News Hotline

• Xaxis Taps Yahoo's Pan For Taiwan
  by Joe Mandese 16 minutes ago

  GroupM agency trading desk Xaxis this morning named former Yahoo exec K.C. Pan general manager of its new branch in Taiwan. The move follows the recent launch of a Hong Kong office, and the disclosure by global chief Brian Lesser that Xaxis has a voracious global expansion plan ...

• Hasbro Launches Nerf Dog
  by Tanya Irwin 8 hours ago

  Hasbro Inc. is partnering with Gramercy Products, Inc. to launch Nerf Dog, a full range of Nerf-inspired canine retrieving toys. The high-performance, tough and durable line will launch at Walmart throughout the U.S. this summer, followed by pet specialty stores in the fall. ...

• Fox May Stream Super Bowl On Authenticated Basis
  by David Goetzl 11 hours ago

  The past two Super Bowls have been streamed free online, but Fox may offer a type of paywall come February. The network is considering offering next year's big game on an authenticated basis, according to Randy Freer, co-COO of the Fox Sports Media Group. ...

• New Stanford Initiative Helps Browser Developers Refine Cookie-Blocking
  by Wendy Davis Yesterday, 7:35 PM

  The new Cookie Clearinghouse, helmed by Stanford privacy expert Aleecia McDonald, hopes to enable browser developers to block third-party cookies -- such as those set by ad networks -- without also inadvertently blocking cookies from companies that have relationships with consumers. ...

• Facebook Aims To Simplify Page Analytics
  by Mark Walsh Yesterday, 5:52 PM

  In its latest step to simplify advertising and marketing on Facebook, the company on Wednesday announced updates to its analytics tool for brand pages on the social network. The changes, which will be rolled out gradually over the summer, are aimed at helping marketers better develop content and ...

• Univision, 'Variety' Team For Original Content
  by Erik Sass Yesterday, 5:43 PM

  Reflecting the growing size and importance of the U.S. Hispanic market, TV broadcasters have been moving to increase their original content offerings in recent months. The latest addition comes from Univision News, which has teamed with Penske Media, owner of 'Variety,' to create a new short-form entertainment video ...

• UK Ad Spend Forecast To Hit $20B
  by Steve McClellan Yesterday, 5:40 PM

  The pace of ad spending in the UK is picking up. Measured media expenditures in the region are expected to climb more than 3% this year to approximately $20.5 billion. If the GroupM forecast proves accurate, spending growth in the UK this year would surpass last year's growth ...

• Powley Tapped As iCrossing CEO
  by Gavin O'Malley Yesterday, 5:32 PM

  Catching agency watchers off guard, Don Scales is stepping down as CEO of iCrossing, effective immediately. Stepping in as CEO is Brian Powley, presently iCrossing's North American president, parent company Hearst Corp. ...

• Twitter Gets Social With Viacom
  by Laurie Sullivan Yesterday, 5:21 PM

  Twitter took another step Wednesday toward supporting television. The social-media company signed a partnership with Viacom to target video ads built around the entertainment company's popular TV shows like MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. ...

• Affluent Consumers Continue Spending
  by Aaron Baar Yesterday, 4:53 PM

  "We definitely are seeing a huge increase in what the affluent are spending than [at the beginning of the recession]," Michael Goldberg, senior director of marketing communications for Martini Media, the agency behind the study, tells Marketing Daily. ...

• Voss Water In Socially Driven Summer Campaign

  The premium artesian water from Norway is sold in restaurants and hotels, as well as retailers, in 47 countries. The "Sumer of Voss" is the brand's first social media-based campaign, and combining social with offline activations is a new strategy set by new CMO Ken Gilbert. ...

• Chevy Back With MOFILM For Oscars

  To support its relationship with the award's ceremony, the automaker partnered with global filmmaker community MOFILM, which launched a submission platform to give a chosen few a chance to see their films air in Chevrolet ads during The Oscars broadcast on ABC. ...

• Digital, Alternative Media Revs Forecast To Hit $436B By 2017

  Various types of mobile marketing and advertising accounted for nine of the top 10 fastest-growing digital and alternative media channels last year. Total digital and alternative revenue is expected to reach $436 billion by 2017, increasing at a 14.1% clip annually. Mobile coupons were the fastest-gaining category in ...

• FourthWall's Direct Embed Television Tech Awarded Patent

  Even television advertising isn't immune to the pull of real-time ad tech. FourthWall Media, a Virginia-based TV ad solutions provider, has been awarded a patent for its Dynamic Application Insertion Technology. The technology allows targeting data and applications to be directly embedded into a video stream as opposed ...

• Nissan Opens Door To Versa Launch

  Nissan started taking the message to the Web this month with a new microsite and a presence on Vine that urges people to create video clips about the car for the chance to get the video short into a national Versa spot. ...

• 3 Innovation Lions Awarded, Barbarian Grabs Grand Prix

  The Barbarian Group has won the Lions Grand Prix Award for Innovation, a new award category that was issued for the first time at this year's festival. Just three other Innovation Lions were awarded, including one to Yota Moscow, De-De and Getin Noble Bank of Warsaw. ...

• Acquisitions Flourish, Google To Seek Equity Firm To Further Deals

  Google is considering alliances with private-equity firms to help structure acquisition deals. Google has acquired nine companies so far this year, followed by Yahoo with more than eight, and Microsoft at four. ...

• Nexage Ups Transparency On Exchange For Buyers And Sellers

  Premium mobile ad exchange Nexage today announced three transparency upgrades geared towards both the buy and sell side. In an interview with RTM Daily, Victor Milligan, chief marketing officer of Nexage, said that while transparency is an issue in any medium, it's "extraordinarily important to the programmatic markets." ...

• Cable Upfront Begins, Final Take Projected At $9.8B

  Following most of the broadcast upfront deal-making, many cable networks are doing upfront pacts in earnest -- with price increases similar to those of broadcast networks. Media-buying executives say upfront deals for the biggest cable nets are getting comparable rate hikes, for CPMs, to that of the broadcasters ...

• Millennial Expands Video Ad Options

  Mobile ad network Millennial Media is stepping up its video ad offerings with the launch of a new set of ad units combining video and rich media that will run within smartphone and tablet apps. The nine new ad formats can be customized with different interactive and social ...

• Saks Fifth Avenue Rolling Out New Campaign

  Saks Fifth Avenue is debuting a new marketing campaign themed "Look," which starts this week with the release of its new "The Making of a Look" catalog, a spokesperson tells Marketing Daily. "Our ads, which will reflect 'Look,' won't run until August, and will be featured in 'The ...

• Shazam Launches Service To Measure TV Campaigns

  Music and entertainment app Shazam has started a new service to measure the impact and effectiveness of TV campaigns. Shazam says it combines third-party industry data for people viewing a particular ad with the people who engaged with that same ad through its service. ...

• GM Returns To Oscars, Drives 5-Year Deal

  General Motors and the Oscars telecast are back in business. The carmaker is returning to the Oscars after negotiating a new five-year deal to advertise in the program that starts with the March 2, 2014 show on ABC. ...

• Cannes King: Omnicom Earns Most Medals, Media Agency Of Year

  Omnicom's OMD Worldwide was the most medaled media network at the Cannes ad festival this year, winning a total of 10 Media Lions (2 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze), as well as Media Agency of the Year honors for OMD Australia. ...

• CIMM Issues Request For Data, Cross-Platform Metrics

  The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) said it has issued a request for proposals involving data warehousing and cross-platform measurement. The RFP looks for an entity to design and maintain a data warehouse of cross-platform video viewing, starting with digital consumption. ...

• Heads Or Tails: Facebook Grows A Long One, Surpasses 1 Million Advertisers

  Facebook has reached an important ad industry milestone, becoming one of the few mega platforms to join the 1 million advertisers club, thanks to the rapid growth of its long tail. The news was disclosed in a corporate blog post thanking "the over one million businesses like them ...

• JetBlue, Marriott Top Their Industries

  Just as the summer travel season heats up, the American Customer Satisfaction Index has released its annual travel report that rates customer satisfaction with hotels and airlines. In the airline segment, JetBlue leads for a second year. In hotels, Marriott makes the biggest gain. ...

• Consumer Action: Most Web Users Want Control Over Tracking

  Most Web users have expectations about privacy that appear to be at odds with current practices of ad companies, according to a report released on Tuesday by advocacy group Consumer Watch. One striking finding is that the vast majority of respondents said they would not allow companies to ...

• Consumers Tag Costco, Movado As Most Promising Brands

  Costco, Cisco and Movado are the three most financially promising pure-play, publicly traded brands in the eyes of U.S. consumers. The goal of brand relationship equity assessment is helping brands uncover hidden strengths and untapped potential. ...

• 'Voice' Sings To Consistent Beat

  One of the biggest shows on broadcast television finished its spring edition pretty close to where it scored a year ago. NBC's "The Voice," a two-hour finale edition starting at 8 p.m., earned a Nielsen 3.7 rating/11 share among 18-49 viewers. ...

• Affiliate Channels Attract Global Buying, Tailored Marketing Programs

  The Internet continues to make the world smaller for affiliate marketers, but there are physical challenges that brands need to overcome. Shipping costs, duties and taxes are the biggest objection to buying products online from companies that are physically located in other countries. ...

• Motorola Hires Digitas For Global Media Account

  Google-owned Motorola has appointed Publicis Groupe's Digitas to handle global media duties. Those duties, which were shifted without a formal review, had previously been handled by WPP's Mindshare. The latter agency had handled the account for the past eight years. ...

• Evian Launches Wimbledon 'Wiggle' Social Effort

  Starting June 17, tennis fans across the U.K. can submit videos doing their own versions of the "Wimbledon Wiggle" -- the "cheeky shake" that players make before receiving a serve -- for a chance to win a grand prize of two primo tickets to the tournament on June ...

• GMA/PwC Report: CPGs' Growth Slows Amid 'Rules' Shift

  Net sales growth rates for consumer packaged goods companies slowed last year amid challenges including tepid economic recovery in the U.S. and elsewhere, commodities cost inflation, and U.S. consumers spending more of their food dollars on eating meals out. ...

• Microsoft Rolls Out Ad Pano, Mobile Ad Format

  With the help of the broader ad industry, Microsoft this week is rolling out a mobile ad format tailor-made for the Windows 8 operating system. Dubbed Ad Pano, the app-friendly ad format was developed in partnership with a crowd of brands and agencies. ...