Advertising: Songs and Sunscreen Spread the Health Insurance Message

Advertising is upbeat in the states that are setting up marketplaces where residents will buy health insurance in accordance with the Affordable Care Act.

    

Advertising: New Unit to Turn Brands Into Publishers

Following its own move into automated buying, IPG Mediabrands announced a plan to help clients create content for online platforms.

    

Advertising: Merger as a Career Capstone for the Chief of Publicis

The merger with Omnicom has been widely seen as a coup for Publicis and a career capstone for Maurice Lévy.

    

Merger Is Set To Create World’s No. 1 Ad Company

Together, Omnicom Group and the Publicis Groupe would become the world’s biggest advertising company, setting their sights on digital media.

    

Advertising: Air Force Asks Students to Solve Real-World Problems

People will be challenged to develop technologies for search-and-rescue operations, create software code for an unmanned aerial vehicle and to help start the newest GPS satellite.

    

Two Ad Companies Are Said to Merge, Supplanting Industry Leader

The merger of the Omnicom Group and the Publicis Groupe would create a new industry leader positioned to better capture profits from digital media and emerging markets.

    

Campaign Spotlight: Collective, a Marketing Agency, Showcases Itself

A campaign highlights the kinds of services the digital marketing company can provide to clients.

    

Advertising: Antidrug Campaign, Lacking Federal Funds, Turns to Social Media

Above the Influence lost millions of dollars in appropriations, but executives of the partnership at Drugfree.org have decided to try to keep the campaign going.

    

Advertising: A Contest From Target With a High-Tech Twist

Target joined forces with technology blog of the magazine Fast Company to find a shopping app. A group of developers from advertising agencies won the top prize.

    

Accounts and People of Note in the Ad Industry

American Advertising Federation, Washington, elected its board for 2013-14.

    

Advertising: Mars Promotes Bite-Size Snickers, Following Hershey’s Cue

Mars will begin using advertising and social media this week to promote Snickers Bites, the first new Snickers product since 2011.

    

Advertising: Commercials With a Gay Emphasis Are Moving to Mainstream Media

Until recently, ads with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes were usually limited to media those consumers watched and read.

    

Campaign Spotlight: Marketer Has New ‘Bee’ in Its Bonnet: Frozen Meals

A campaign for Bumble Bee SuperFresh has a budget estimated at $25 million, a significant investment for a company that had no measured ad spending in major media last year.

    

Advertising: Steal This Idea, a Campaign Urges

An initiative offers creative and effective public service announcements for inspiration.

    

Advertising: Longing to Stay Wanted, MTV Turns Its Attention to Younger Viewers

Trying to avoid a decline in viewership, MTV plans to present a nationwide study of 1,800 “young millennials” to marketers and programmers.

    

Advertising: Aiming Autism Ads at Hispanic and African-American Parents

Advocates for people with autism are aiming ads at Hispanic and African-American parents to speed the diagnosis of the disorder in their children.

    

Campaign Spotlight: Maaco Puts ‘Uh-Oh’ in the Rearview Mirror

The car-painting/body-repair chain updated its old hard-sell approach by celebrating “potential” in TV spots and social media.

    

Media Decoder: AT&T’s Ads With Cute Kids Are a Neat Fit for Mother’s Day

The company is building on those commercials by offering consumers the chance to send personalized video cards.

    

Advertising: National Geographic Channel Shifts Its Programming to TV Series

A campaign by National Geographic is intended to highlight the channel’s focus on showing more recurring series, rather than documentaries.

    

After Decades, Gillette and BBDO Ad Agency Part Ways

Procter & Gamble, which acquired Gillette in 2005, is shifting the account — and its hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising — to Grey.