Y&R Loses Almost 40-Year Hold on Dr Pepper


NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — After nearly four decades, Y&R has lost the Dr Pepper account. The brand said it has handed its creative account to Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch Los Angeles. Y&R, San Francisco, will remain the agency of record for Diet Dr Pepper, Sunkist, 7UP, A&W and Canada Dry.

Canoe Made of 7,382 Chopsticks

(TrendHunter.com) Shuhei Ogawara, a city-hall employee, has made a 13-foot canoe from thousands of disposable chopsticks that he collected from the city hall cafeteria. He was disturbed that perfectly good wood was being thrown away – so, he spent two years constructing this 66 pound boat out of 7,382 chopsticks. A l…

People en Espanol’s Hernandez Departs for Telemundo


NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Jacqueline Hernandez, publisher of People en Espanol, is moving to NBC Universal-owned Telemundo Communications Group as chief operating officer, a new post. She will be responsible for both Telemundo, the No. 2 Spanish-language network, and Telemundo's Hispanic youth cable channel mun2.

Naughty Fairytales – Melissa’s Modern Heroine Photography (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) If you had long hair like Rapunzel, would you rope your man like this?

These digitally altered, modern-day fairy tale images include classic heroines with sexy, modern twist. They include Little Red Riding Hood who’s sitting on the the back of the Big Bad Wolf’s bike; another image shows Cinderell…

IAA Opening Day Plagued by Visa Woes

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — Visa woes dampened the opening of the International Advertising Association's 41st World Congress today, as nearly a quarter of attendees were prevented from coming.

Trains Enter, Facebook Chats, Cuba Gets More TV, Apple Attacks Big Apple

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Jenna Jameson launches post-porn career. Help promote her new movie, Zombie Strippers, by writing some taglines.

Social Media Kicks the Ass of Old Media

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Want to hear an interesting conversation about social media and it’s impact on marketing, advertising, public relations and journalism?

Clinton Strategist Penn Resigns From Campaign

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Mark Penn, the Clinton campaign's chief strategist, has resigned from that role following a conflict of interest stirred up by work he's done at the PR firm where he is CEO.

McDonald’s Tries to Lure Couture Crowd


LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) — When MySpace TV started airing the celebrity fashion show "Who What Wear" early in December 2007, it was bereft of corporate sponsors. More recently, however, the show has found an unlikely sponsor in McDonald's, which hopes to attract fashionable and affluent customers.

Vodafone ties up with Madonna

LONDON – Vodafone has signed a deal with Warner Music for Madonna’s upcoming Hard Candy album to be distributed and promoted to the mobile giant’s customers, as revealed on P&I Online.

Kraft upends bagel tradition with Bagel-fuls

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Talk about a schmear campaign. Ha ha! That’s a silly pun, but consider the inspiration: Kraft’s Bagel-fuls (not shown here), which are frozen bagel sticks with Philadelphia cream cheese wedged inside. Bagel sticks? Do the laws of physics permit such atrocities? Look, some things are better pre-filled. Pens come to mind. Jelly donuts. Any kind of donuts, really. Calzones. Hot Pockets. (Imagine an empty Hot Pocket. Not so great.) Bagels, however, have a hallowed tradition. The spreading of cream cheese, or one’s other favorite topping, is part of the ritual. If it’s good enough for Albert Einstein—or even Einstein Bros. Bagels—it’s good enough for me. (God, I could go for some Hot Pockets right now. And yes, I’ll eat all of them and leave the empty box in the lunch-room microwave. It’s my right!)

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Yahoo AMP to Improve Targeted Advertising

Yahoo AMP

 

 

We are all aware the web is full of advertising tactics to help promote products and services covered by various companies. But while these online advertising practices are indeed something to behold, the question of effectiveness and consistently hitting the actual target market really leave a large cloud of doubt.

  

Yahoo knows this all too well and apparently this is what their planned release of AMP. AMP intends to simplify the whole buying and selling process through online ads which is a welcome development for businesses sorely lacking in getting results from their online targeted advertising.

  

According to a company statement, the platform will enable advertisers to “precisely yet easily” target audiences, while also allowing publishers to “better monetise their content”.

  

“While online advertising grows more sophisticated, the process of doing business today is surprisingly cumbersome and manual,” stated Hilary Schneider, executive vice president of global partner solutions at Yahoo!.

 

(Source) Bigmouthmedia

What’s On Your Clients’ Minds

The Association of National Advertisers has once again asked 157 senior marketers what their top priorities are.

For the second year in a row, the number one response was integrated marketing communications.

Here’s how CMOs and other senior marketers see their challenges:

1. Integrated marketing communications

2. Marketing accountability

3. Aligning marketing organization with innovation

4. Brand building

5. Media proliferation

6. Advertising creative that achieves business results

7. Consumer control over what and how they view advertising

8. Attracting and retaining top talent

9. Globalization of marketing efforts

10. Multicultural marketing

The creative professionals in our audience will, no doubt, be thrilled to see number six in that sub top-five slot.

BCL wins brief to work on Colgate’s Max Fresh range

LONDON – Colgate-Palmolive has appointed Billington Cartmell (BCL) to its agency roster with a brief to work on its Max Fresh toothpaste range.

Gadsby leaves VCCP to start job at Exposure

LONDON – Integrated agency Exposure has appointed Robin Gadsby as its new managing director in the wake of the departure of Mark Stringer in February following discussions over his future role.

Gyro’s founder Brine poised to chair the MCCA

LONDON – The MCCA has revealed its new chairman is Gary Brine, CEO and founder of integrated agency Gyro International.

TK Maxx hands experiential to agency Cunning

LONDON – TK Maxx has appointed integrated agency Cunning to handle its experiential activity for 2008.

When A Book Is An Ad

According to The New York Times, Charm!, a book written by a character on ABC’s soap “All My Children” is doing well at retail, having sold 100,000 copies since its debut in February. The book also appeared on the New York Times best-seller list.

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Naturally, a fragrance called Charm, which is a product of the cosmetics company in the novel as well as a plot point on the soap, will be on sale in Sears stores nationwide beginning April 14.

These are not the first instances of daytime drama brand extensions, according to Lynn Leahey, editorial director of Soap Opera Digest. Indeed, Kendall’s own mother, Erica Kane, who is played by Susan Lucci, produced the novel Having it All in 1997. It too was published in real life by Hyperion.

Grass Roots MD appointed after Burrage retires

LONDON – Grass Roots Group has announced that managing director Rik Burrage is retiring and will be replaced by Andy Lister, a director of the company.

Tattersall gets chief executive role at uSwitch

LONDON – Price comparison site u-Switch has promoted marketing director Alan Tattersall to chief executive. The appointment comes as its US owners Scripps are looking to push consumer take-up of the site in light of the current economic climate.