News Hotline

• Madison Avenue Is Mad As Hell, March Mad: Takes More, Not Less Network TV
  by Joe Mandese 15 minutes ago

  Demand for network TV advertising, which had been lagging so far this year, surged in April thanks largely to March Madness. While much of the coveted NCAA basketball tournament coverage occurred in March, the big money and high rates of the Final Four and championship games occurred in ...

• Beer Category Grows Most In Brand Rankings
  by Tanya Irwin 7 hours ago

  Beer was the highest growth category in this year's BrandZ rankings -- up 36% year-over-year, according to the 2013 BrandZ Top 100 list of most valuable global brands, the 8th annual survey from WPP and Millward Brown. Leading the list of beer brands is Bud Light with a ...

• Network Advertising Initiative Proposes New Mobile Privacy Rules
  by Wendy Davis 10 hours ago

  Moving forward with its plan to issue mobile privacy rules, the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative this week provided members with a draft version of a code of conduct regarding information collected from apps. The proposed mobile rules, which were provided to Online Media Daily, require companies to ...

• NY1 Show Goes National
  by David Goetzl Yesterday, 7:32 PM

  Time Warner Cable (TWC) will begin distributing a show about Broadway and theater at large to subscribers in its various markets next month. "On Stage Across America" will be based on a local show airing over the past 15 years on TWC's Big Apple news station NY1. ...

• Saks Soars; Target Misses
  by Sarah Mahoney Yesterday, 6:10 PM

  Minneapolis-based Target says its first-quarter earnings came in at a disappointing $498 million, "below expectations as a result of softer-than-expected sales, particularly in apparel and other seasonal and weather-sensitive categories," says Gregg Steinhafel, its CEO, in a release. ...

• TV Model: Nets, Stations Split Retrans 50/50
  by David Goetzl Yesterday, 6:02 PM

  Gray Television CFO Jim Ryan suggested that networks may capture more than half of an affiliate's retrans consent dollars over time. Right now, he said, a 50/50 split is emerging as the model. ...

• Newspaper, Magazine Ad Fortunes Continue To Decline
  by Erik Sass Yesterday, 5:59 PM

  In 2012, total newspaper print ad revenues dipped 8.5% to $18.9 billion, according to the Newspaper Association of America. That compares with a peak value of $47.4 billion in 2005, meaning that print advertising has suffered a precipitous 60% drop over just seven years, with 27 straight quarters ...

• Equifax Taps Dentsu's 360i As Lead Agency
  by Steve McClellan Yesterday, 5:24 PM

  Data collection company Equifax has selected Dentsu shop 360i to be its lead agency for both traditional and digital channels. Equifax spent the bulk of its measured media budget -- more than $31 million -- on digital display advertising in 2012. 360i is tasked with leading all direct-to-consumer ...

• NBC Gives 'Voice' To Tuesday, ABC 'Dancing' Into Second Place
  by Wayne Friedman Yesterday, 5:08 PM

  NBC leads with "The Voice," while ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" is up 44% from the previous week. ABC came in second place to NBC on Tuesday night with a 2.1/6. ...

• April Another Big Month for Video Ad Views, Less So for Total Viewers
  by P.J. Bednarski Yesterday, 4:21 PM

  Online viewers saw a record 13.2 billion ads online in April, but in total, watched a little less. As always, YouTube trumped all others but were there were a few players who went up, and down. ...

• Entertainment, Travel Bet On Mobile Banners

  Banner ads have long been the whipping boy of online advertising, and the same is now true for mobile. But in the entertainment, travel, and auto categories, advertisers have seen results. ...

• Cricket Makes More From Less

  "We feel there's tremendous savings versus AT&T and Verizon," company representative Greg Lund tells "Marketing Daily." "People have been conditioned to the post-paid experience, and they don't really take stock of what they're paying and what they're being offered." ...

• Seattle's Best Promos New Drive-Thru Format

  The drive-thrus feature a menu that includes the brand's premium coffee, plus "dashboard-friendly" foods in 12 combos priced under $5. The combos offer quick picks like a medium cup of coffee or soft drink paired with an egg sandwich, stuffed pretzel melt or handheld "Tasty Pies." ...

• ChoiceStream's Audience Cost Calendar Reinforces Seasonality

  ChoiceStream, a personalized advertising tech provider, Tuesday released their newest Audience Cost Calendar, which they describe as a "monthly aggregation of impressions traded on digital ad exchanges." The calendar looks at "trends in the cost of various online audiences" relative to one another. A "100" on the index ...

• Marketers Should Tailor Specific Pitches To Tablet, Smartphone

  Tablets are used mainly in lean-back mode at home, for two-screen viewing, consuming media and as e-commerce tools. Smartphones, by contrast, are used both on the go and at home, for communication and content-snacking, and apps. Brands and businesses should use search marketing on tablets to drive higher ...

• Good TV Content Trumps On, Whether Trad TV Or Streaming

  While consumers continue to perceive TV programming as superior in quality to that of online fare, their viewing habits are becoming harder to differentiate between channels. However, consumers were actually less likely to recall ads that accompanied what they thought was TV content. ...

• Google Releases Self-Serve Display Benchmark Tool

  Google introduced a tool Wednesday that lets brand marketers and agencies pull up-to-date industry benchmarks to help plan and measure the success of display campaigns. In the past, DoubleClick published a yearly report of these benchmarks, but now the self-serve tool enables marketers and agencies to run their ...

• Twitter Brings Lead Generation To Tweets

  Twitter began testing a lead generation tool Wednesday in its tweet stream that resembles a cross between a daily deal alert and call-to-action ad in search engine query result pages. It serves up in one of Twitter's Cards, the expandable display unit that allows brands to attach photos ...

• DigitasLBi, Razorfish Tap Execs For Global Ops

  Publicis Groupe digital agencies DigitasLBi and Razorfish have installed new executives to run their respective international operations, the shops confirmed Wednesday. The moves come in the wake of the DigitasLBi merger that was put in place a few months ago after Publicis completed the acquisition of LBi for ...

• Multichannel Video Cos. Register Subscriber Loss, Satellite TV Gains

  For the first time in a year-long period, the biggest multichannel video companies have witnessed a collective net loss in subscribers. The biggest loser over the past year was Comcast, giving back 553,000 subscribers. Satellite and telco companies continued to make gains. ...

• More Consumers Turn To Mobile To Research, Book Travel

  The majority of consumers used a mobile device to book travel in the last 90 days, per a new study. What's more, 44% said they are willing to spend more than $500 when purchasing travel via mobile. ...

• Tablets Gain Popularity With Shoppers

  Internet-connected devices are exploding in the United States. There are 31.8 million Internet-accessible tablets, according to The NPD group, and IDC estimates with global tablet shipments rising 142% in the first quarter of 2013, the post-PC era shows no signs of slowing. ...

• Shopping App Swirl Adds In-Store Capability

  Swirl entered the mobile shopping fray last year with an iPhone app allowing users to learn about fashion deals near them. Now it is adding an in-store feature to its app that delivers exclusive content and offers while users are shopping at participating stores. The initial group of ...

• Showrooming Overhyped, Mobile Key To Shopping Purchases

  Given consumers' mobile in-store shopping trends, some consider the showrooming hoopla overblown. The research process still begins at home on search engines and comparison sites. While just 6% of smartphone users conduct their most recent mobile retail search in a store while shopping, 77% make their purchases in ...

• DataXu Opens Black Boxes, Launches Marketplace For Ad Algorithms

  In a push to demystify the black box world of programmatic trading, a major ad technology developer is creating a marketplace where advertisers, agencies and trading desks can shop for algorithms. The so-called Algorithm Marketplace, which is being launched today by demand-side platform DataXu, will start with a ...

• DPAA Taps Enhanced TV Ad Vet Frey As New Chief

  Barry Frey, a long-time cable and interactive television executive who helped pioneer the field of "enhanced television," has joined the Digital Place-Based Advertising Association as president-CEO. He is the fourth TV sales exec to helm the advertising trade bureau since it was founded six years ago as the ...

• Balance Bar Unveils 1st National TV Ads In 10+ Years

  NBTY CMO Katia Facchetti cites recent Nielsen and SymphonyIRI data that respectively confirm that the nutrition/energy bar category is growing at double-digit rates, and that more than a third of Americans often eat snacks instead of meals when on the go. ...

• Crowne Plaza Measures PGA Tour Sleep Habits

  Just in time for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial tournament this week, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts has partnered with the PGA Tour on the first-ever Sleep Advantage survey. Fans can check out the Sleep Advantage Welcome Wall at the Colonial tournament entrance in Fort Worth, Te ...

• FTC's Ohlhausen Questions Privacy Recommendations

  The Federal Trade Commission's 2012 privacy recommendations could unintentionally disadvantage smaller online ad companies, Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen suggested on Tuesday. "A policy that limits the ability of advertisers to access new information, to reach consumers, can have unintended effects in the marketplace," she said. ...

• How Social Is Transforming TV

  Viacom Media Networks unveiled its findings from "When Networks Network: TV Gets Social" -- some new multicountry research on the interplay between TV and social media. Most of all, viewers want TV shows and networks to fulfill their "functional motivations." They expect air dates and times, episode recaps ...

• Dodge Goes Social With 'Defiance'

  Chrysler LLC's Dodge, which has category-exclusive sponsorship of the "Defiance" TV show and online game for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, is extending the Syfy and Trion Worlds bi-focal partnership with a new television commercial and social gaming sweepstakes. ...

• Chicago Awards O'Hare Digital Signage Biz To Clear Channel Airports

  The Chicago City Council has awarded Clear Channel Airports a five-year contract to implement indoor digital signage programs for O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport. In addition to improving the airport experience for travelers with interactive displays delivering information in real-time, the contracts are expected to yield ...

• (Updated) NDTV Challenges WPP, Tries To Revive Lawsuit In NY

  New Delhi Television is trying to revive its $1 billion lawsuit against Nielsen, WPP and a number of their subsidiaries for breach of contract and negligence in connection with a TV ratings service that the companies operate in India. ...

• Horizon Taps Gambelli As Chief Investment Officer

  Former NBC senior advertising sales executive Marianne Gambelli has landed at Horizon Media as its executive vice president/chief investment officer. She will replace Aaron Cohen, executive vice president and chief media negotiation officer, who will take on a senior advisory role in the media agency. ...

• Ad Council Raises Autism Awareness

  The Ad Council has partnered with Autism Speaks and two agencies, BBDONew York and LatinWorks, to expand Autism Speaks' "Learn the Signs" campaign with public service advertisements specifically tailored to African-American and Hispanic audiences. ...