Publicis Groupe's Zenith Media, part of Zenith Optimedia, has been awarded the estimated $300 million J.P. Morgan Chase media buying and planning account, sources said Wednesday. In winning this account, Zenith bested contenders that included Aegis Group's Carat and Havas' MPG. The review was largely the result of last July' merger between New York's J.P. Morgan Chase and Chicago's Bank One. Carat handled media for Bank One, while Interpublic Group of Companies' Initiative ran media for Chase. --David Kaplan
After weeks of speculation, David Bell will shift from his post as CEO of Interpublic Group of Companies to co-chairman--while Michael Roth, the ad holding giant's current sole chairman, adds the title of CEO to his portfolio of duties, the company announced Wednesday. The move comes in the wake of other executive suite reshufflings, including the recent appointment of former Grey Global Group Executive Steve Blamer to the president and chief executive post at Foote Cone & Belding. Bell, who replaced John Dooner as Interpublic's president, CEO, and chairman in Feb 2003, has a long background in the advertising industry, and was seen as instrumental in turning IPG, which in recent years had been plagued by accounting irregularities, acquisition difficulties, and a general malaise resulting from the ad recession of the late 1990s. Roth, a board member since 2002, was named chairman in June 2004. His previous experience was as chairman-CEO of the financial services firm MONY. --David Kaplan
Magazine's sales presentations should include more PReSS-clippings in the near future. In a somewhat surprising twist, it is the publishers who stand to receive high marks from Monroe Mendelsohn's newest research tool, PReSS (Publication Readership Satisfaction Survey), who are promising to provide the strongest promotional platform for the new product. PReSS, released back in November, is comprised of a 17,600-person survey of nearly 200 consumer titles, ranking magazines on attributes such as "read three out of four issues," and "is one of my favorites" in an effort to measure readers' level of connection with various titles. Originally, reports had ad agencies as being more interested in PReSS, as they sought additional means to judge magazines against each other. Conversely, most publishers were believed to be resistant to PReSS, fearing the receipt of a poor ranking. Currently, most agencies appear to be giving PReSS the once-over, and many are still expected to utilize the product once they learn how to use it. Meanwhile, ad sales professionals are becoming PReSS advocates. "As a newsstand-driven publisher, we are always looking to research that goes beyond traditional audience metrics," said Pete Michalsky, EVP, General Manager at Bauer Advertising Sales. "This should augment our existing sales presentations. We do expect to use this as we get more into it." Michalsky believes that PReSS better demonstrates the value of the relationship between readers and magazines like In Touch Weekly. "What this does is allow agencies to look past the audience figures and see output-based accounting," he said. "Do the readers respond to the magazine?" According to Stuart Marvin, vice president of Integrated Marketing & Sales at the Sporting News, PReSS data serves to bolster the impression that certain magazines have a unique connection to readers, something that advertisers want to hear. "It has always been our selling proposition that our magazine had a greater connection to readers than other sports books," he said. "This really played to our strengths." Better than did existing magazine research, like Mediamark's twice-a-year study. "What was lacking from MRI were some of the qualitative measures," Marvin said. "PReSS provides more depth and dimension." Marvin expects to start preaching about PReSS data to buyers and planners shortly. "We're still in the analytical stage," he said. "But it adds teeth to our sales presentations." While some agencies have investigated the possibility of conducting their own studies measuring readership connectivity with individual magazines, Michalsky believes that products like PReSS negate the need for such research, particularly in view of its cost. "The investment need to get a representative sample is so high," he said. While some have reported that the initial PReSS interface was difficult to manipulate, Marvin believes that it is only a matter of time before the new product is used by more planners. "The market is moving toward accountability," he said. "Ultimately they'll be a trickle down effect. I'd be really surprised if this is not embraced." Marc Turk, information manager at Carat Insight, said that his team is actively digging into the new PReSS data, and expects to have the product available to planners for the agency's next print-planning cycles. "There are interesting stories within the PReSS data," he said. "We just don't know what the story is and why [the story is what it is]."
I stopped in at a place called "The Burger Joint" on Third Avenue here in New York City the other night. The place grabbed my attention because it was new and the design was clean and simple. Sure enough, they only sold burgers and fries. So I sat down at a white counter furnished with yellow and red plastic squeeze bottles and ordered a cheeseburger and a Diet Coke. My waiter who doubled as the cook threw my burger on the grill. Just as it began to sizzle, a cell phone rang from his thigh. He reached for it, and said hello. To be courteous I suppose, he walked to the back so as not to disturb his customers with his conversation. I watched with bewildered amusement. I was not dying of thirst mind you, but when you order a soda from the fountain, your lips tend to parch for a straw. His lighthearted conversation lasted 50 to 60 seconds. When he returned to his duties, he poured my tardy soda. My cheeseburger came and went. It was really good. Served on a fresh potato bun, the pickles and onions were a perfect compliment to a perfectly sized patty. The other server behind the counter brought me my bill and asked if I liked it. I told him I did and he told me they were new to the city and were excited about future franchises. I wished him luck, paid my bill, and then walked back over to my server to give him a tip. "You gotta learn something here," I said nervously. He listened as I explained that having a personal cell phone conversation while at work, which results in your customer receiving less than stellar service is an egregious error. I handed him $3 and walked out. Now substitute "The Burger Joint" with the name of the media property you represent, and me with "advertiser." Your media product does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to attracting business. The packaging, the design, the content, and the quality of the audience all combine to attract potential advertisers the way the smell of burgers on a grill draw a crowd around a barbeque. Channeling these benefits through all of your sales communication is the fun part of the job, servicing customers who pay for a meal is where you earn your keep. Service style is unique to each seller. It is hard to define "three easy steps" to better servicing, but I can provide you three things you can focus on in this area. 1. Own the Responsibility Securing tickets to a show, setting up car service pick-ups, and showing up to meetings with just the right delicacy is not the most glamorous part of the job and yet it does more to define you in the eyes of your clients than any presentations you make. Own this responsibility regardless of the task, and even more so, demand nothing but the utmost attention to detail by those in your company that directly affect the satisfaction of your clients. This is where you must truly assert yourself inside your own building. 2. Creativity Anyone can send a checking copy or a digital tear sheet to a client. How can you make this relatively mundane task stand out? Easy, make it relevant while reinforcing your client's decision to advertise with you. For example; "Dear client, in this week's issue, we introduce our readers to the top managers in today's business and a better way to manage their money with First Republic Bank on page 67." Everyone on the media plan must complete this and other relatively mundane tasks. Use these opportunities to creatively rise above your competition. 3. Consistency Do not set the bar too high. Sending a stretch limo for a client to meet you for lunch sounds like an extravagant example of great service, however, you cannot maintain that routine. Make sure no matter what you do, you can replicate your level of service easily. Ultimately, clients are consumers too, enduring poor service more times than they care to remember. Make sure it does not happen on your clock when they choose your "restaurant" and they will come back time and again.