News Hotline

• Top Story:
  Rentrak, MasterCard To Merge TV Audience, Consumer Transactional Data
  by Joe Mandese Today, 8:16 AM

  Nielsen rival Rentrak this morning announced a deal with credit card giant MasterCard that it says will integrate Rentrak's TV audience data with MasterCard's "consumer trends and insights" derived from billions of payment transactions. Rentrak said the deal is intended to provide advertisers and agencies with "deeper insights ...

• Pfizer Launches Lipitor Mobile App
  by Tanya Irwin 2 hours ago

  Pfizer Inc. is launching an app tied to its Lipitor prescription medication,marking the first time Pfizer has released a consumer mobile app for a prescription product in the U.S. The app is tied in to Meredith Corp.'s "EatingWell" magazine. ...

• Yahoo Builds Browsers For Mobile, Desktop, Connects Ad Targeting Cross-Platform
  by Laurie Sullivan 10 hours ago

  Yahoo on Thursday unveils a browser with search functions dubbed Axis for tablet, smartphone and desktop devices. The browsers will eventually support a combination of paid-search and display ads, along with cross-platform ad targeting and search functions. ...

• Facebook Appeals Pro-User Ruling To Recoup Legal Fees
  by Wendy Davis Yesterday, 6:00 PM

  Facebook is pressing its claim to recover $700,000 in legal fees from consumers who unsuccessfully sued the company for allegedly misappropriating their names and images in ads. ...

• Local Cable Grows Political Ad Dollars
  by Wayne Friedman Yesterday, 5:35 PM

  It may come as no surprise that spot TV is still the media-buying tool of choice for presidential candidates' advertising campaigns -- but local cable appears to be gaining. The medium now averages 19% in terms of overall ad unit share of political candidates' media buys. ...

• Humorous AAMCO Campaign Makes Engine Noises
  by Karl Greenberg Yesterday, 4:54 PM

  Says Jack Bachinsky, VP marketing: "We decided to extend ["We Hear You,"] and this is the perfect next-generation ad." He says the "Trust" campaign reflects the importance of the issue based on consumer research. ...

• McClatchy Newspapers Plan Paywalls
  by Erik Sass Yesterday, 4:52 PM

  McClatchy Co., one of the nation's largest newspaper publishers, is planning to introduce online paywalls at its newspaper Web sites. The first batch of five newspapers will introduce their online paywalls about two months from now, using the online payment system tested at 'The Modesto Bee.' ...

• Ford And Yahoo Home In On Electric Focus
  by Karl Greenberg Yesterday, 4:38 PM

  Ford is launching its first electric car solely online, and solely on Yahoo Screen's custom content online program, "Plugged-In." The program, launching May 29, features people like David Arquette and Adrian Grenier, and the cities in which they live. ...

• Facebook App Stars Brands In Timeline Movies
  by Tyler Loechner Yesterday, 4:32 PM

  Definition 6, a marketing agency specializing in viral video campaigns, released the Timeline Movie Maker for Facebook Pages, a brand-oriented version of the Timeline Movie Maker app that it launched for individual users early this year. ...

• Mobile VIdeo Message Use On Rise
  by Laurie Sullivan Yesterday, 4:19 PM

  While mobile video messages reminding viewers to watch a television show have surfaced as one of the more popular communications between media companies and consumers, the marketing tool has become especially popular on iOS and Android devices across AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless. That's according to a Mogreet ...

• WAS Steers Jaguar Social Media Account

  Social media agency We Are Social has been appointed by iconic car brand Jaguar to manage its global social media account after a formal review. WAS has been awarded a two-year contract; it will continue the day-to-day oversight of the client's community engagement programs on Facebook, Twitter, and ...

• Paywalls Proliferate, Most DIgital Pros Won't Pay For Them

  While the figures may not be indicative of broader consumer behaviors, over half of digital media professionals who encounter online paywalls say they immediately leave the Web site. The news comes as more U.S. newspapers establish, or consider establishing, online paywalls for their content. ...

• Initiative Splits Innovations, Digital Units, Rosner To Run Innovations

  Nearly a year after combining the operations, media shop Initiative is now de-coupling its Innovations and Digital units. The move comes after MillerCoors consolidated its nearly $400 million (per Kantar) media assignment with Initiative earlier this month. Dave Rosner will return to running the Innovations operation as executive ...

• TBS Touts Facebook ads as Part of Upfront Package

  Falling stock prices? Who cares? Facebook has partnered with TBS in a partnership where the network will bundle Facebook ads with its own TV and online ads. This marks the first time the social media company has partnered with a network to sell its own content. ...

• Coke Intros Celebrity Tumblr Themes

  Each celebrity worked directly with Coca-Cola North America and digital agency 360i to provide input on their themes, including design elements and content. 360i handles digital design, strategy and community management for Coca-Cola. ...

• M Magazine To Be Relaunched By Conde Nast

  The high-end fashion book that died in the early '90s recession is due for a comback. Peter Kaplan, editorial director of Conde's Fairchild Fashion Media group, will oversee the quarterly's relaunch. The first issue is due out in September. "It will be a big, beautiful magazine with a ...

• Future Of Newspapers: 'Rich Guy Play Toy'?

  Media General is a chain of small-ish newspapers across America. Not a particularly prestigious or savvy chain of newspapers, and the company's value has been nosediving off a cliff for the past five years along with most of the rest of the newspaper industry. But! Media General has ...

• Free Chapters On Facebook From Hachette

  Big-six publisher Hachette Book Group is making free chapters of upcoming books from bestselling authors like James Patterson and Michael Connelly available through a new Facebook app. The app, ChapterShare, lets Hachette publishing divisions, authors and retail partners post free chapters of books on their Facebook pages. Readers ...

• Elite, Clear Channel Strike New OOH Deals

  Elite Media in Las Vegas and Clear Channel Airports in Philadelphia signed new deals for out-of-home advertising in transportation venues. The Las Vegas Monorail carries over 50,000 riders per day on nine trains serving seven stations concentrated along the Las Vegas Strip, while Clear Channel Airports' new seven-year ...

• AOL Names Brody CEO, Advertising.com Group

  As part of what the company calls a more "segmented" operational strategy, AOL has named Ned Brody CEO of Advertising.com Group. This marks the second time that AOL has reshuffled its ad executives since its head of sales Jeff Levick left last summer. ...

• Oracle Buys Vitrue, Strengthens Social-Media Marketing Services

  Oracle has announced acquiring social media marketing firm Vitrue to bolster its own social relationship services for corporate clients. Vitrue manages more than 1.3 billion social interactions across more than 500 brands, with customers including McDonald's, NBC, Yahoo and Ikea. ...

• Sprint Turns 'Dream' Maker In Movie Theaters

  Moviegoers are familiar with the on-screen admonition to turn off their cell phones before the lights dim. Whether it's heeded is another matter. Now Sprint is giving audiences an added incentive to shut off their devices through a new in-cinema promotion that allows them to receive a personalized ...

• Networks Want 3D Costs Shared

  The TV networks believe other entities should share in the pricey costs to produce in 3D. Presumably, that includes the leagues and rights holders, as well as manufacturers of 3D TV sets. ...

• Scripps Produces 2 New Shows

  Scripps is producing two programs that will debut Sept. 17 in seven of the company's 13 TV markets. One is a game show, "Let's Ask America" and the other a news magazine "The List" that replaces "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" in access and early fringe. By producing ...

• Sales Increase, But 3DTV Excitement Lags

  According to The NPD Group, 3DTV unit sales increased 74% and revenues increased 64% in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year. They accounted for 11% of all flat-panel TV sales during the quarter. ...

• For Stores, Tablets Trump Mobile

  Americans are crazy about shopping on tablets, and a new study reports that 49% of retailers say tablet shoppers spend more per order. And tablets now account for 3.2% of Web sales, compared with just 1.5% for smartphone sales. ...

• Bing's "Visual Search" Fades Without Notice

  What about Bing’s highly touted visual search feature? Microsoft’s search engine scrapped that a while ago -- and without anyone realizing it. “The fact that almost no one noticed might be one reason why Bing has dropped its Visual Search feature … something that apparently happened months ago,” ...

• Apple Master Of Mobile PCs

  Apple maintained its position as the leader in mobile PC sales -- with 17.2 million units shipped during the first quarter of the year, according to research firm NPD. (That’s including iPad sales, which amounted to 13.6 million units moved during the quarter.) The company beat out its nearest competitor ...

• Oracle Drops $300M On Social Platform Vitrue

  Oracle announced the acquisition of social marketing platform Vitrue. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources tell TechCrunch that it cost the software giant $300 million. “As if Oracle didn’t offer enough products and services already, the acquisition will give it a strong Facebook marketing platform ...

• Byte, The Big One (You Know, Facebook)

  Information Week’s Byte has landed a new columnist who starts out by biting the hand that feeds him. The columnist, magazine publishing wunderkind turned digital media neo-Luddite Bob Guccione Jr., kicks things off by kicking Facebook where it hurts – right in its relevancy. Importantly, this column was ...

• Rentrak, MasterCard Partner For Media-Buying

  Combining key purchase data and TV viewing information, Rentrak has made a deal with MasterCard, hoping to glean better media-buying efforts. The deal will allow local and national advertisers and agencies, networks and stations to plan, buy and sell TV programs on the basis of consumer-product consumption tre ...

• Facebook To Get Google+ Hangout-Like Feature

  Hangouts aren't just for Google+ any more. Facebook will implement a hangout-like video chat feature through a deal with ooVoo, according to Ed Oswald. He explains that the social site launched video chat last month through a partnership with Microsoft's Skype service, but it only allows one-on-one video ...

• Why National Brands Need Local Search Strategy

  BIA/Kelsey estimates that 90% of consumers use search engines when researching local products or services. But the local listings are not just for neighborhood businesses. National brands should also have a local marketing strategy to gain more visibility, according to Jon Schepke. He provides some advice, such as ...

• How To Gain Hourly Insights For Paid-Search Ads

  The dynamic search marketplace continually takes action of others into consideration directly influencing a marketer's ability to achieve goals. So Jason Tabeling set out to dig into some numbers of competitors that appear alongside his ads, as well as index CPCs by hour of day and day of ...

• Getting The Most From Google+ Enhanced Listings For Brands

  The right area of the search engine results page now displays a mixture of recommended Google+ results rather than one brand page. Previously Google highlighted the +1 button and Search Plus Your World as ways that Plus enhances the search experience. Andrew Warren-Payne shows us a variety of ...

• Why GM, Others Fail With Facebook

  Facebook made 85% of its $3.7 billion in revenue last year from ad boxes. Columnist Ben Kunz argues that GM's decision to retreat was not a mistake, any more than advertising on Facebook is a waste. "No free market spends billions on a media format with zero return," ...

• Motorola Mobility Chief Steps Down

  Sanjay Jha has stepped down as chief executive of Motorola Mobility now that the $12.9 billion acquisition by Google Inc. has closed. Dennis Woodside, a Google executive who oversaw the integration of Motorola Mobility into Google, will be the new CEO of the mobile device and cable TV ...

• Adidas MLS-Themed Ad Heralds Next-Gen Micoach

  Top players from Major League Soccer, including Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake), Teal Bunbury (Sporting KC) and Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers) get ready for a match but aren't fully prepared without the Micoach Speed_Cell, which translates on-field data into higher performance results. The campaign ...

• Comparing Hillary To A Hog Bad Idea For Safeway?

  Safeway is dealing with union negotiations amid rumors of a takeover. Vice President and General Counsel Robert Gordon made a joke about the Secret Service, President Obama and two Arkansas razorback hogs deemed an "excellent trade" for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy ...

• Order In Spanish, Get Pizza For Free

  Pizza Patrn, a Dallas-based 104-unit, carry-out pizza chain plans a promotion to give away thousands of large pepperoni pizzas on the evening of June 5 to folks who order in Spanish. They wanted buzz and they've gotten it. One example: "Maybe they thought it was a cute thing ...

• United Won't Let Kids Board Early

  On United, families with children who aren't flying first or business class now have to board with their ticketed boarding groups. The airline adopted the policy last month "to simplify the boarding process and to reduce the overall number of boarding groups," says United spokesman Charles Hobart. Most ...

• Taco Bell Burrito With MLB, Sony's PlayStation

  The fast-feeder is unveiling on May 23 a Beefy Nacho Burrito and companion $5 Big Hitter Box with marketing support that includes TV, Internet, mobile apps and a joint effort with PlayStation's MLB The Show 2012 starring Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox in which a Taco ...

• Verizon 'viewdini' To Aggregate Video for Android 4G Customers

  Verizon is launching a mobile video portal for its Android 4G customers that will find video assets across cable, subscription and other video sources with whom Verizon partners. It is still unclear, however, who pays for all that bandwidth. ...

• Sense Networks Debuts Location-Based Ad Tools

  Tapping into location-based information to serve targeted messages is a challenge. Sense Networks has introduced a pair of new ad services to help marketers and publishers hone in on their mobile audiences through its platform analyzing real-time location data from phones, GPS devices and Wi-Fi. ...

• Thirsty? How About A Brees, Waltrip or K-Cho?

  "We're purposely being a little tongue-in-cheek," says Brett Hartmann, brand manager for Kraft-owned Country Time. "We thought it would be fun to enlist some other big name celebrities to see if we can come up with a new nickname." ...

• Amtrak Invites Train Stories For Contest

  In honor of the fifth anniversary of National Train Day, Amtrak is hosting an online contest inviting train fans to share their travel experiences. The "See More On A Train" online contest runs through May 29. ...

• Giant Is Consumers' Favorite Grocery Store Brand

  While other chains may beat it on price, Giant Food is still consumers' overall favorite grocery store, according to a new ranking from Market Force Information. The research, based on 6,400 shoppers around the U.S., put ShopRite in second place. ...

• Facebook Resolves One Sponsored-Stories Lawsuit

  Facebook has tentatively settled a class-action lawsuit alleging that its sponsored stories program misappropriates users' names and images, the company said in court papers filed this week. But the social networking service is still facing a separate potential lawsuit about whether the same program violates California's misappropriation ...

• Mobile Marketing Small But Growing

  A new survey of more than 800 business executives indicates many are increasing mobile marketing budgets this year but face challenges, including a lack of resources to expand mobile efforts. More than 70% of managers expect their mobile budgets to increase in the next 12 months. ...

• Honda, IndyCar, Mario Andretti ... And You?

  The company is tying a campaign about its racing mojo with the upcoming Indianapolis 500 race by extending a campaign, via RPA, Honda's agency of record, that began two years ago. The effort is called the "Fastest Seat In Sports." ...

• WPP's Request To Dismiss SOX Suit Denied

  A New York District Court judge has denied a request by WPP and its operating units Ogilvy & Mather and Neo@Ogilvy to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them for alleged wrongdoings barred by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. ...

• Tribune May Sell Print, Broadcast Properties

  As part of Tribune's ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the corporation may be setting the stage for a sale of some media properties. Given the beleaguered state of the newspaper business, the company is probably more likely to choose to divest its big-city newspapers, like the 'Los Angeles ...

• Starcom, Dish Battle Over Ad-Skipping AutoHop

  Starcom MediaVest Group Exchange had been negotiating with Dish Network over a significant TV addressable advertising deal. But after hearing about Dish's new feature called AutoHop -- which allows viewers to access commercial-free prime-time programming from the four major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox -- all talks ...

• Bottled Water Consumption Up 4% In 2011

  After declines during the recessionary years of 2008 and 2009, U.S. bottled water consumption had its second year of growth in 2011, according to Beverage Marketing Corporation's annual analysis of the market. ...

• BrandZ 2012 Top Global Brands: Highlights

  IBM's 15% value growth enabled it to surpass Google for the #2 spot this year. Facebook, with a 74% jump in brand value this year alone, showed the fastest rise in the value rankings (it's now at #19, with a $33.2 billion value, versus #35 last year). ...