• Going to SXSW? Say Hello to Walter, a Pop-up Agency
    Attention all tech startups heading to SXSW: Walter wants to meet you. Walter is a pop-up agency that will run for five days. It’s the brainchild of JWT and consists of employees from the agency’s New York, Atlanta, London and Brazil offices. In the short window, Walter will meet with 25 tech startups, and narrow them down to a few finalists. The winners will have a marketing and media strategy built for them.
  • Ex-'Men's Health' Editor Off To American Media
    David Zinczenko, the former editor of "Men's Health" who left after clashing with CEO Maria Rodale, is headed to archrival American Media Inc., publisher of Men's Fitness. The deal is technically a consulting gig through a new company he is forming, called Galvanized Media. As consulting editorial director, Zinczenko will be tasked with helping AMI CEODavid Pecker develop a book publishing line. He will also consult on a variety of titles, including "Fit Pregnancy," "Natural Health" and "Shape," where he recently weighed in with cover lines for the upcoming April issue with Beyonc on the cover.
  • Ramirez Expected To Be Appointed FTC Chairman
    President Barack Obama plans to nominate Edith Ramirez as the next chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, according to several reports. A Harvard Law classmate of Obama's, she took charge of Latino outreach for his 2008 campaign. An antitrust and litigation expert, Ramirez is a strong supporter of consumer-protection issues; advertisers will be expected to ensure their claims are substantiated to avoid any FTC sanction. Rammirez is also expected to push new ground in privacy protections.    
  • WPP's Sorrell: Twitter, Facebook Not Ad Media
    In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, WPP chief Martin Sorrell "doo-doos" all over ascendant social media giants Twitter and Facebook are not advertising media, and certainly are not branding media. "I think it's a PR medium. Again, it's very effective word of mouth," he asserts.
  • Dewey Decimal To Be Replaced By Reach & Frequencies: Libraries Weigh Sponsorship, Ad Sales
    In the latest round of "print is dead" (or at least on its deathbed) news, economically-pinched public libraries are weighing a wide range of advertising sponsorship models, including "naming rights" and advertising placements.The programs range from local businesses advertising on the windows of a San Diego library to the sale of "ad-supported toilet paper" in a New York library. No comment.
  • Opposition Mounts For Minnesota Ad Tax
    Opposition is mounting to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton's proposal to begin taxing advertising, along with other business services, as a means to raise the state's revenues. Minnesota is one of several revenue-hungry states considering similar proposals, but the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has just thrown its support behind a group of businesses and associations fighting the proposal.
  • Kellogg CMO: Forget 'Big Data,' Marketers Are Focusing On 'Human Insights'
    Despite all the hype surrounding technology and "Big Data," marketers gathering at this year's Association of National Advertisers Media Leadership Conference seem to be going back to basics, according to Jon Suarez-Davis, vice president, global digital strategy and North America Media at Kellogg. "We said human insights. We got back to the simple view of what drives human behavior is at the core," he told Chief Marketer. "We looked back at all deliveries, and found that our best brands and best work all had actionable insights at the core; the ones that didn't perform well, didn't have those insights. When …
  • Echoing The 'Echo Boomers:' Nickelodeon Targets 'Post-Millennials'
    As part of its 2013-14 upfront advertising sales pitch, Nickelodeon is focusing its efforts on a newly defined demographic descriptor: "post-Millennials." The demo, which represents kids born after 2005, is an allusion to the generation following Millennials, or kids born around the new Millennium. Stay tuned for Nickelodeon's 2023-24 upfront sales pitch, which will undoubtedly be focusing on the post-post-Millennials.
  • Raising Retrans Revs Is Top Priority For NBCU
    Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis says retrains and reverse comp from affiliates will net the company about $200 million by 2014.
  • Cablevision Sues Viacom Over Channel Package Deal
    Taking "legal aim at channel package deals," Cablevision is suing Viacom in an antitrust suit that claims the programmer is illegally forcing the cable operator to carry 14 "lesser watched" channels, writes John Eggerton. "Cablevision says that its customers do not want networks such as Palladia, MTV Hits and VH1 Classic, but that it is forced to carry them in order to secure must-have nets like Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central."
« Previous Entries