BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — In its first major national ad campaign under new owner Clorox, countercultural brand Burt's Bees criticizes industrial-strength ingredients long found in conventional beauty brands.
(TrendHunter.com) The day the cardboard box arrived in the mail, I couldn’t have been more excited. I scanned over the sender label and was thrilled to see that my first Zoobie had arrived in the mail!
Zoobies, for those who don’t know, are convertible stuffed animals that come in a selection of critters inspired …
(TrendHunter.com) I hate Valentines Day, so when I found these sweets, it marginally improved my opinion on the whole fiasco.
From the brilliant Think Geek website are Bittersweets. Exactly like the original love hearts except the messages are much more realistic and true to life. They come in three varieties: Dejec…
Bids for a national bundle of licenses known as “C block” of spectrum in the 700 megahertz range reached $4.29 billion Wednesday, falling short of the FCC’s minimum price of $4.6 billion to trigger “open-access” conditions.
Google has championed rules that would require the winning bidder to open networks built on the spectrum to other service providers, devices and software. Google has said it might put up $4.6 billion itself or more in the auction.
But it’s not clear yet whether the Web search giant has submitted a bid; the FCC is keeping participants’ identities secret until the auction is over.
The C block, which has roughly one-third of the total spectrum up for sale, is the auction’s big prize. Wireless companies covet the 700 MHz spectrum because signals can go long distances and easily penetrate buildings. Those features make the airwaves attractive for wireless Internet services.
The $4.29 billion offer might have come from Google, but Verizon Communications is another likely bidder, observers say.
Both companies may be trying to avoid a bidding war, analysts say.
“The most likely scenario is that Google is bidding against Verizon, that they’ll get to the $4.6 billion threshold, and that Google will then drop out,” said Blair Levin, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus.
That scenario assumes Verizon would ultimately top Google’s bid. Open access rules would be applied even if Verizon wins the C block airwaves with $4.6 billion or more.
“We’ll get there to trigger the open access conditions,” said Paul Glenchur, an analyst at Stanford Group. “Google will have at least half a loaf at that point. Whether they go beyond that (to own spectrum) is a function of a lot of things.”
Google hopes to build a big business sending ads to cell-phone users, as it has done with computer users. But its search services and software have been harder to use on mobile phones because wireless carriers have kept a tight rein on what devices can operate on its networks and what software and features they offer.
Total auction bids reached $11.6 billion as of Wednesday. The FCC has estimated the auction would raise $10 billion to $15 billion.
Bidding remains stalled on another chunk of nationwide airwaves, called the D block, that must be shared by commercial service providers and public safety agencies.
The FCC has received only one bid for the spectrum, $472 million, well short of the FCC’s $1.3 billion minimum.
Startup Frontline Wireless, a likely bidder for the D block airwaves, dropped out of the auction just days before it began on Jan. 24.
Wall Street’s credit crunch hurt Frontline’s ability to raise money, says George Reed-Dellinger, an analyst at research firm Washington Analysis. But the regulatory strings attached to that set of airwaves might also be a factor, he adds.
Under the FCC’s rules, the D-block licensee will be required to build out a nationwide network and give public safety agencies priority use during emergencies.
“There’s been turmoil in the capital markets,” Dellinger said. “But mostly it’s all the conditions that have been put on the licenses. That has reduced interest.”
If no new bids are made for D-block spectrum, the FCC could re-auction the airwaves at lower price and, perhaps, with no open-network requirements.
However, Dellinger says it’s more likely the FCC would negotiate with the existing $472 million bidder, which he says is most likely Verizon or AT&T.
Creating a new public safety network through the spectrum auction has been a goal of Congress.
Congress ordered television station owners to return the 700 MHz airwaves in early 2009 as they move to digital from analog broadcasting.
I’ve always been a fan of Onitsuka Tigers, and most of the advertising and marketing over the past few years, like the Hero Breath cans, has certainly piqued my interest, but this newest campaign might just surpass all the others.
I’d heard the “Made of Japan” tag in the past and knew of the “Electric Tiger Land” concept but the end result thus far is more impressive than I’d anticipated. I could go on about the branding and messaging behind this round of Tiger marketing, but what strikes me most is the actual physical execution.
The fact that Strawberryfrog Amsterdam and R&D/product design firm Freedom of Creation teamed up to execute something fairly monumental is both impressive and refreshing. Today, there are many people (many of my good friends included) who would jump at the chance to entirely digitally create a world like that of the shoe above. It could be done fairly easily. But the fact that it wasn’t is beautiful.
The fact that Freedom of Creation actually went as far as to design the meter-long shoe and other branding accessories like a mini-led-shoe-USB stick is just perfect. And it speaks to the heritage and design sense that Asics is trying to keep alive with the Onitsuka line. The branding and message they’re communicating is great, but the fact that their methods speak directly to their means is superb. Check out the “making of” video below, and if you want more details, photos, etc, check out the Tiger page on FOC’s site here.
Technorati Tags: advertising, shoes, asics, tiger, onitsuka, beyond madison avenue
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Publicis Groupe is intent on helping corporations go green. As such, they’ve purchased Act Now, a pioneering sustainability consultancy in San Francisco. Effective immediately, Act Now will be part of the new Saatchi & Saatchi S network. The group’s mission is to “activate corporate and consumer action on a mass scale to address environmental and economic sustainability.”
Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi, said, “Sustainability is not a fad for me. It is something that comes right from a core belief that going forward, it will be impossible for a brand to be truly loved by consumers unless it creates a positive, sustainable impact.â€
Act Now’s Adam Werbach has been appointed CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S and will report to Andy Murray, Global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X.
San Francisco Chronicle has an article from earlier this month on Werbach’s work for Wal-Mart, a fact which apparently caused some purist enviros to choke on their tofu pops.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — KFC Corp. has cooked up a tasty bit of ambush marketing for the Super Bowl, but what if the players turn out to be too chicken to play along?
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Alec Gerster will retire as the CEO of Initiative Worldwide in March and Richard Beaven, CEO of Initiative North America, will take his post, the Interpublic Group of Cos.' agency said today.
Fearless follower of all things American Apparel, Copyranter brings us American Apparel’s apparent video debut.
Captain D’s seafood may taste OK, but it has some anger management issues. In a pair of new ads, an office drone who’s eating a burger and a couple who’ve ordered pizza get “tailsmacked†by a giant orange fish, who would prefer it if you’d eat his fried brethren instead. (Also, do not laugh around the fish, as it only sets him off more.) There’s a Web site, too, where you can upload photos of yourself and receive the same abuse. Proceed to Captain D’s at your own risk. The campaign is by Goodness Mfg, led by former Crispin execs.
—Posted by Tim Nudd
LAS VEGAS (AdAge.com) — Marketers have to get ready to lose control and authority as advertising adapts to the rules of digital media, the CEO of Denuo Group told attendees at the annual National Association of Television Program Executives conference yesterday.
NEW YORK — Alec Gerster, the chief executive of Initiative Media, the Interpublic-owned media network, is leaving the role.
Glutton for semi-participatory story ideas that I am, I decided to view a full day's worth of pre-game shows a few Sundays back. What I learned was this: To ingest a salvo of NFL pre-game coverage between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, and another full hour before the Sunday-night contest, is to tell your cerebral cortex who's boss in a way that could well affect your ability to experience joy, pain and other sensations later in life.
Obama buys buys a (Boston) Super Bowl ad. Which doesn’t come with a 3 million dollar pricetag. But still. Did you see the Speak up article “The Hardest Working Presidential Candidate Logo “ btw?
Stefan Sagmeister talks to ideasonideas about everything from celebrity to bad plums.
Badland in India, Sunil wonders if that Cannes award-winning tv commercial for New Zealand Telecom could be the “inspiration” for the Airtel ad currently being aired on the Indian airwaves. Maybe. Either way, cute ads both of them.
The Zag Blog does a mini interview with us about the super bowl. I admit I only ever watch the ads. Quelle surprise, right?
LONDON – Alec Gerster, Initiative’s worldwide chief executive and chairman, is to retire on March 1 and will be succeeded by Richard Beaven, chief executive and chairman of Initiative North America.
We’re expecting a good show this year, partly because of all the buzz-building teasers. Other factors: agencies depended less on UGC than in Super Bowl ’07, :30 spots cost more on average, and you’ll see interaction from audience members (mobile voting/ranking, secret online spots).
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
