely shouldered them aside. Meanwhile, management consultancies have been eyeing sizable advertising agency budgets for years as they’ve sought ways to increase their own billings.
The current rush from traditional media to online advertising that has occurred as part of the seismic changes taking place in media consumption have caught many agencies unprepared to advise their clients strategically and tactically to leverage new opportunities in the marketplace. It’s time for agencies to stop wringing their hands and longing for the past and, instead, get busy reinventing and repositioning themselves for the future lest their future is redefined for them.
january 30, 2006
Pirelli Hopes Religious Drama Will Sell Tires
In March Pirelli will introduce “The Call”, a ten minute film set in the Vatican. Starring John Malkovich as a priest, and Naomi Campbell as the devil, the film will recount the classic battle of good versus evil. The tire company says the story is a “metaphorical illustration” of its slogan, “Power is Nothing Without Control.” Will there be sequels? You bet.
2006-01-29 International Herald Tribune
Expect to see an acceleration of this trend (brand as content producer) due to the proliferation of mobile devices, production cost efficiencies and demand for quality content.
Carmaker MINI USA Revamps the Agency Review
Many recent failures of brand management are due, at least partly some say, to having the wrong agency partner. But although the stakes are high, agency reviews are typically exercises of mind-numbing sameness with little meaningful interaction between agencies and prospective clients.
To change that, carmaker MINI USA’s Jim McDowell concocted a two-month process that not only put the prospective agency in close contact with the client, but with other agency contenders, testing the agency’s “marketing flair as well as the personal chemistry between agency and client -- the key, experts say, to a successful long-term relationship.”
2006-02-06 BusinessWeek (May require subscription.)
Gillette’s Razor of the Future: Innovation or Overkill?
The new Gillette Fusion razor, which has “five closely spaced blades for regular shaving, and a ‘precision trimmer’ blade in back, for grooming those “tricky places” - beards and mustaches,” is projected by the company to be a $1 billion product by 2008. While some say its innovation overkill, the company believes that its key target, men 18-40 will want to try something new if the brand communicates an “aura of coolness.”
2006-01-27 New York Times
Target Aims for ‘Fast Fashion’ Bulls-eye
Most customers are wise to retailers’ omnipresent sales. Target plans to create a heightened sense of urgency by introducing trendy, but limited engagement clothing, a strategy employed by European retailers such as Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz AB. Target’s first ‘fast fashion’ collection will be introduced this week and is projected to quickly sell out. If successful, the strategy could put pressure on other brands, such as the Gap, who has struggled recently due to confused brand identity and ho-hum merchandise, and widen Target’s lead over Wal-Mart, despite Wal-Mart’s recent addition of more upscale apparel to their stores. 2006-01-28 Reuters
Target’s strategy is reminiscent of the flavor promotions, such as the McDonald’s McRib, employed for years by quick service and casual restaurants.
Frey Deception Threatens Brand Oprah Experts say that Frey’s deception, and Oprah’s early defense of the author threatened the $1 billion brand’s key equities of “openness, honesty and humanity but last Thursday’s confrontation of the author on her show was “textbook” damage control.
2006-01-28 ABC News via Highbeam Research
Affluent Airline Brand Offers ‘Guests’ Next Best Thing to Corporate Jet
Eos Airlines caters to affluent passengers with 48 ‘guest’ cabins on a plane built for 220, seats that convert into 78-inch long beds, and a “curbside escort that will whisk passengers through security for those who phone ahead to report they're running late.” One-way fares cost $3,350. Members of the airline’s loyalty program are recognized by name; membership numbers and cards are not required.
2006-01-19 BrandWeek
Recognizing customers by name is one of the simplest, but most powerful, ways of enriching the customer experience and building loyalty. Brand also restores a measure of exclusivity to affluent travelers in an era where just about anyone can afford to fly.
Hallmark of America’s Most Popular Spokes-Creatures: Longevity
Half of the top ten most liked spokes-icons are practically geezers, created during the golden age of advertising. At number one are the Mars branded M&M spokes-candies, with Red, the oldest, introduced in 1954. (Green, M&M’s first female spokes-candy, was debuted in 1997.) Second runner-up is the Pillsbury Dough Boy, created in 1965. The youngster in the bunch, Aflac’s frustrated spokes-duck, introduced in 2000, rounds out the top three. The oldest spokes-icons making the top ten are the septuagenarian trio of Rice Krispies’ spokes-elves, Snap, Crackle and Pop, created in 1932. 2005-12-22 Forbes
Social Networking Takes to the Skies “Airtroductions” website will match you with a compatible seat mate on your next flight for just $5.00.
2006-01-28 via MicroPersuasion
Auto Ads Leaving Newspapers in Droves Projected revenue for the newspaper publishing industry continues to decline as more auto dealers and manufacturers shift print budgets to online. The trend signals increasing problems for the newspaper industry; auto advertising accounted for 30% of revenue in 2004, the most recent year figures are available.
2006-01-27 Wall Street Journal
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