News Hotline

• Nissan Opens Door To Versa Launch
  by Karl Greenberg 14 minutes ago

  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
  by Steve McClellan 59 minutes ago

  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
  by Laurie Sullivan 68 minutes ago

  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
  by Tyler Loechner over 1 hour ago

  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
  by Wayne Friedman 2 hours ago

  Following most of the broadcast upfront deal-making, many cable networks have started doing upfront pacts in earnest -- with similar price increases to that of broadcast networks. ...

• Millennial Expands Video Ad Options
  by Mark Walsh 2 hours ago

  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
  by Sarah Mahoney 3 hours ago

  Themed "Look," it 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 New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and local ...

• Shazam Launches Service To Measure TV Campaigns
  by Wayne Friedman 3 hours ago

  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
  by Steve McClellan 4 hours ago

  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. ...

• GM Returns To Oscars, Drives 5-Year Deal
  by Steve McClellan 4 hours ago

  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 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. ...

• 'Jimmy Kimmel,' Myspace Promote Musicians

  Select artists that appear on TV late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will get to perform an extended set in front of the show's fans, starting June 18. That performance, which follows the TV broadcast, will be streamed on Myspace, giving fans a chance to see bands twice. ...

• Kiip Debuts Self-Serve Option For Advertisers

  Mobile rewards network Kiip has added a self-serve option for advertisers aimed at attracting more small- and medium-sized businesses to the rewards-based platform. The new tool will enable companies to create and manage campaigns that run in more than a thousand iOS and Android apps. ...

• Mindshare Taps Elkins As Managing Director, Digital, West Coast

  Mindshare, part of WPP's GroupM, has tapped digital marketing veteran Amy Elkins to be managing director, digital, for the company's West Coast operations. The account also includes the Summit Entertainment business. ...

• Industry Is Expanding In Advertising, Social

  Retailers are planning to spend big on more stores, digital technology and marketing initiatives in the year ahead, according to a new report from KPMG. And for many, the impact of social media on their business has increased sharply. ...

• W+K Amsterdam's Heineken Ad Wins Cannes Lions Grand Prix, Creative

  A Heineken ad campaign from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, the brand's first global campaign effort, has won the Cannes Lions Grand Prix award in the creative effectiveness category. Separately, a campaign from McCann Melbourne for Metro Trains called "Dumb Ways to Die," won the Grand Prix in the ...

• Millennials Split In Attitude, Teens Less Upbeat, But Resilient

  MTV says younger U.S. millennials are a bit more pessimistic than older millennials. New millennials ages 14 to 17 are a bit more worried than their older counterparts about the economy and their future, while their older counterparts have a more positive outlook. ...

• Chevrolet's Fleck Talks Northeast Strategy

  Bill Fleck, Chevy's Northeast regional marketing manager, has a lot of work to keep him up at night -- the region is GM's second-largest, has a mess of dealerships, and it has its challenges, although these are considerably fewer than what the brand faces on the other co ...

• Blogging Stake: WPP Invests In Muzy

  WPP has taken a stake in Muzy Inc., an early-stage micro-blogging service focused on mobile content creation. Muzy has attracted over 20 million users globally and is adding more than 1 million new users each month, according to the agency. ...

• Affluence Not Just For Affluent

  For affluent consumers, traditional media is still the way to go, per the latest monthly study by the Shullman Research Center's Luxury and Affluence Monthly Pulse. Television is still number one, and magazines number three for potential reach. ...

• MSN, Newsy Partnership To Debut

  MSN is expected to announce a partnership with mobile-focused video news network Newsy. Similar to other publisher partnerships, Newsy plans to coordinate with MNS's editors to create a slate of original video content. ...

• Be Persistent, Colorful, Short, Valuable: IAB Issues Mobile Creative Manifesto

  In tandem with the Cannes Lions celebration this week, the IAB surveyed agency creative execs on their best practices for making mobile marketing compelling and engaging. Keep it short, colorful, and valuable, they recommend -- and keep that logo visible. ...

• ZO Shaves Global Ad Outlook: Says Internet, Especially Mobile, Will Be Greatest Growth Engines

  The global ad economy now is expected to expand only 3.5% this year, according to the latest quarterly forecast released this morning by Publicis' ZenithOptimedia Group. The update, which is down four-tenths of a point from ZO's last projection of a 3.9% rate of growth, puts 2013 even ...

• Google Enhanced Campaigns Increase Cost Per Click

  Search advertisers will need to learn how to compensate for rising costs per click as Google gains profits from the migration to AdWords Enhanced Campaigns. CPCs on the search engine rose more than 6% during the last three months alone. ...