Advertising Age articles from July 2006

Advertising Age archives from July 2006

Energizer: 'Beard'.(Work)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... The most-awarded U.S. Hispanic ad this year is a spot for Energizer batteries called "Beard'' by Grupo Gallegos, an independent U.S. Hispanic ad agency based in Long Beach, Calif. The commercial won a Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions...

People.(appointments)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... Steve Smith, 39, to principal, Firehouse, Dallas, from senior VP-director of account planning, Fogarty Klein Monroe, Dallas. Also, Greg Goyne, 42, to principal, from principal, The Richards Group, Dallas. Jonathan Rosen to the newly...

The Week: Disney taps Pepper as new chairman.(The Week)
July 3, 2006... Walt Disney Co. has named a former executive of one of its TV networks' biggest customers-former Procter & Gamble Co. Chairman-CEO John Pepper-as its new chairman. Mr. Pepper, 67, will take over as nonexecutive chairman from former Sen. George...

Giving new meaning to a halo brand.(Adages)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Ken Wheaton How does Pope Benedict XVI roll? In a Volvo, according to news from the carmaker last week. In a ceremony at the Vatican, his holiness was granted the keys to a brand-spanking-new Volvo XC90. It's dark blue and has-what...

Fusion's nuclear launch isn't good enough-yet; Razor's parameters for success astronomical- here's 57 bil reasons why.(words of Peter K. Hoffman)(Interview)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Jack Neff Only five months into launch, Gillette's Fusion already is outselling rival Energizer Holdings' entire razor business-women's and men's products combined-and the company says it's on track to reach its goal of $1 billion...

Sound familiar? Finesse restores popular tagline; Lornamead uses theme from the '80s in $11M ad effort for struggling brand.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Jack Neff "Sometimes you need a little Finesse. Sometimes you need a lot.'' That familiar line returns to the airwaves this fall as orphan-brand consolidator Lornamead launches an ambitious plan to revive the hair-care line...

No bang, fewer bucks: Upfront market lingers; ABC still counting, but broadcast TV's share likely to wrap at $8.95B.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Claire Atkinson and Abbey Klaassen And so, this year's broadcast-TV upfront is poised to end with a whimper. The final tally is expected to close at $8.95 billion, down around $150 million from last year's $9.1 billion, and a...

Thai creative shows that TV can still be a magical medium.(Viewpoint)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Teressa Iezzi Cannes. so much to talk about (yet so little brain function left for talking): the winners, integrated campaigns' lack of recognition, Martin Sorrell's revelation of his true feelings about creatives (widely...

Brawny blazes trail but winds up lost in woods.(Garfield's AdReview; Georgia-Pacific's reality TV ad tie-in for Brawny paper towel product )(Column)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Bob Garfield Let's just glom onto a hoary metaphor and say the path to our Media Future is being blazed now, through a forest of uncertainty, by an intrepid few. They are hacking through brush, trudging through timber and basically...

Chrysler's staff discounts: An unwise quick fix.(employee discount incentive program)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Bonnie Thompson Chrysler Group plans to clear its crowded lots for the new-model year by reviving its employee discount incentive program in July. The discounts are successful at driving sales, but are widely criticized as...

XM and Sirius: Meant to be together? Satellite-radio services may pair up to fend off new digital technologies.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Abbey Klaassen The rumors of a satellite-radio merger are swirling again as last week Mel Karmazin told investors and venture capitalists at The Deal's Convergence 2.0 conference that "we'd love to buy'' XM, before cautioning that...

If John Wren gets funky, you know you're in Cannes.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Emma Hall Awards are a big part of Cannes, but parties are, too. So Advertising Age decided to award its own Grand Prix in five categories rating the fetes. Most laid-back hosts The Clemmow Hornby Inge 5th anniversary boat...

An exclusive peek into a real page-turner: Wal-Mart's RFP; Retailer's 'dream team' of agencies will focus on nontraditional media.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Matthew Creamer The hottest piece of summer reading for many ad folks may be a six-page document that outlines Wal-Mart's quest for an agency "dream team'' to handle its $570 million account. The retailer's request for...

P&G back to basics with Crest.(Procter & Gamble Co)
July 3, 2006... Procter & Gamble Co., by our count, sells 39 variations of Crest toothpaste. Does it really need another? Yes, because it finally has a product that can outperform Colgate Total. Crest sales leapfrogged Colgate in the early '60s after P&G...

JWT fails to keep up with Mr. Jones; Euro reels in $728M Reckitt business.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Lisa Sanders Chalk up a big one for David Jones. After a long struggle to win credibility as a global network, Euro RSCG Worldwide proved itself last week, trouncing larger rival JWT in the chase for the consolidated global...

Magazines still can't boost ad pages; Auto industry's 15% drop in buying leads to flat first half for publishers.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Nat Ives After magazines' flat 2005, when publishers couldn't sell any more ad pages than they did the year before, flat is unfortunately back for the first half of 2006. That is to say, advertisers like the pages they've got,...

Out of Site at AdAge.com.(Viewpoint)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... As seen on Reuters.com World Cup advertisers not so interested in women The New York Yankees offer pink tees with rhinestones. Nascar's got racing-themed high heels. The World Cup? For the women who make up approximately 39% of this...

How to target blacks? First, you gotta spend; P&G, GM, others aren't advertising heavily in African-American media.(advertising)(Procter & Gamble Co)(General Motors Corp)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Lisa Sanders Although hispanic ad agencies complain that marketers devote only about 3% of their ad budgets on average to reach Latino consumers, advertisers spend far less to target African-Americans. Procter & Gamble Co., by...

New Kraft CEO to fire up marketing; Insiders, analysts herald Rosenfeld's return as much-needed catalyst.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Stephanie Thompson It's a victory of a passionate marketer over a numbers-cruncher. The ascension of Irene Rosenfeld to the CEO suite at Kraft Foods to succeed Roger Deromedi is being hailed as long overdue to rouse the...

Wondering what's next? Media Guy sees the future.(MediaWorks)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Simon Dumenco Now that we've hit the halfway point, the state of the 2006 media world is starting to come into focus-but a lot remains uncertain. Fortunately, many of Media Guy's industry sources are visionaries and savants. After...

Media Guy's Pop Pick: Mrs. Mortimer.(MediaWorks)(The Clumsiest People in Europe, Or: Mrs. Mortimer's Bad-Tempered Guide to the Victorian World)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 3, 2006... Byline: S.D. An uncharacteristically generous Media Guy praises a pop-cultural gem. In time for summer, "The Clumsiest People in Europe, Or: Mrs. Mortimer's Bad-Tempered Guide to the Victorian World,'' has just been re-released. It...

Heat Index; Weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle & fizzle.(MediaWorks)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... 8 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling says in an interview that two characters die in the final book, and also says she's thought about killing off Harry as well! Potterheads everywhere swoon. 6 Coffee with the Devil To promote its opening weekend of...

Star plans her own good-bye.(MediaWorks)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Ann Marie Kerwin ABC was all ready for the good-bye party it had planned for longtime "Good Morning America'' co-host Charlie Gibson last week. But what the network wasn't prepared for was the good-bye party Star Jones planned for...

Late News.
July 3, 2006... LeBron James' LRMR holds marketing summit [New York] NBA star LeBron James' new marketing company, LRMR Marketing, will hold its first annual sports-marketing summit July 10-11 in Mr. James' hometown of Akron, Ohio. More than 125 attendees...

Home Depot paint line connects with Hispanics; Colores Origenes gives retailer some Latin flavor, will expand to all stores.(Multicultural)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Laurel Wentz When Martha Kruse painted her kitchen recently, she chose a color called Rojo Oxido, or Rusty Red. The color picked by Ms. Kruse, Home Depot's senior manager-multicultural marketing, is the third most popular in the...

2 wheels plus 180 mph is Moeller's road more traveled.(People & Players)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Leslie Taylor Adrian Moeller, co-founder of outdoor ad agency Colossal Media, has a need for speed. Not your average speed, mind you. He satisfies that craving by racing his Yamaha YZF-R6 motorcycle up to 180 mph on a track. ...

Siminoff holds key for marketers to manage efficient online search.(People & Players)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Dan Lippe While the TV and print media tout the concept of engagement, Ellen Siminoff sees herself as an "evangelist and enabler'' for an ad outlet that can guarantee engagement-online search. When it comes to search marketing,...

Time for ad world to meet the real world; Procurement is a fact of life; instead of whining, agencies must learn to appreciate its value.(Viewpoint)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Chris Ingram There is a rising amount of wailing among marketing-services companies about the involvement of the client purchasing function in their relationship. The international media agencies talk of 70% of business pitches...

Tierney stirs newspaper ad revolution; Philly dailies' owner seeks agency creative chief to make papers marketer-friendly.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Mullman Hey, all you hotshot creative directors just home from Cannes: There's a novel chief creative officer job up for grabs. In a bold stroke that will be watched closely by the ailing industry to see if he can lead...

Summer at NBC is hot so far; Net's 'America's Got Talent' leads season's top 10 shows.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Claire Atkinson The first month of the TV summer is bringing some much-needed sunshine to NBC, the once-proud Peacock humbled by last-place ratings over the past season. The network, which emphasized a 52-weeks-a-year approach...

Q&A: LaToya talks about her Star turn as endorser; Jackson sibling to plug Australian malt beverage.(News)(Interview)
July 3, 2006... LaToya Jackson, perhaps the third most controversial member of the Jackson dynasty, has signed on as an endorser for Star Ice, a flavored malt beverage from Australian marketer Star Beverages that uses the tagline "Ice me down under.'' Kate...

Public relations is on the rise; perhaps it's the Crispin effect.(Viewpoint)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Jonah Bloom It's one of the few disciplines that doesn't have its own award at Cannes, yet this could turn out to be PR's year in the sun. Public relations has always struggled to assert its value as a marketing tool. Why?...

NeoMedia bets $60M we're in for mobile-marketing 'explosion'; Company snapping up ad-technology providers despite 10 years in the red.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Alice Z. Cuneo In a marketing space where irrational exuberance evokes deja vu, NeoMedia Technologies seems particularly, well, exuberant. The Fort Myers, Fla., company has been snatching up hot mobile-advertising companies in...

King of Cannes: BBDO ranks as biggest winner; Omnicom agency picks up 41 Lions; Saatchi also performs well at festival.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Laurel Wentz Omnicom Group agencies as usual dominated the top ranks of winners, but this year they shared some of the glory with Saatchi & Saatchi, ranked No. 2 by total prizes won at the Cannes Lions International Advertising...

LOOK FAST, BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR; Sponsorship costs for fireworks displays skyrocket.(News)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Willow Duttge Like wearing shoes through airport security and strolling ID-free into a Manhattan office building, your annual Fourth of July fireworks show too may become a blissful memory. Or so says Julie Heckman, executive...

Yuki 'Sentimental Journey'; Creativity's AdCritic.com Hot Spot.(The Week)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... This music video by Japanese director Nagi Noda was the crowd favorite at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase in Cannes and the inspiration for Mother London's eye-popping, Jack White-scored Coke spot. Artist: Yuki. Director: Nagi...

Corrections.
July 3, 2006... In "Fine Tuning" (P. S-5, AA, June 5): MPG's Media Contacts was formed in 1997, and in 2004 the agency integrated direct response and data into its digital offerings.

People & Players.
July 3, 2006... Aspen, Colo.: Wining and dining Food & Wine hosts the 24th annual Food & Wine Magazine Classic, a weekend of wine tastings, cooking demonstrations and other events. (From l.) Bobby Flay, chef/owner, Bar Americain, Bolo and Mesa Grill;...

Images of the Week.(Work)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... United Airlines: Fallon, Minneapolis 'Economy Plus' Relax with more legroom in Economy Plus, a new seating section on United planes. Group creative director: Stuart D'Rozario. Art directors: Bob Barrie, James Zucco. Copywriter:...

AdWatch.(sales and earnings)(Brief article)
July 3, 2006... Byline: Bradley Johnson The AdMarket 50 slipped 2.4% in the first half as the overall stock market rose 2.6%. Big winner was GM, up 53%; McClatchy fell 32%. (See printed publication for charts)

Late News.(Wal-Mart Stores Inc. signs with Publicis Groupe S.A. and Saatchi and Saatchi)(Heineken International signs Frank Lowe)(Volkswagen of America Inc.)
July 10, 2006... Wal-Mart picks 10 for $570M review [bentonville, ark.] Wal-Mart Stores has pruned the list of agencies contending for its $570 million creative account. They are incumbents Omnicom Group's GSD&M and independent Bernstein-Rein, as well as...

Get back in the driver's seat.(News)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... The consumer's in control. But you knew that. What you may not know: how to regain control of your profits and branding. This month's issue of Point answers that question, through the expertise of presenters from Lindsay, Stone & Briggs'...

TRYING TO DEFINE WEB 2.0; Interaction, multimedia push internet forward.(News)
July 10, 2006... Byline: BETH SNYDER BULIK Maybe the ultimate insult in the online world today is to be described as a Web 1.0 company. The so-called second wave of the internet revolution is all about Web 2.0. Sporting names such as Webaroo, Flickr,...

AdWatch.(WPP Group PLC)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Bradley Johnson TURNSIGNALS WPP scored first in new business in May and year to date, according to a tally by Bear Stearns' Alexia Quadrani. Interpublic fell to last place in May from the top slot in April, but it's still...

Fewer letters.(News)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Byline: rich thomaselli By this time last year, the Food and Drug Administration had slapped warning letters on eight direct-to-consumer drug marketers and singled out another eight for less serious "untitled letters.'' This year, the...

EBay's not ready for prime time; CASE STUDY: Site passes on reality-TV deal due to lack of brand control.(study of marketing)
July 10, 2006... Byline: MARC GRASER Just as abc TV was talking up to media buyers "Buy It Now,'' a feel-good reality show revolving around families trying to fulfill their dreams by placing their prized possessions on eBay, the auction site pulled out of...

Giants find new interest in once-tiny natural niche; Wal-Mart goads top marketers into segment.(News)
July 10, 2006... Byline: JACK NEFF Earlier this year, Clorox Co. got the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau to tell tiny natural-household-products marketer Seventh Generation to stop suggesting that household bleach is toxic or...

TV market primed for pay-by-pod; Commercial ratings finally arrive; to be the metric for '07 upfront pricing.(News)(Industry overview)
July 10, 2006... Byline: CLAIRE ATKINSON This year's $9.05 billion upfront may well be the last negotiated on the basis of program ratings as the TV-ad business embarks on one of the most radical shifts in its 65-year history. Broadcasters are preparing to...

Cannes Titanium pick raises the bar (code) for creativity.(awards)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Scott Donaton David lubars was nervous. On the surface, this is an unremarkable observation. Tall and lean, Lubars vibrates with the intensity of a plucked guitar string in the best of circumstances, his constant worrying of...

THE POWER COUPLE: The CMO & CFO; Why the marriage of marketing and finance is a match made in heaven.(partnership of Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial officers)
July 10, 2006... Creating "killer brands'' is tough. But a way to improve the odds is for CMOs and CFOs to begin forging strong collaborative relationships. It's a must-do these days. Companies are struggling to figure out how to grow despite having hoards of...

Amazon top 10 books on consumerism; As of June 26, 2006.(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... 1 Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing by Bryan Eisenberg, et. al. 2 The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do by Clotaire Rapaille 3...

An 'original mind' of marketing dies; Theodore Levitt coined 'globalization' term, urged broader business thinking.(News)(Bibliography)
July 10, 2006... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN Harvard business School Professor Theodore Levitt, who transformed marketing by urging companies to view their businesses more broadly, and coined the term "globalization,'' died after a long illness June 28. He was...

Is your marketing plan really safe and sound? Corporate espionage is illegal in the U.S., but breaches still happen.(News)
July 10, 2006... Byline: KATE MACARTHUR It's not easy being a corporate spy these days. Just ask Joya Williams, the Coca-Cola Co. administrative assistant arrested with two accomplices for trying to peddle to Pepsi secret Coca-Cola documents that may...

CRISPIN MAKES A MOVIE; EXCLUSIVE: Pens flick for BK, will film in fall.(marketing of a movie)
July 10, 2006... Byline: MARC GRASER And T.L. STANLEY Now that they've conquered nearly every other media fiefdom, Burger King and Crispin Porter & Bogusky plan to invade Hollywood. Crispin creatives have written a BK-oriented movie, plan to start...

Crispin gets fat on BK chicken.(Burger King Corp.)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Byline: kate macarthur If you're forking over $64.99 for a limited-edition vinyl figurine of cult character Subservient Chicken, you might think you're lining the pockets of Burger King. But in actuality, most of that chicken scratch is...

GIVE A LOT AND GET BACK EVEN MORE.(Point)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Marsha Lindsay With a big bang triggered by technology, the universe we marketers used to command has exploded. Media fragmentation, search engines, personalized media and media software have decisively put control in the hands of...

The doctor is in, but he can't fix ailing Chrysler.(Garfield's AdReview)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Bob Garfield Remember Fahrvergnugen? It was the whimsical early-'90s campaign from Omnicom's DDB, New York, designed to establish VW's German-engineering bona fides without seeming too severely Teutonic. It meant, basically,...

Point Taken.
July 10, 2006... "[This is] the era when marketing rediscovers the consumer. It is our duty as marketers to understand, appreciate, empathize and respect their lives.'' - Antonio Lucio, Senior VP-Chief Health And Wellness Innovation Officer, Pepsico ...

PRACTICE THE GOLDEN RULE OF DRIVING GROWTH; Fred Reichheld.(Point)(Interview)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Rooney "Would you recommend us to a friend?'' That simple question is what customer-loyalty guru Fred Reichheld, a fellow at Bain & Co., says is the key to identifying company promoters and detractors and, ultimately, a...

THE 150-20 RULE: digging for gold; Why the top 20% of customers generate 150% of company profit.
July 10, 2006... When opening up a restaurant, hotel, law firm or stock brokerage, the first thing the owner will ask is, "Am I making money?'' In answering that question, any entrepreneur will naturally focus on which customers are delivering the bulk of the...

Media turnabout is fair play?(MediaWorks)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Nat Ives Media blogs are typically great places to hear entertainingly vicious commentary about forced ousters and abrupt resignations at mainstream old-line media companies. But bloggers have recently been occupied with the...

CLUBBER SODA; Airforce Nutrisoda mixes well with trendy nightlife scene.(News)(Ardea Beverage Co.'s beverages)
July 10, 2006... Byline: KATE MACARTHUR The next time you feel a wrinkle forming or start sniffling, bypass the medical center and go clubbing. Yes, your bartender is fast becoming the go-to resource for a Flu Shot or a Face Lift-otherwise known as...

Contributing... larry selden and yoko s. selden.(Point)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Larry Selden is a professor emeritus at Columbia Business School, distinguished senior research fellow at the Wharton School and founding managing director of Selden & Associates. He is a widely sought-after public speaker and avid writer. He...

Media Morph: Whyville.net.(Digital)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Byline: beth snyder bulik What it is: You may have heard of this educationally focused virtual world for kids, as it's received lots of positive press. Whyville attracts tweens and young teens-and their parents-with the promise of fun and...

GM's alternate reality yields real-world results; Carmaker's online game hypes ethanol campaign, attracting millions of hits.(Digital)
July 10, 2006... Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY For four months, Christopher Love was plagued by a nagging question: Who is Benjamin Stove? Mr. Love, a 26-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., was caught up in the mystery with thousands of others across the world,...

What I kinda, sorta, maybe know for sure (more or less).(MediaWorks)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Simon Dumenco Somehow, already, it's been a year. One of the peculiar pleasures of doing a column like "Media Guy''-so far, as of this writing, 53 weeks' worth-is jumping off a cliff each week. It's the standard columnist's...

Heat Index; weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle & fizzle.(Consumer News and Business Channel Partnership)(Home Box Office Inc.)(NBC Universal Inc.)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... 7 Silvio and Paulie resolve pay dispute with HBO and will appear in the final eight episodes of "The Sopranos'' after all. The two will receive $160,000 an episode and a lifetime supply of cannoli. 5 Maria, full of grace: CNBC's Maria...

The Week: Wicks Group purchases 'Vibe'.(The Week)
July 10, 2006... Vibe magazine found a buyer in private equity firm The Wicks Group of Cos., ending the involvement of founder Quincy Jones and setting off a round of staff changes. Danyel Smith, a former music editor and editor in chief at Vibe, was named to...

Why, yes, this is a Fluff piece.(Adages)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Ken Wheaton Who says you need gajillion-dollar marketing campaigns to boost sales? Take little Durkee-Mower of Lynn, Mass., the maker of Marshmallow Fluff. According to VP-Sales and Marketing Dan Quirk, the company gets by with a...

People.(appointments)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Paul Coletta, 42, to VP-marketing and brand development, Jamba Juice, San Francisco, from director-worldwide marketing, Hewlett Packard. Kevin DiLorenzo, 41, to president, Olson, Minneapolis, from managing director. He succeeds John Olson,...

BENEFITS OF BEING A DO-GOODER.(Point)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... "Conventional wisdom encourages companies to consolidate market power and then extract maximum value from customers. Yet eBay has done just the opposite. Although it has come to dominate the online-auction market, the company tries to consider...

Sharp-eyed paintball star knows how to leave his mark.(People & Players)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Patricia Riedman Jason burnham owns three guns, and on the weekends enjoys scampering around on AstroTurf, dodging shots. Shots of paint, that is, fired at 200 mph from paintball guns charged with compressed air or tanks of...

Marathon man Bezu pushing the Adidas bid for Asian dominance.(People & Players)
July 10, 2006... Byline: NORMANDY MADDEN Adidas' christophe bezu has an unusual problem for an advertiser in Asia's fast-growing, fiercely competitive sportswear market. He fears his ad agency is "too creative.'' He's joking... for the most part. TBWA...

From the Editor.(Point)(Editorial)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Rooney In May I had the pleasure of attending Brandworks University 2006, held in Madison, Wis., and hosted, as it is every year, by Lindsay, Stone & Briggs. The theme of this year's conference: "How to Create Brand...

Philly papers' redesign gets some brotherly love.(News)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Byline: bonnie thompson Brian P. Tierney, the new owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, is planning a redesign of the papers with advertising and creative experts at the helm, and an overwhelming 79% of voters in an...

'Woman's Day' to pare rate base to 3.8M; Mag latest to tout `highest quality' readership rather than inflated circulation.(News)
July 10, 2006... Byline: NAT IVES Woman's day next year will become the latest title to shrink its guaranteed paid circulation, reducing its rate base 5% to 3.8 million. Although such moves aren't the disgrace for magazine publishers that they once...

Shrinking rate base.(News)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... `Playboy,' October 2005 The Numbers: Reduced guaranteed average paid circulations to 3 million from 3.15 million, a 4.7% cut, as the cover price went up to $5.99 from $4.99. `BusinessWeek,' November 2005 The Numbers: Rate base was...

LEARNING TO LEVERAGE THE LUNATIC FRINGE; THE SIX TENETS OF CUSTOMER EVANGELISM.(Point)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Ben Mcconnell And Jackie Huba "We are encouraging our clients to fly Southwest Airlines. We are buying more stock... and we stand ready to do anything else to help. Count on our continuing support.'' -Southwest Airlines customer...

PROFITABLE CUSTOMER: THE KEY TO GREAT BRANDS; SHIFT FOCUS OFF PRODUCTS and onto the customer.(Point)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Larry Selden And Yoko S. Selden For all of the energy, effort and focus that marketers have devoted to the topic of brands, few CFOs and CEOs and even fewer savvy institutional investors are real enthusiasts for the concept. Over...

Mars axes snack chief as Snickers sales plummet; EXCLUSIVE: Firing of unit president is latest move in brash turnaround effort.(News)
July 10, 2006... Byline: STEPHANIE THOMPSON Alarmed by a steep sales decline for Snickers, $18 billion food giant Mars has unceremoniously booted the 20-year company veteran who headed the U.S. snack-food unit that generates most of its profit. The...

ANGELS, MEET DEMONS.(Point)(excerpt from "Angel Customers and Demon Customers")(Excerpt)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... "A company consists of both profitable and unprofitable customers-angels and potential demons. Some customers are making your company more valuable while some are draining value from it. Not that the demons are bad individuals; frequently...

WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS; Why consumers shape the core of cammie dunaway's yahoo.(Point)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Rooney Three years into her marketing career at Frito-Lay Co., and after receiving her MBA from Harvard, Cammie Dunaway faced a challenging new responsibility: driving a truck. A route sales truck, actually. For three...

THE CODE OF A BRAND COMMUNITY; CREATE SUSTAINED DIFFERENTIATION WITH FLOCKING ENTHUSIASTS.(Point)
July 10, 2006... Byline: Patrick Hanlon I am standing inside an electronics store, facing a wall of flat-screen, plasma-screen and hot-tube TVs. They all loop the same mind-reeling sequence from "Mission: Impossible III.'' I can buy any of them; I just...

Karmazin right to eye XM play.(Viewpoint)
July 10, 2006... Sirius chief Mel Karmazin says "we'd love to buy'' XM. A merger of the growing but money-losing satellite radio ventures makes sense, for it would create a stronger player with the scale to battle emerging competitors. XM and Sirius...