Advertising Age articles from August 2007

Advertising Age archives from August 2007

Dow's corporate ads have great chemistry, but will respect follow?(Columns)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Rance Crain Dow chemical co. has a modest goal for its corporate ad campaign: to be acknowledged as the largest, most profitable and most respected chemical company in the world. The "Human Element'' push, now a year old, has...

How Mattel can win back parents; Recall of 1 million toys containing lead paint taints trusted brands.(News)(Financial report)
August 6, 2007... Byline: MEGAN MCILROY mcilroy@adage.com First barbie gets beaten up by Bratz. Now Elmo and Dora the Explorer are tainted by lead paint. Mattel announced Aug. 1 it was recalling 1 million Fisher Price toys, many featuring...

Multicultural highlight: MTV Tr3s ads.(Multicultural)(MTV Networks Inc.)(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Byline: laurel wentz Despite the vibrant Latin music scene, MTV never made much effort in the U.S. Hispanic market until last fall, when the little-noticed MTV en Espa[currency]ol was relaunched as MTV Tr3s for the fast-growing, bilingual,...

McCann sets up outpost for Xbox creatives; Agency latest to spin off new shop in order to get young talent to stay put.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: ALICE Z. CUNEO acuneo@adage.com If you can't keep 'em, bankroll 'em. That's the trend for agencies on the West Coast trying to keep top talent on major accounts from moving on or being poached. The latest example is McCann...

With half of Kraft lagging, it's time to spend or sell; Food giant faces moment of truth after sporadic market-share growth.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK eyork@adage.com It's put up or shut up time for Kraft Foods. Irene Rosenfeld, chairman-CEO of North America's largest food company made a startling admission to analysts last week: Fully half of the...

Some 'Dianamite' answers to all your unasked questions; How does Crovitz really feel? What's up with Wolfe? Why would Time Inc. hire Oscar the cat? Read on.(MediaWorks)(dialogue with L. Gordon Crovitz)(Interview)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Simon Dumenco Every now and then, as a service to real readers, Media Guy fields imaginary questions from nonexistent readers. He does this out of deference to his actual readers' very busy lives, thus saving them the trouble of...

Whoopi's task on 'The View': keep the conversation edgy.(MediaWorks)(Whoopi Goldberg)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Brian Steinberg It's official: Whoopi Goldberg takes the seat that Rosie O'Donnell left vacant on ABC's morning gabfest "The View.'' Though we'll have to wait till Sept. 4 for her debut, regular viewers have already no doubt seen...

Media Guy's Pop Pick: Cagney & Lacey: Series 1.(MediaWorks)(Brief article)(Column)
August 6, 2007... Byline: s.d. Our columnist's current media obsession I was a little too young and clueless for "Cagney & Lacey'' when it was on prime-time TV, but my oldest sister-along with millions of other hard-core fans-adored it. Watching it...

What got more (and less) coverage than Murdoch.(New Era for Newspapers)
August 6, 2007... Byline: ann marie kerwin There's been no shortage of ink spilled over Rupert Murdoch's conquest, but the media mogul still didn't quite trump Paris Hilton, Steve Jobs or Harry Potter when it came to getting journalists' attention. ...

What The Times can teach us about Rupert Murdoch.(The World)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Ivan Pollard One of the interesting things about being over here is watching what's going on over there and learning from it. Occasionally, it happens the other way 'round-like with Rupert Murdoch's bid for a prized part of your...

Latest addition to BabyCenter family: site for Latino market; Top parenting portal in U.S. uses venture to test out mobile strategy and develop ties to Latin America.(Multicultural)
August 6, 2007... Byline: LAUREL WENTZ lwentz@adage.com After expanding around the world, including a China launch in June, the leading U.S. parenting website, BabyCenter, will enter the U.S. Hispanic market in mid-September with BabyCenter en...

Uva looks to build a kinder, more approachable Univision; CEO's merchandising plan, high-profile style take net in new direction.(Multicultural)
August 6, 2007... Byline: LAUREL WENTZ lwentz@adage.com One of the first things Joe Uva did as the new CEO of Univision Communications was present every employee of the Spanish-language TV, radio and online network with a black "I heart Univision''...

If only all marriages could last like these; How some marketers and shops manage to stay together for decades.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN jmullman@adage.com Leo burnett and allstate celebrated their 50th anniversary at a Chicago gala last month-a milestone that seemed unlikely only four years ago. In 2003, the brand was languishing amid the...

T-shirt might bring your brand close to immortality.(Columns)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Lenore Skenazy T-shirts are the lazy man's scrapbook. That must be the reason they're so hard to throw out. Go into your bedroom, open your drawer and be honest with yourself: How many of those tees are you really going to wear...

Big agencies could learn a thing or two from us.(News)(Column)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Eric Webber I'm not really the reflective type, save for the occasional daydreaming about some past "what-might-have-beens,'' such as the day years ago when I found myself alone with Elle McPherson in an elevator at Nordstrom. (She...

Out of Site at Adage.com.(Columns)
August 6, 2007... As seen on AdAge.com/OutofSite Best press release of The week? A press release touting an eco-friendly hanger would seem a likely candidate for the digital trash bin. In fact, it would seem like the sort of thing to drive us so insane...

Gatorade should stick with athlete-focused playbook.(Viewpoint)
August 6, 2007... Gatorade, we're afraid, is at risk of hyper-extending its brand. News that the venerable brand is readying a low-calorie electrolyte beverage for athletes when they're not exercising has us scratching our heads. This is a brand long...

Political ads that provide a laugh? You'll vote for those.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: ken wheaton What you say: 78% - Hillary Clinton and several other presidential candidates have introduced a new element to their ad campaigns: humor. And most of those responding to our poll were ready for a little comic relief. An...

Scandal not all bad news for Telemundo; Affair between reporter, mayor actually boosts ratings at L.A. affiliate.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: LAURA MARTINEZ RUIZ-VELASCO adageeditor@adage.com What happened when Telemundo became part of a news story on which it was reporting? Its ratings rose. Naturally, not all the fallout from a scandal that saw a Telemundo...

Times, FT face bruising battle.(New Era for Newspapers)(The New York Times)
August 6, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER AND JEREMY MULLMAN mcreamer@adage.com, jmullman@adage.com Get ready for the Old Australian Man vs. The Old Gray Lady. Before last Tuesday, if Rupert Murdoch wanted to get under The New York Times' skin, his...

The case of the incredible shrinking blogosphere; On digital communications.(Digital)(Column)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Steve Rubel Bloggers and the media have some common ground: Both like to incessantly navel gaze. Recently, the conversation has focused on the rising popularity of micro-blogging platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,...

DISNEY HIT PROVES YOUTUBE ISN'T ONLY WAY TO TARGET TEENS; Net turns to libraries, Little League to push 'HSM2'.(News)(Walt Disney Co. Walt Disney Studios)(Financial report)
August 6, 2007... Byline: CLAUDE BRODESSER-AKNER cbrodesser@adage.com Facebook? Forget it. MySpace? YouTube? Um, like, nuh-uh! Or as Sharpay Evans would say, "Toodles!" Kids may spend most every waking hour online, but when it came to...

Is mold-busting cosmetics maker about to go bust itself? Bare Escentuals soared by avoiding biggest channels; now its stock is plunging.(News)(Financial report)
August 6, 2007... Byline: JACK NEFF jneff@adage.com A company that wowed Wall Street by defying the rules of beauty marketing is suddenly unable to defy the laws of gravity. Bare Escentuals, purveyor of additive and irritant-free cosmetics, has...

NEUHARTH PREDICTS WHAT'S NEXT; USA Today creator says Murdoch's reign at WSJ will be `a very good thing'.(New Era for Newspapers)(Interview)
August 6, 2007... Byline: NAT IVES nives@adage.com The wall street journal will soon be in the hands of Rupert Murdoch, and many expect him to put his efforts into taking on the other two national newspapers, The New York Times and USA Today. Al...

Rupert ready: You bet he's got a plan.(New Era for Newspapers)
August 6, 2007... Byline: NAT IVES nives@adage.com At the risk of sounding overly excitable... all hell is about to break loose. Rupert Murdoch is poised to take control of The Wall Street Journal, the country's second-largest newspaper by circulation,...

Who has the top blog? Find out at Adage.com; Power 150 ranking system now part of ad age.(News)(Power 150)
August 6, 2007... On Monday Ad Age will introduce its readers to the Power 150, a comprehensive, real-time ranking of more than 360 blogs about media and marketing. The Power 150 is the creation of PR executive and keen blogger Todd Andrlik (toddand.com.)...

Stand-alone news brands are doomed.(New Era for Newspapers)
August 6, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER mcreamer@adage.com Near the top of his blog, journalism critic and NYU professor Jay Rosen keeps a mission statement that's as useful as any for guiding today's pack of weary newshounds. "We need,'' he writes,...

Reality catches up with Pat Fallon.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN jmullman@adage.com The name fallon still sits over the door of an ad agency, but as the shop fights to avoid the fate that befell such storied names as Bates and D'Arcy, its founder has been reduced to being...

Global highlight: Whispering Windows.(The World)(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Byline: gail chiasson and emily tan Whispering Windows technology is part of Canada's tourism strategy for 2007, designed to intrigue, surprise and appeal to potential visitors in New York. Three Manhattan storefronts have been wrapped...

Why Unilever lost the laundry war.(News)
August 6, 2007... Byline: JACK NEFF jneff@adage.com In a 1999 interview with Advertising Age, then-P&G President A.G. Lafley shook his head at an admission by then-Unilever Co-Chairman Niall FitzGerald in a magazine article that at one point he and...

AN AD IN WHICH BOY GETS GIRL ... OR BOY; Levi's targets gay, straight consumers with alt endings.(News)(advertisement)
August 6, 2007... Byline: ANDREW HAMPP ahampp@adage.com Marketers have on occasion created different versions of the same ad targeted toward different audiences-Sony's Bravia TV being billed as the first TV campaign with spots for men and women earlier...

HOW TO MARKET TO ASIA'S MASSES; Don't overlook the fact that even low-income consumers have needs they want help meeting.(CMO Strategy)
August 6, 2007... Byline: MICHELLE KRISTULA-GREEN For decades, the majority of multinational corporations marketing in Asia have focused on the affluent minority, those who tend to live in urban areas and have shopping habits and product needs that are quite...

DON'T BE AFRAID TO PLUNGE INTO EMERGING MEDIA; Marketers who stay in their 'cocoons of comfort' lag behind the customers they're trying to influence.(CMO Strategy)(Survey)
August 6, 2007... Byline: SCOTT DAVIS Color today's marketers dazed and confused. It's an understandable reaction to an environment that has become almost impossibly complex, making it difficult for them to figure out where to start (much less how to go...

A marketing chief who thinks like an entrepreneur.(TalentWorks)(dialogue with Jeff Glueck of Travelocity.com Inc.)(Interview)
August 6, 2007... Byline: JENNIFER ROONEY jrooney@adage.com jeff glueck joined Travelocity in January 2004 after founding discount travel site Site59.com, where he served as chief strategic officer and VP-business and product development. At...

Media Morph: Balihoo.(digital advertising)(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Byline: abbey klaassen The aspiration: To be the Google for media planning. For three years, Balihoo spiders have crawled the web to discover websites of online and offline media properties marketers can buy. How it works: A marketer...

Model misses her opportunity to (moon) shine in New York.(Isobella Jade's indecent exposure)(Ford Motor Co. celebrates 75th-birthday bash for its 1932 Deuce Coupe)(Pepsi's promotional event for Diet Pepsi Max )
August 6, 2007... Byline: Ken Wheaton Adages has gotten a lot of mileage out of bare bottoms in the past month or so. We don't break a lot of news in these parts, but we were the first (in our web form) to report news of Toto Washlet's "Happy Bottoms''...

Account action.(News)(briefs)(Hotels.com)(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Dell's $760 million advertising account has inspired a holding-company war. Omnicom Group, Interpublic Group of Cos., WPP Group, Publicis Groupe and Havas are all creating special marketing-services teams in order to consolidate the account...

Meet the little guys who are challenging ComScore, NetRatings; Quantcast, others may not unseat giants, but they do offer advertisers more ways to measure traffic online.(Digital)
August 6, 2007... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN aklaassen@adage.com Move over, Nielsen/NetRatings and ComScore-a new crop of measurement services with names such as Quantcast, Compete and Alexa have popped up, vying to provide quick and free data on a larger...

THE HEAT INDEX; Weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle and fizzle.(MediaWorks)
August 6, 2007... 9 Business 2.0 It's rare to get a reprieve these days over at Time Inc., but Business 2.0 managed to convince management it was good for another issue. 7 'Damages' MyNetworkTV picks up FX's new Glenn Close series in the hope viewers will...

People & Players.(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... new orleans: the big idea Cottage Living opens its 2007 Idea Home. (From l.) Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, Cottage Living Publisher Steve Bohlinger, Cottage Living Editor in Chief Eleanor Griffin, Lee Industries President Norman...

ZIPPO: "Every Zippo Tells a Story"; Blattner Brunner, Pittsburgh.(Work)(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Ads show authentic Zippo pocket lighters along with fragments of old Zippo advertising, biker art, engine parts, concert buttons, military insignias and memorabilia. The 75th-anniversary campaign uses print, outdoor, music sites and...

Study: Popularity of social networks hampers ad growth; Group M finds that marketers in the U.K. are still figuring out to advertise on sites such as Facebook.(The World)
August 6, 2007... Byline: EMMA HALL ehall@adage.com The rise of social networking has triggered a fall in the growth of online advertising, according to a Group M U.K. media and marketing forecast. U.S. figures, to be released in a few weeks, are...

PepsiCo loses creative guru of almost 50 years; OBITUARY: Alan Pottasch, 79, fathered long-running 'Pepsi Generation' spots.(News)(Obituary)
August 6, 2007... Byline: MEGAN MCILROY mmcilroy@adage.com The man who birthed the Pepsi Generation has died. Alan M. Pottasch, creative guru at Pepsi-Cola Co. for nearly 50 years, was the force behind countless campaigns including the Pepsi...

Oscar Mayer jingle maestro dies; OBITUARY: Jerry Ringlien, 77, made the ads that gave your bologna a first name.(News )(Obituary)
August 6, 2007... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK eyork@adage.com Jerry ringlien, best known as creator of the "My bologna has a first name'' campaign, died of a heart attack July 30 in Wilkesboro, N.C. He was 77. Mr. Ringlien worked at Oscar Mayer for...

Creativity Picks.(Work)(briefs)(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Interactive DISCOVERY channel: area/code, New York "Shark Runners Game" Creative director: Frank Lantz. Executive producer: Kevin Slavin. Game design and programming: Kevin Cancienne. Programming: Dennis Crowley. Senior producer:...

How Murdoch made Times of London his; Vowed not to meddle, then shook up staff and changed editorial.(New Era for Newspapers)
August 6, 2007... In 1981, more than 200 years after its first edition was published, Rupert Murdoch added The Times of London to his international news empire. In order to buy The Wall Street Journal, he needed to woo the Bancroft family. To buy The Times, he...

More consumers turn to PCs for entertainment; on digital consumers.(Digital)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Mike Vorhaus In case there was any question, the computer has become a major entertainment device. The time spent using the PC for such purposes has exploded in the past year. The average 12- to 64-year-old internet user...

Media Morph: From outdoor mural to YouTube video.(Digital)(Toyota Motor Corp.)(Saatchi and Saatchi)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Byline: jean halliday What it is: An advertising hat trick that turned an out-of-home mural into two online videos and a magazine ad. Saatchi & Saatchi, Torrance, Calif., was looking for a different way to communicate "unbreakable,'' the...

How software is quickly becoming an advertising medium; Are sponsored messages within word-processing, e-mail applications the future of B-to-B marketing?(Digital)
August 13, 2007... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN aklaassen@adage.com Trevor nielsen used to spend much of his workday roaming from computer to computer at Pioneer Hospital, a Meeker, Colo., nonprofit, with an Excel spreadsheet, keeping track of the tech...

This commentator's media glass is half full (but won't be for long); Why be optimistic? TimesSelect is grounded, HBO is soaring and Jim Cramer is taking on the Fed.(MediaWorks)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Simon Dumenco Hope springs eternal? Not in my line of work. You'd be hard pressed to find any media critic anywhere who isn't filled (more or less appropriately) with despair much of the time. Still, there really are reasons, now...

Media Guy's Pop Pick: Antenna; Our columnist's current media obsession.(MediaWorks)(Brief article)(Column)
August 13, 2007... Byline: s.d. Frankly, I'm a shocked at how much I like Antenna, the new men's magazine from Harris Publications (King, XXL). After all, it's nominally a shopping guide, and I slagged the late, ungreat men's shopping magazine Cargo on this...

Want to build diversity? Sweat the small stuff.(Talentworks)
August 13, 2007... Byline: CAROL WATSON Walk around the major cities where most of the largest ad agencies are located, and you will see a mix of people, music, fashion, art and culture that influences product innovation and consumer behavior. Part of what...

WANT GREAT PR? GET YOUR AGENCIES TO SHARE THE LOAD; CASE STUDY: The new Maytag Repairman owes his life to integration.(CMO Strategy)(public relations)
August 13, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY DAVIDOFF Those of us lucky enough to have a few decades of advertising and marketing behind us can say with all certainty that the foundation has shifted. Gone are the days when you could just fire off a good TV...

Candidates seek key(words) to search success.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN aklaassen@adage.com google "mitt romney'' and you'll find he's got company among the paid-search results: John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. That's because front-running Republicans are busy buying up competitive...

DVR-busting lessons.(News)(Digital video recorders)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Byline: brian steinberg Rewards drive behavior Why would anyone want to watch more commercials when they can simply fast-forward to a favorite show? Marketing strategist Tom Trenta, who had a hand in one of the first DVR ads, believes...

Slow-'em-down spots get zapped by ad execs; 'DVR busters' generate buzz-but consumers continue to fast-forward.(News)(advertising executives)(digital video recorders)
August 13, 2007... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG bsteinberg@adage.com tom trenta sat on his couch in fall 2004 watching a recorded Bears football game with his son, using his TiVo to scan a touchdown play one moment at a time. That's when he was seized by an...

GIVE THIS POOCH A HOME (WHENEVER YOU HAVE TIME); FlexPetz lets busy consumers rent four-legged companions for $40 a day.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Kimberly D. Williams kwilliams@adage.com City kids who once used Gigapets and Tamagotchis can now rent real pets. FlexPetz, created in California, is a pet-sharing program that works in a way similar to other business...

Paid content on the net? Not if the content's news; CNN, Economist take down walls online; WSJ and NYT could be next.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: NAT IVES And ABBEY KLAASSEN nives@adage.com, aklaassen@adage.com The experiment in paid content is over. No sale. Charging for web content looked pretty promising back in 1996, when the pioneering new web magazine Slate was...

Google's political guru talks campaign 2008; Q&A: Peter Greenberger on how candidates can use the web to win votes.(News)(Peter Greenberger)(Interview)
August 13, 2007... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN aklaassen@adage.com Google hasn't been quiet about increasing its presence in Washington-and it's hired more than just an army of lobbyists. In time for the 2008 presidential election, Google has added some...

We'd like to whiten our fangs before we tear into another ad.(Garfield's AdReview)(advertising)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Bob Garfield AdReview, we are embarrassed to report, smokes. Cigars. Lots of them. For 30 years. We also drink lots of coffee. Basically, a pot per day. Plus two or three Diet Cokes. This is how we stay happy and alert. It...

Yeah, did we mention print advertising is dead?! So there!(Adages)(briefs)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Ken Wheaton So Adages has finally dragged itself into the late 20th century and found a home on the web at AdAge.com/adages. And what better way to celebrate the new digs than to make fools of ourselves on video. It all started...

McDonald's crisis tip: Don't fight the children's hospital; Though research had holes, lashing out could worsen chain's situation.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK eyork@adage.com The study should have been easy enough to discredit: It was conducted with a statistically small sample by a group with an obvious agenda and came to the hardly surprising conclusion that kids...

Advertising Week could do worse than mimic Tap Project.(Columns)(Column)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Jonah Bloom Unicef's the tap project is a case study in what Advertising Week could and should become. Advertising Week's organizers have greatly improved the event since its inception three years ago. This year there'll be...

WOULD YOU LET THESE PEOPLE FRIEND YOU? Half the biz is jumping on Facebook fanwagon, for 'research,' of course.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER mcreamer@adage.com Want to send Julie Roehm a virtual beer or lychee martini? Need to connect with Tom Ajello, star of the ill-fated Subway viral-video pitch and famous fist-bumper? Or give Stuart Elliott a...

Billion-buck brands on the block; Taking heat from Street, Kraft, P&G likely to divest leaders in slow categories.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: JACK NEFF jneff@adage.com Let the sell-off begin. Unilever's $1.1 billion North American laundry business is the first of many big U.S. brands expected to hit the market in the months and years ahead as multinational...

READERS RESPOND: Why longtime clients get extra care.(Viewpoint)(Letter to the editor)
August 13, 2007... RE: "If Only All Marriages Could Last Like These'' (AA, Aug. 6). I wanted to echo Bob Scarpelli's comments about being the person in charge when a valued long-term client is lost. I'm a former general manager of Foote, Cone & Belding, Los...

Out of Site at Adage.com.(Columns)(Brief article)(Column)
August 13, 2007... As seen on AdAge.com/garfield Web doesn't exactly bring out the best in people Here's another lovely example of measured, respectful online discourse: "I wouldn't waste a fart in your general direction you f---ing shit stain.... By...

Global highlight: Philips shaving system.(The World)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Byline: emma hall Philips is launching the "Moisturizing Shaving System'' in more than 25 markets worldwide, starting Aug. 18 in the U.K. The product-a co-branded joint venture with Beiersdorf's Nivea for Men-takes on the challenge of...

GM shift puts power of Olympics into question; Carmaker's pullout may be sign that event is no longer a golden ad venue.(News)(General Motors Corp.)(advertising venue )
August 13, 2007... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY And BRIAN STEINBERG jhalliday@adage.com, bsteinberg@adage.com The olympics used to be golden. In an era where viewers are fleeing network TV for cable, the internet and other forms of new media, a precious few...

HP's media chief: Why mobile ads don't cut it; Berg says marketers must cater to consumer needs, not just push messages.(News)(Hewlett-Packard Co.)(Peter Berg)(mobile advertising)
August 13, 2007... Byline: ALICE Z. CUNEO acuneo@adage.com Scott berg's got a bone to pick with mobile marketing. Hewlett-Packard's worldwide media director controls a budget of $829 million and is a big fan of nontraditional media. HP, for example,...

On their marks: With a year to go, sponsors tout '08 Olympic ties; Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch among those running countdown campaigns before start of Beijing games.(The World)
August 13, 2007... Byline: NORMANDY MADDEN nmadden@adage.com [beijing] Marketers from Coca-Cola Co. and Anheuser-Busch to a Taiwanese noodle maker are rushing to take advantage of the one-year countdown to the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing on...

Does your brand bore the Japanese? Blame 7-Eleven.(The World)(Column)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Dave McCaughan Three hundred beverage brands in a space the size of an American living room. That's the promise of visiting a 7-Eleven in Japan-or any other major convenience store, or combini, as they are known here. When I get a...

It's another sweet September for fashion mags; Vogue, others fatter than 2006, but ad pages for rest of year remain uncertain.(News)(magazines)(advertising pages)
August 13, 2007... Byline: NAT IVES nives@adage.com Fall issues, and September in particular, have again proved golden for many magazines this year. That's good news for publishers, whose bosses are by now getting a pretty good idea how 2007 as a whole...

INSURERS SHY AWAY FROM THE GEICO GUY; By electing not to advertise in ABC's 'Cavemen,' Aflac and others expose pitfalls of branded entertainment.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG bsteinberg@adage.com On oct. 2, abc will premiere its high-profile sitcom "Cavemen,'' based on Geico's popular ad campaign. But the show is proving to be a hard sell to rival insurers-who collectively spent...

McD's likely to get fried by passive response to study.(Viewpoint)(McDonald's Corp.)
August 13, 2007... McDonald's had better start preparing some black-and-white packaging. And get ready to tear down the arches. According to a study by Stanford University's Packard Children's Hospital, preschoolers, when presented with identical food...

With new game, Shark Week campaign evolves into killer app.(Columns)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Teressa Iezzi What it is about Shark Week? The Discovery staple just celebrated its 20th anniversary and enjoyed some of its highest ratings ever. The series always does a fine job of arousing our terror of being consumed by a...

What they're up against.(CMO Strategy)(Survey)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... CMOs are open to new agencies 'proactive prospecting-provided they deliver the goods 85% of clients don't feel agencies prepare well enough. Many agencies don't invest much in this area or prefer to fire from the hip-which looks cool but...

Sales for K-C's Duckbill line get goosed by viral; Video seen by only 65,000 sends DIY business soaring.(News)(Kimberly-Clark Corp.)(Financial report)
August 13, 2007... Byline: JACK NEFF jneff@adage.com The prevailing wisdom is that a viral video has to catch on big to boost sales. But a relatively modest hit has worked for Kimberly-Clark Corp. The marketer that spends millions behind Huggies and...

The end is near! A farewell for Weekly World News.(MediaWorks)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Ann Marie Kerwin It seems to have taken a while for reality to sink in for Weekly World News fans-not really that surprising when you consider its readers were happy not to question headlines such as "12 U.S. Senators Are Space...

The Heat Index; Weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle and fizzle.(MediaWorks)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... 10 Rupert Murdoch Quite pleased with the whole Wall Street Journal deal, despite "treatment usually reserved for genocidal tyrants" from the press. 6 New Site NBC and News Corp.'s soon-to-be-launched video website gets an infusion of $100M...

Here come the cuts at Chrysler.(News)(Financial report)
August 13, 2007... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY jhalliday@adage.com Bob nardelli ain't no Lee Iacocca. You could almost hear the groans from dealers, agencies, media owners and the marketing department as Mr. Charm was announced this week as CEO of the...

Kraft should lose the brands that have been pulling it down.(News)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Byline: emily tan What you say: 51% - Kraft announced last week that half the businesses in the $34 billion company's portfolio are making no progress. Analysts gave Kraft two options: spend more or sell off. And 51% of respondents to our...

MARKETERS, GIVE IN TO AGENCIES' COLD CALLS; BEYOND FORMALITIES: That aggressive suitor just might be a fit.(CMO Strategy)(Survey)(Column)
August 13, 2007... Byline: BILL COLBOURNE Cmos and marketing agencies can't seem to move beyond formal processes to get it on. In other verticals they're less inhibited, but like shy sweethearts from a bygone era, we rely on third parties to facilitate...

J&J targets Red Cross, blunders into PR firestorm; In logo suit, drug giant didn't bank on run-in with Hurricane Howard.(News)(Johnson and Johnson)(public relation firestorm)
August 13, 2007... Byline: JACK NEFF jneff@adage.com Johnson & johnson knew suing the American Red Cross for using-of all things, the red-cross logo-wasn't a slick public-relations move. So, likely, did the American Red Cross, advised as it is by PR...