Advertising Age articles from January 2009

Advertising Age archives from January 2009

What if I don't go straight to work?(News)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... GenNext blogger Alex Kniess writes: "As I continue to do some deep soul-searching over my holiday break (remember those?), I am seriously considering these questions. Do I really want to work a typical starting agency job right out of school?...

The question: Do you think the optimistic messaging being used by Pepsi, Dunkin' Donuts and others will move more product? 78% said positive messages will lead to positive results.(What You Say)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: max lakin In keeping with the optimism of the New Year, 78 % of respondents said marketers will be rewarded for their positive messages. "Isn't all human behavior guided by two emotions when it comes down to it: either fear or...

THE HEAT INDEX; Weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle and fizzle.(MediaWorks)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... 8 'Real World: Brooklyn' Could it be producers have grown bored with reality show typecasting stunts? The new cast actually seems likable. 6 'Scrubs' The silliest-doctors-ever sitcom moves to ABC, adds Courtney Cox to the cast and fires...

People & Players.(briefs)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... new york: The Lunchbox Auction Gourmet magazine sponsors the Lunchbox Auction to benefit the New York City Food Bank and the Lunchbox Fund for South African schoolchildren. (From l.) Anne Burrell, chef and TV personality; Nancy Berger...

NEW YEAR, NEW ROUND OF DIET PROGRAMS; Weight-loss giants roll out wallet-friendly plans for troubled year.(News)
January 12, 2009... Byline: MARISSA MILEY January is the perennial season for dieting, but in 2009, Americans may feel the pinch in their wallets as acutely as the pinch around their waistlines. "This is going to be the year of the frugal dieter,'' said John...

Wanted: $50 million to improve the image of Detroit's Big Three.(News)(joint venture between General Motors Corp., Chrysler L.L.C. and Ford Motor Co.)
January 12, 2009... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY With the blessing of automotive luminary Lee Iacocca, three car guys are knocking on doors in hopes of raising $50 million a year to fund a marketing push to save Detroit. But after a year of trying, the project to...

NBC TAPS LEADING WOMEN TO OFFER ADVICE TO MARKETERS; Lazarus, Vieira, Bartiromo to help clients market to women.(News)(NBC Universal Inc.)
January 12, 2009... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG The principals of the latest marketing agency: Maria Bartiromo, Meredith Vieira, Tori Spelling and Susan Lyne. They, along with 22 other estimable names, including Ogilvy & Mather Chairman-CEO Shelly Lazarus,...

Obama mania: Coming to a retailer near you.(News)
January 12, 2009... Inaugural tchotchkes are a given, but the breadth and depth of Obama merchandise available is staggering. For infants, there are onesies. For the tech-savvy, there's an iPhone case. Coming is a Barack Obama Chia Pet. And for those who want to...

State-owned TV goes commercial-free in France; With outlook gloomy for private channels, where will ad dollars go?(News)(advertising bans)
January 12, 2009... Byline: EMMA HALL In a move known in France as "le big bang,'' prime-time advertising has been dropped from state-owned TV. Commercials will disappear completely from those stations by the end of 2011, essentially erasing some $700 million...

Burnett tainted by Army billing fiasco; CEO is unperturbed, but this can't be good for the agency, say search execs.(News)(Leo Burnett Advertising Agency will pay the US Army over $15 million to settle a lawsuit related to irregular billing)
January 12, 2009... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN And IRA TEINOWITZ Leo burnett's $15.5 million payment to the U.S. Army to settle over-billing claims last week puts the matter to rest legally, but still stirs up issues for the agency's increasingly urgent pursuit of...

Where to find the bright spots in 2009; From online video to pet care and analytics, there are opportunities.(News)(beer sales have slowed)(growth in online-video advertising)(hispanic-marketing strategies)(Smith & Wesson Corp.)
January 12, 2009... Byline: AD AGE STAFF The worst November-December retail season since 1970; taxpayer bailouts to save Detroit; marketing budgets slashed; tens of thousands laid off across agencies, media companies and marketing departments; and still more...

People on the Move.(TalentWorks)(Carmichael Lynch Inc.)(John Colasanti has retired)(Mike Lescarbeau, Mark Feriancek and Anne Kubek has appointed)
January 12, 2009... Carmichael Lynch CEO John Colasanti announced he is leaving the Minneapolis ad agency effective April 1. Initially hired in a new-business capacity in 1994, Mr. Colasanti rose through the management ranks, running the Harley-Davidson account,...

Trust us, TNT has a winner with its new ad-industry drama; Star-filled 'Trust Me' is sincere and smart-and not the next 'Mad Men'.(News)(Turner Network Television)
January 12, 2009... Byline: CLAUDE BRODESSER-AKNER Sure, "trust me'' is-nominally-about the persuasive power of advertising. And yes, it comes from guys with Madison Ave. (well, Michigan Ave.) street cred: Co-creators Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny both did...

Obama bonanza as media milks inauguration; MTV, QVC, BET, Time among those hunting for a few more Barack bucks.(News)(MTV Networks Inc.)(Time Inc.)(Black Entertainment Television)
January 12, 2009... Byline: ANDREW HAMPP No major media company will miss out on President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration as they swarm Washington, D.C., in hopes of cashing in on an otherwise bleak first quarter. The week of Jan. 20 will see a media...

Extinction, innovation and the sad future of iceberg lettuce.(Column)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Lenore Skenazy Usually when you think about the future, you imagine all the cool new stuff we'll be using (or at least trying to use, before we go hunting for a low-tech, highly efficient sledgehammer). But as futurist Richard...

Election is over, but Google's still chasing political spending; Web giant plans to use geo-targeting to wring year-round revenue from local, issue campaigns.(Digital)(Google Inc.)
January 12, 2009... Byline: MICHAEL LEARMONTH The end of an election season usually means dismantling the campaign apparatus until the next cycle. But not at Google; not this year. Google organized a political-sales force in spring 2007 in a bid to...

As seen on adage.com.(Johnson & Johnson)(recession affecting advertising industry)(Brief article)(Column)
January 12, 2009... As seen on adage.com/smallagency Johnson: Some of our plans for `09 A big ambition is to provide more training for the entire agency. Not surprisingly, there's a real hunger for knowledge about social media. We've got pockets of...

A little opportunism and optimism will go a long way.(stock market )(Viewpoint essay)
January 12, 2009... While the first impulse during these trying financial times might be to retire to a dark corner and sulk, the best business approach is to affix a smile of grim determination to your face and go hunting for opportunities. You're all...

Work of the Week.(Love at First Flight)(Objectified)(Unboxed)(Movie review)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Creativity Top five In Creativity's first Top Five episodeof 2009, Audi gets a corrugated look and is serenaded by Woody Guthrie; TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles enlists Lil Wayne to narrate a mysterious Gatorade spot; director Ivan Zacharias...

People unaware of Bogusky's relationships with BK, Domino's.(News)
January 12, 2009... Byline: RUPAL PAREKH It's often said that Alex Bogusky is as much a PR maestro as he is a top ad creative, and certainly any spin doctor would have been happy with the coup he pulled off last week in People magazine. The Jan. 12 issue...

New-product pipeline clogged; Testers and packaging firms feel pinch of fewer consumer package goods.(News)
January 12, 2009... Byline: JACK NEFF Consumers are as receptive to new products during recessions as they are in good times, Procter & Gamble's Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley told investors last month, citing data from Nielsen's Bases concept-testing service...

Networks hold firm on ad deals; Many refuse to negotiate upfront terms, fearing marketers will pull back.(News)
January 12, 2009... Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG Despite troubled times and ratings erosion, many of the broadcast networks are holding firm to the terms of their upfront ad deals, and are unwilling to offer price concessions, according to ad buyers and network...

I hate you, `American Idol'! You've ruined EVERYTHING! In the whiny spirit of the show, 10 great reasons to despise pop culture's most powerful juggernaut.(MediaWorks)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Simon Dumenco Whining (It's not fair! The judges don't know what they're *#!&@-ing talking about!) is a core mode of expression on "American Idol.'' So in that spirit, on the eve of the show's eighth-season premiere, let's take a...

Chill wind continues to blow through media world.(MediaWorks)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Ann Marie Kerwin If you thought December was the month for media layoffs, the first week of January was far from comforting. Forbes got things rolling by laying off 19 editorial staffers as it combined its print and online staffs...

Spanish-language-TV giants finally get their day in court; Trial to determine fate of Univision programming agreement with Televisa.(News)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: LAUREL WENTZ After years of dramatic feuds and legal skirmishes, Univision Communications and Mexican media giant Grupo Televisa have finally started a long-postponed U.S. trial. The goal: to decide whether Televisa can escape from...

Revoke Fox's BCS contract before a brand gets damaged.(Adages)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Ken Wheaton We college-football fans look forward to bowl season all year long. It's a time when we can gloat or cry, win or lose, and argue over the stupidity of the BCS system (the pro or con position depending not on rational...

in the news ... for more on these stories see adage.com.(Briefs)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... WPP's Ogilvy & Mather cut nearly 10% of its North American staff, according to executives familiar with the matter. The reductions, which were anticipated to decrease the agency's head count by some 150 to 175 employees, took place in New York...

Agencies not only lack black workers, they pay them less; Mehri, NAACP say don't blame the victims, lay groundwork for suit.(News)
January 12, 2009... Byline: MARISSA MILEY And KEN WHEATON What's long been anecdotal now has quantitative evidence: A study spearheaded by the Madison Avenue Project and released last week proves that the ad industry doesn't simply have a diversity problem....

'G' is not only Gatorade, it's good-so far, anyway.(Garfield's AdReview)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Bob Garfield G? What the F is G? The commercial that's been running for the past two weeks doesn't explicitly say. All it does is pan across black-and-white images of familiar and perhaps not so familiar (mainly) black and...

AT CES, tech players promise to spend despite sour economy; Microsoft, Intel execs say recession offers opportunities to invest.(News)(Consumer Electronics Show)
January 12, 2009... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN And MICHAEL LEARMONTH [las vegas] Two common reactions to a recession: hunker down and cut back or use the opportunity to take market share with product development and marketing. At the Consumer Electronics Show...

Picks.(News)(briefs)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Palm saves itself (and maybe Sprint, too) After years of little innovation, Palm rolled out its touch-screen Pre to almost universal gadget-hound acclaim. "There's little doubt that Palm is back in a big way, and that this device has the...

Why the ad industry shouldn't foot the bill for big-biz bailout.(Column)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Rance Crain President-elect Barack Obama's huge stimulus plan and the equally huge budget deficit that it and the financial bailout will create have the business community worried about who's going to pay for all of that public...

PROTECTING THIS BRAND WHILE RUNNING AHEAD; Can Under Armour broaden its appeal without losing devotees?(CMO Strategy)
January 12, 2009... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN Since its 1996 founding, Under Armour has ridden its testosterone-soaked brand to breathtaking growth, with revenue surging 40% to more than $600 million in 2007, and another 26% through the first nine months of...

Study's seven steps to boost agency diversity.(News)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... 1. Commit at the top: CEOs and senior managers need to actively push to eliminate bias and discrimination. 2. Make the business case for inclusion: Diversifying talent can benefit business productivity and communications, among other...

Cut! Oscars trim price, take movie ads; Academy accepts ads for films for first time; spots drop to $1.4 mil.(News)(Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
January 19, 2009... Byline: CLAUDE BRODESSER-AKNER Abc is slashing the price of an ad in the Academy Awards to $1.4 million-and for the first time the Oscars will accept ads for movies. What's that? You thought the broadcast always ran ads for films? It...

Autos' '09 plan: more with less; GM, Ford make every ad penny count, while Audi plans to up spend.(News)(General Motors Corp.)(Ford Motor Co.)
January 19, 2009... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY The auto-marketing watchword in 2009: Do more with less. With few exceptions, executives at the North American International Auto Show said they are dialing down marketing spending, partly to match the slowdown in...

What iFood Assistant can teach marketers.(News)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... 1. Consumers are willing to pay for utility and convenience 2. They will share personal information in exchange for useful ideas 3. Use information gathered in a targeted manner 4. Look for the "sweet spot'' of what your brand can...

Marketers slap 'natural' label even on foods such as pizza.(News)
January 19, 2009... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK Natural is the new black. The word "natural'' was the leading claim made about new products made last year, according to Mintel, appearing on nearly one in four new food and drink products, a 9% increase from...

Consumers skip Starbucks for plain ol' joe.(News)(Dunkin' Donuts Inc.)(Survey)
January 19, 2009... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK Americans appear to be cutting back on their Starbucks. After reporters in several different cities noticed much shorter lines at their coffee outlets, Ad Age decided to commission Lightspeed Research to find...

KRAFT HITS ON KILLER APP FOR IPHONE MARKETING; Package-foods giant's iFood makes cooking, food shopping darn near sexy.(iFood Assistant application provided for online marketing)
January 19, 2009... Byline: EMILY BRYSON YORK One of the coolest apps on the iPhone isn't Pandora or Facebook: It's recipes and shopping lists for Kraft singles, Jell-O gelatin and Minute Rice. Yes, enough Kraft Food devotees are actually paying to be...

2. TBWA/Chiat/Day; Big and not even close to being bad, Lee Clow 's TBWA has become many marketers' favorite media artist.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: jonah bloom Tbwa still hasn't answered the question posed by its founding father, Jay Chiat, who famously wondered how big the agency could get before it got bad. The shop poured on about a billion dollars in billings in 2008,...

Following Anna Wintour through last days of luxe.(MediaWorks)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Ann Marie Kerwin R.J. Cutler, the director of documentaries such as "The War Room'' about the team that got President Clinton elected, likes to tell a story about how he puts his films together. He recounts watching an interview...

Sephora simplifies selection process with mobile reviews; Beauty chain, Intuit testing out technology from Baazarvoice that sends consumer picks to phones.(Digital)
January 19, 2009... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN Consumer reviews have changed the way people browse and buy products on the web; soon it may change the way people shop in store as well. In tests in Washington, D.C., and Denver, Sephora is prompting customers...

Go Daddy begins its annual rite of circling down the bowl.(Adages)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Ken Wheaton So Go Daddy sent out a press release last week announcing that those jerks at NBC didn't censor two of the ads the company might be running in the Super Bowl. NBC just took a lot of the wind out of the sails of Go...

People on the move.(Talentworks)(briefs)(OgilvyAction North America appointed Sheila Hartnett)
January 19, 2009... Sheila Hartnett became CEO of OgilvyAction North America, the global brand-activation and shopper-marketing network of Ogilvy Group. She came to the group in 2005 when her company, K&L Marketing, was acquired. In her new role, she will oversee...

Electric cars eschew ads for events, websites; High-end marketers Tesla and Fisker are already selling in U.S.(News)(Fisker Automotive Inc.)(Tesla Motors Inc.)
January 19, 2009... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY Although the glitz was dialed way down during the press days of this year's North American International Auto Show, the optimism about the future of electric plug-in cars was everywhere. Automakers from Ford to...

Edmunds to media owners: Use ad space to encourage car buying.(News)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: jean halliday Attention, media companies that have thrived on automakers' advertising: It's time to give back. That's the message from Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of auto website Edmunds.com, which is giving up $10 million of its space...

What to expect from FCC under new Obama chair.(News)(Federal Communications Commission appointed Kevin Martin and Julius Genachowski)
January 19, 2009... Byline: MICHAEL LEARMONTH For better or for worse, the Federal Communications Commission has been defined of late by public-decency battles, from Janet Jackson's Super Bowl nipple slip to Bono's F bomb at the Golden Globes to an underage...

1. Initiative; The Ones To Watch.(Agency A-List)(Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Michael Bush Three major wins in three major categories, totaling $1.2 billion in billings, probably best sums up 2008 for Interpublic Group's Initiative. The media agency kicked off 2008 by nabbing both the $735 million...

6. Venables Bell; The Ones to Watch.(Agency A-List)(Audi of America Inc.)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: marissa miley In a gloomy year that's seen the U.S. automobile industry and financial sector tank, leading to a massive slashing of marketing budgets, Audi of America and Barclays Bank have been purveyors of good fortune for...

8. Cramer-krasselt; The Ones to Watch.(Agency A-List)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: jeremy mullman In a period when most of the biggest independents are struggling to keep the clients they have, Cramer-Krasselt-the third-largest indie in the U.S.-is enjoying a new-business spree. In the past year, the...

10. DEUTSCH; Now fully out of Donny's shadow, Deutsch has completed its turnaround, thanks to a red-hot Los Angeles office.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Rupal Parekh Three years ago, Deutsch, with a new management regime and the exodus of plum clients from Coors to Mitsubishi, desperately needed a jolt. But by the end of 2008, Deutsch had been reborn, looking confident and...

5. Droga5; The Ones to Watch.(Agency A-List)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Rupal Parekh Droga5, the New York-based creative boutique, launched two years ago and quickly earned a reputation for dreaming up and executing ideas that turn the notion of traditional advertising upside down. But the shop drew...

Two steps for agencies who want to go from good to great.(Column)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jonah Bloom the agency a-list represents the best of the major agency players, those shops whose work made a significant difference to the companies they serve; whose new-business pipeline and organic growth made for above-average...

Apple puts coal in stocking for would-be iPhone gifters.(News)
January 19, 2009... Byline: RITA CHANG As she ticked off her holiday-shopping list, public-relations executive Rebecca Sullivan prepared to buy her husband an iPhone. But like many other potential gift-givers, she was thwarted in trying to put the hottest...

Design doesn't need a correction; design will do the correcting.(Column)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Teressa Iezzi if you talk long enough about how bad things are, talk eventually turns to the upside of down times. What good things will come out of this darkest of dark spells? How do we cope, and how do we emerge better...

9. ketchum; The Ones to Watch.(Agency A-List)(Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc. taped Ketchum Advertising Inc.)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Michael Bush As marketers are looking for programs that could provide more bang for fewer marketing bucks, Omnicom Group PR firm Ketchum, through its Disruptive Media Group, was doing just that. The group's work for Dr Pepper...

Heat Index; Weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle and fizzle.(MediaWorks)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... 8 MSNBC Strikes deal with Starbucks and movie theaters to simulcast the Inauguration. Your choice, popcorn or coffee with your new president? 5 'American Idol' Ratings for eighth-season premiere off about 15% for core demo. Fox's Peter...

2. Edelman; The Ones to Watch.(Agency A-List)(Starbucks Corp. appointed Daniel J. Edelman Public Relations Worldwide Inc.)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: michael bush When Starbucks announced it would be closing 7,100 stores for a three-hour barista-training session, the couple of million dollars it lost in coffee and muffin sales paled in comparison to the hundreds of millions of...

6. Mindshare; Showing that a media agency can do more than just buy time, Mindshare was a content-creating powerhouse in 2008.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Michael Bush Even without a major account win, 2008 will no doubt go down as the most significant of Mindshare's 10-plus years, a year when the WPP-backed agency established itself as one of the most progressive and...

People & Players.(briefs)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... new york: muse awards Linda Kaplan Thaler becomes the first woman in advertising to receive a Muse Award from New York Women in Film & Television. (From l.) Actress and honoree Laura Linney; actress and honoree Cynthia Nixon; Ms. Kaplan...

Lowe lives: How An agency left deathbed for profits; Comeback agency of the year.(Agency A-List)(Company overview)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Emma Hall When steve gatfield was named CEO of Lowe Worldwide in March 2006, there was real doubt about the network's survival. "I had a charter from [parent company] Interpublic to determine whether or not Lowe as a business could...

Four ways Yahoo can right itself under new CEO Bartz.(News)(Carol bartz )
January 19, 2009... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN Carol bartz said she doesn't want any advice from armchair critics and industry pundits. In fact, as she said in her introduction as Yahoo's new CEO, she'd like to have a little "friggin' breathing room.'' But we're...

Dieste: nissan win, new talent lead to turnaround; Multi-Cultural Agency of the Year.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: LAUREL WENTZ Omnicom group execs knew there were problems at their biggest U.S. Hispanic agency even before Dieste lost 14 pitches in a row in 2007. "I lost count,'' said Aldo Quevedo, Dieste's president. "We were pitching...

Pepsi, Coke try to outdo each other with rays of sunshine; Happiness becomes front for warring cola giants in a dismal economy.(News)(Coca-Cola Co. (Atlanta, Georgia))(Pepsi-Cola Co.)
January 19, 2009... Byline: NATALIE ZMUDA The latest wrinkle in the cola wars: the battle of the upbeat. Pepsi now boasts a series of smiling logos, and a new tagline, "Every generation refreshes the world,'' was set to roll out over the weekend....

Cola taglines throughout the years.(News)
January 19, 2009... 1903 Pepsi "Exhilarating, invigorating, aids digestion.'' 1904 Coke "Delicious and refreshing'' 1913 Pepsi "Drink Pepsi-Cola. It will satisfy you.'' 1929 Coke "The pause that refreshes'' 1934 Pepsi...

Briefs.(News)(Ad Age on Campus for students of advertising, marketing, media or communications)(Venice International Film Festival moves to Valencia)
January 19, 2009... Ad Age 'On Campus' Now Live Advertising Age this week announces the official launch of a program designed to help educators and students of advertising, marketing, media or communications. The program, called Ad Age on Campus, provides...

8. Vidal Partnership; Having conquered the market for Hispanic ads, independent Vidal now has digital, branded content and product design in its sights.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Laurel Wentz During a deepening recession that has marketers looking for the next place to cut spending, it's handy that the Vidal Partnership keeps coming up with new ideas. The biggest independent U.S. Hispanic agency helped...

7. Conill; The Ones to Watch.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Laurel Wentz Conill, one of the top U.S. Hispanic creative agencies, grew its business with each of its three biggest clients in 2008-Toyota, Procter & Gamble and T-Mobile-by expanding nontraditional capabilities. For Toyota,...

Can Brand Apple still thrive without the iconic Steve Jobs? How it does without its famous CEO will be a lesson to all marketers.(News)
January 19, 2009... Byline: MICHAEL LEARMONTH Steve jobs transformed Apple from an also-ran marketer of niche personal computers into one of the world's most powerful lifestyle brands. Along the way, he became synonymous with that brand. But now that Mr....

TBWA WORLDWIDE: how to behave as a network; Global Agency of the Year.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Laurel Wentz Months before visa even called the $600 million global pitch that would become a battle of four strong regional incumbents, TBWA, which had the business in the U.S., pulled together a financial-services fast-track...

Agency A-List; With design innovations, digital platforms and culture-busting ideas, these shops were tops in '08.
January 19, 2009... Welcome to ad age's Agency A-List, our look at the best marketing shops in 2008. This year's edition marks the third time we've selected an A-List. Our previous format for choosing the cream of the agency world, in which we graded a number...

Media Morph: MySpace and Endemol Get 'Married'.(Digital)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: michael learmonth What it is: What would a wedding look like if it were planned by the MySpace community? We'll soon find out. The site has partnered with production company Endemol on a 13-episode web-only series, "Married on...

IAA finds advertisers wary of Google; Survey underwritten by Microsoft shows concern about size, market share.(News)(International Advertising Association )
January 19, 2009... Byline: ABBEY KLAASSEN The department of justice may have shuttered the Google-Yahoo search deal two months ago, but Microsoft is still working the court of public opinion. The latest evidence: The Redmond, Wash.-based software company...

TOTS JOIN TWEENS IN DIGITAL REALM; Study finds use of electronic devices is up among kids, and games lead children to use technology at younger ages.(News)(Survey)
January 19, 2009... Byline: BETH SNYDER BULIK Preschoolers are going digital-some as young as 2 years old. According to the NPD Group's latest annual study of kids and digital, 82% of children ages 2 to 5 play video games on some type of digital device. ...

How the Big Gulp approach to news makes readers scram; What happens when the product you produce literally makes people feel bad about themselves?(MediaWorks)(Chicago Tribune Co.)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Simon Dumenco For my money, the saddest story in the latest flood of dying-newspaper-industry news involves the Chicago Tribune. The paper announced last week it will produce two editions: the same old unwieldy broadsheet for home...

Time Inc. tops list of digital earners; Ad Age analysis shows whole mag business has a lot of web work to do.(News)(New York Times Co.)(CBS Corp.)(Financial report)
January 19, 2009... Byline: NAT IVES Time inc. leads the big magazine publishers in building a digital business, but the industry as a whole still has a lot of work to do if it's prepping for a post-print universe, according to new analysis and estimates by...

Digital revenue in 2008; For leading magazine publishing companies.(News)(Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.)(Rodale Inc.)(Time Inc.)(Financial report)
January 19, 2009... Martha Stewart 12% of '08 ad revenue $14 million Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia declined to participate in this report. But its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission through Sept. 30 reported print ad revenue of...

Marketers: Yes, you can, but maybe you shouldn't.(Viewpoint essay)
January 19, 2009... While it's undoubtedly smart marking to ride the Barack Obama wave, marketers need to be careful not to get dashed upon the rocks. Attaching your brand to cultural high points is smart marketing; mistaking your brand for a politician or...

As seen on AdAge.com.(Website overview)(Brief article)(Column)
January 19, 2009... As seen on AdAge.com/ smallagency Wegerbauer: Don't soil the sandbox Collaboration with other agencies is happening more and more these days. As a small- to medium-size shop, how well you play with others may well determine how many...

INSIDE INTEL, LAUNCHES DESPITE SALES DECLINE; Marketing chief sees future in 'netbooks,' web-connected TVs.(CMO Strategy)(Intel Corp.)(chief marketing officer Sean Maloney)(Interview)
January 19, 2009... Byline: MICHAEL LEARMONTH The consumer-electronics business is facing the worst consumer environment in years, and chip giant Intel is feeling it, having lowered sales estimates twice for the final three months of 2008. But the...

1. Crispin Porter & Bogusky; With a growing design operation, two thriving offices, and succesful relationships with massive brands like Coke, Crispin is once again the best agency in the land.(Agency A-List)(Crispin Porter + Bogusky)
January 19, 2009... As you read this, any number of curmudgeonly bloggers and envious creative types all over Adland are fuming. Once again, Crispin Porter & Bogusky-no stranger to winning awards, new-business pitches, the adoration of the media-has won. That it's...

5. Tribal DDB; The loss of a longtime CEO was no problem for Tribal DDB, as it racked up lead-agency roles and continued its global boom.(Agency A-List)(Tribal DDB Worldwide)(Matt Freeman departed)(Paul Gunning and Liz Ross promoted )
January 19, 2009... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER For many 11-year-old companies, the loss of a highly respected, well-known CEO responsible for so much growth and corporate culture would trigger at least a few steps back. In 2008, TribalDDB, which last year became...

3. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; With PR-friendly ideas that spread through culture like wildfire, Goodby has shown the top tier of agencies it's here to stay.(Agency A-List)
January 19, 2009... Byline: MATTHEW CREAMER To understand Goodby, Silverstein & and Partners, you don't have to muck through complicated agency models or philosophies. You need only look at the work. Breakthrough campaigns abounded for the San...