General Motors is launching a global consolidation review, the company has confirmed. The carmaker spends an estimated $3.5 billion in ads worldwide and just over $2.1 billion in the U.S., according to Kantar Media. It's the first consolidation review the auto giant has conducted since 2005, when Publicis Groupe's GM Planworks, then a dedicated GM media planning unit, beat Interpublic's MediaWorks, the GM buying incumbent at the time. In 2008, Planworks was folded into the operations of Starcom MediaVest Group, the North American incumbent. Sources say the agency network is expected to participate in the review. Aegis Group's Carat, which handles GM's European assignment, and Interpublic's Universal McCann, which plans and buys GM's media in Latin America, are also expected to participate. While UM could compete for additional regions, North America is not one of them, with Chrysler as a client. The agencies referred calls to the client, and a rep there declined to identify any of the participants. The review is not unexpected, given the arrival of Joel Ewanick at the company in May 2010 as head of U.S. marketing. In December, he was promoted to global CMO. A rep said that Ewanick and his team would oversee the review process internally, while outside consultant R3:JLB, the entity formed by the merger of R3 and Jones Lundin Beals last year, has been hired to assist. Ewanick, previously with Hyundai and Nissan, has a reputation for shaking things up -- something he has been doing on the creative side of GM's agency roster since he arrived at the company. Just last week, Ewanick made headlines for his public criticism of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the creative agency on the Chevrolet account. He described the shop's efforts to Advertising Age as "B and C work." Ewanick had shifted the business to Goodby within weeks of his arrival at GM. The account had been consolidated under Publicis just weeks before Ewanick's arrival at GM. Also last year, Ewanick shifted creative duties on Cadillac to Publicis Groupe's Fallon from Bartle Bogle Hegarty after just five months. GM issued a statement Tuesday confirming the review. "As part of its normal review of business processes, General Motors will request proposals on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its global operations for purchased media," the company stated. "The request for proposal (RFP) will be issued to several global media companies and will include all consumer-facing planning and buying operations in support of all media channels including print, digital, broadcast, SEO and social media." The company said it works with more than 20 media-buying companies globally. It also stressed that none of its creative agencies are included in the review. In the GM statement, Ewanick added: "We're looking for an innovative model that helps us become more effective in leveraging global marketing opportunities more efficiently." In a nod to the incumbent efforts, he continued: "We will make a comprehensive assessment of all options before reaching a decision, and in fact, may end up validating our current approach." It was only about a year and a half ago that GM reviewed its estimated $850 million European media assignment. At the time, it retained Carat -- which initially won the account after a review in 2006, when it prevailed over the incumbents, an Interpublic Group team consisting of both Initiative and Universal McCann.
More consumers with cable, satellite or telco TV services have downgraded their services in the last year -- and more are on the way. Dallas-based researcher Parks Associates says 13% of consumers who have broadband connections have made cutbacks within the last 12 months -- with another 9% to come. The study says this includes some 3.9 million people who regularly watch Internet video. These "downgraders" or "cord shavers," who typically spend $20 or less on monthly video services, are heavy TV users. They watch, on average, 4.2 hours of Internet video on their TV each week. Parks Associates says the growth of downgraders is more closely linked to the growth of broadband adoption than watching more Internet video. It recommends that providers of pay TV improve their video on demand selections -- especially to compete with Netflix and Redbox. The study says 22% of all broadband households now use the Netflix Watch Instantly service. It was also suggested that set-top box distributors find a way to include YouTube, the digital video service, which is already being included in many Internet-connected TVs on the market. The reports says "TV Everywhere will be an ineffective retention tool." The data suggests that 11% of all pay-TV households, or 6.5 million homes, would pay an extra $15 a month. Many consumers view TV Everywhere as a "premium package." The study suggests that "TV Everywhere" providers will see gains if many offer no-frill packages. Park Associates notes that nearly 50% of all flat-panel TVs sold in 2011 will be Internet-connectable and about two-thirds of U.S. broadband households will have a video-game console connected to the Internet. Consumer sales of Internet-connectable TV devices will climb to nearly 350 million units worldwide by 2015. In terms of overall pay TV provider, the study ranked DirecTV the highest in overall TV viewing experience satisfaction, and AT&T in second place.
A group of WPP agencies has been awarded a $200 million global U.S. tourism account. The assignment includes creative, media, public relations and brand consulting. JWT and sibling MediaCom will handle creative and media chores, respectively, according to the client, The Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP), which issued RFPs for the business back in July. Congress established the CTP in 2010 as a partnership between the travel industry and the federal government to promote international tourism to the U.S. The client confirmed that its ad budget for the next year is $200 million. The client said the campaign will "showcase America to the world." It is designed to drive economic growth and job creation in communities across the U.S. to handle the hoped-for influx of tourist business. Hill & Knowlton will handle public relations and Brand Union will take on branding duties. Commenting on the selection, Jim Evans, CEO for the Corporation for Travel Promotion, stated: "America is a uniquely compelling and diverse travel destination, and the CTP, for the first time in our nation's history, will be creating 'Brand USA' to help bring more international visitors to every corner of our wonderful country." Evans added that JWT, the agency of record on the account, "demonstrated impressive strategic insight and a genuine, shared passion for our mission." The agency will handle the new assignment out of its New York office, a JWT rep confirmed. It was not immediately clear who would oversee the account. CTP is currently staffing up and expects to announce key members of its executive team shortly, including a chief marketing officer, chief business development officer and a vice president of operations. The selection is effective immediately, the CTP said. In the next couple of months, the CTP will be working to develop the marketing and brand strategy, which will be unveiled in November at World Travel Market in London and implemented in 2012. For MediaCom, the win is the second piece of new business it has been awarded this month. Earlier it won an assignment from Canadian toy marketer Spin Master. The pitch process was overseen by Gary Stolkin, CEO of The Talent Business.
The News of the World phone-hacking scandal will not be without long-term consequences for News Corp.'s businesses in both the U.S. and U.K., according to analysts from Needham & Co., who issued a strongly worded warning that the company is under attack by "powerful enemies" in both countries. In an unusually opinionated note to investors, Laura Martina and Dan Medina downgraded News Corp. stock from "buy" to "hold" because of what they see as growing potential for political machinations against the global media giant. The motivations are partly personal and partly ideological -- or at least political -- the Needham analysts write, characterizing the backlash following revelations of widespread phone-hacking as a "witch hunt." "We believe Wall Street underestimates the resolve of powerful personal enemies of the Murdochs and political enemies of NWSA's conservative media outlets," they write. They predicted that Fox News and The Wall Street Journal (both known for right-leaning editorial views) will become political lightning rods in the 2012 election season, with opponents using the phone-hacking scandal as ammunition. For all the lurid talk of an anti-Murdoch alignment, however, the Needham note did not mention any likely participants, or even suggest where the political machinations might emanate from. It is well-known that Murdoch (like many business tycoons) has his share of rivals in the world of business and politics, both in the U.S. and abroad. However, it will be difficult for them to connect the U.K. scandal to News Corp.'s American properties in a way that gains political traction, as these are still mostly separate from the British tabloid division. So far, casualties on this side of the Atlantic seem to be limited to Les Hinton, publisher of WSJ from 2007-2011, who previously served as the head of News Corp.'s British newspapers. He stepped down from his WSJ post as the phone-hacking scandal gained momentum. Nor is the trouble all political, Martina and Medina concede, also citing the high costs of settling lawsuits in the U.K., resulting from the phone-hacking scandal. News Corp. also faces an ongoing probe by the FBI into allegations that similar phone-hacking tactics were employed by NOTW against American citizens who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Future digital TV/video consumption will shift to tablets from PCs. Scottsdale, Ar.-based media researcher In-Stat says 65% of the U.S. population will own a smartphone and/or tablet by 2015 -- that comes to over 200 million people in total. The survey says this estimate will have an impact on how video entertainment is acquired and consumed. Other surveys suggest that laptops and PC business have already taken a hit because of new portable tablets. The In-Stat survey says 86% of smartphone/tablet users will view video on their mobile devices -- and that 60% of smartphone/tablet owners will also be viewing so-called over-the-top (OTT) video services at home. The survey also says there will be nearly two smartphone/tablet owners per OTT household. The dominant brand in homes in this context: Apple. The average Apple household will have four Apple devices, while the average Google Android household will have over two Android devices. Keith Nissen, research director of In-Stat, stated that the company's study, the U.S. Multiscreen Video Database, "quantifies consumption and interaction with video entertainment on mobile devices both outside and inside the home." He added that this complements its other entertainment database products, which track the online/pay-TV video market.
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, who has been called the world's richest man by Forbes, recently put some more of his vast wealth into The New York Times Co., where he bought 553,000 "Class A" shares, increasing his total stake in the newspaper publisher from roughly 6.9% to 7.3%. The purchase was made on August 18 by Slim's Inmobiliaria Carso SA investment fund, in a price range of $6.83 to $7.09 per share. Slim's son-in-law, Arturo Elias Ayub, explained the decision to up their investment in NYTCO -- and a similar move to increase his share of luxury retailer Saks -- to the Financial Times: "We are buying because we feel that the shares are at a very good price, and we are increasing our holdings in the two companies." In January 2009, Slim made a special, high-interest loan of $250 million to NYTCO, which the company recently paid back ahead of schedule. While it helped NYTCO through a rough financial patch, the amount of the loan was modest by the standards of a man whose total holdings were valued earlier this year at $74 billion by Forbes , and $62 billion by Bloomberg. Subsequent stock market movements have shaved off up to $10 billion of this, leaving the Mexican tycoon with $52 billion. Slim's wealth is concentrated in his portfolio of Mexican businesses -- above all America Movil SAB, a huge cellular service provider, with additional holdings in landline telephony, mining, banking, retail, and construction, among other industries. Most of his wealth derives from his 1990 purchase of Telmex, previously the state-owned Mexican telephone monopoly, in a controversial privatization auction overseen by then-President Carlos Salinas, who was criticized for directing the sales of many state companies to his supporters.
ABC will let fly an experiential-marketing stunt to give its drama "Pan Am" some wind at its back in advance of its Sept. 25 launch. The network is taking a model of one of the airline's first-class cabins on a mall tour starting this week. Visitors will be given a boarding pass, the chance to watch a show preview and one of the iconic shoulder bags with the famed airline's logo. The original Pan Am airline went belly-up in 1991, but the bags have remained popular. "Brand ambassadors" dressed as Pan Am stewardesses circa 1960 will be part of the mall experience. The tour begins in Los Angeles and travels to malls in three other major markets before finishing two days before the show's premiere with a 12-hour Times Square event. ABC will also be plugging the show during New York's Fashion Week in mid-September. The stewardess lookalikes will be handing out tea and coffee from carts - presumably resembling the ones used on Pan Am jets -- outside fashion shows. The show will feature the 1960s style that AMC's "Mad Men" has helped popularize. The model of the first-class cabin -- resembling the interior of a 1960s, or Jet Age, plane -- debuted at the Comic Con event in San Diego last month.
NBC Universal said it has hired a former executive at the ABC-owned stations to lead marketing at its group of 10 owned stations. Therese A. Gamba becomes senior vice president of marketing for the group. Gamba had served in marketing roles at the ABC stations in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She will report to Valari Staab, the new president of the NBC group. Staab joined from ABC-owned KGO in San Francisco in April, where she overlapped with Gamba several years ago. Gamba will serve as an "in-house consultant" for the NBC stations, helping them "define and develop their unique brand strategies," NBCU said. The company is making an effort to decentralize control of the stations and allow each to carve out a stronger individual brand in its market. Staab changed the name of the division from NBC Local Media to the NBC Owned Television Stations. Staab stated that Gamba is "one of the most talented, creative and results-driven marketing professionals I've ever worked with." After leaving the ABC stations, Gamba was a consultant working with clients such as Warner Bros. syndication group.
The changes in the marketing landscape are vast, and poised to permanently disrupt traditional marketing practices. The onslaught of media, including video, and the explosion of social media have accelerated the engagement process, driving companies to try everything and anything to keep pace and maintain engaging relationships with communities of consumers. It seems that content is once again king. More and more brands are realizing that they need to dynamically create alternative forms of content in order to ensure meaningful engagement with consumers. For CMOs and marketers, supporting a content marketing strategy also means figuring out how to manage the workflow and process for both the creation and distribution of that content. A recent study from Forrester Research showed that companies that don't consider how to best manage their rich media assets and workflows wind up with production and, ultimately, brand inefficiencies. This has left many marketers with their heads spinning at the idea of trying to keep up with the monumental challenges that go hand-in-hand with modern "Now" marketing. Companies that fail to develop an efficient way of managing the process are quickly falling behind. Following are the three biggest challenges facing companies as they continue to adopt new ways to develop and deliver content and embrace content marketing on a greater scale. Content Creation Today's consumers are increasingly media savvy and demand a more engaging experience. As a result, many marketers are using video and other media as part of the marketing mix to ensure increased interaction at every turn. But organizations are finding that the content creation process is breaking down. Without the ability to see and search across all of the available rich media assets, how can they efficiently and cost-effectively identify what content is available and how it was previously used? Companies that have implemented a way to identify what content they already have and how it may have been used, in addition to what they need, are well ahead of the game. Content Management technologies, like Digital Asset Management, make this possible. They provide efficiencies that are saving time and money for companies as they work to create more compelling content, respond more quickly to changing content needs, and make smarter decisions. Content Management Without content management, the process of content creation becomes exponentially more difficult, if not impossible. Consider how many different people are involved in creating, editing, approving, updating archiving and removing content for a brand. If every person involved with a brand's content is in a different location, it gets extraordinarily complicated, to put it lightly. Today, the companies seeing the greatest return on their content strategy are those willing to adapt a software strategy to centralize, automate, and manage these complex workflows, from the beginning of the creative process through to the expiration and removal of that content / campaign. Content Distribution In addition to streamlining the process of creating and managing content, brands today are just as concerned with distributing that content. In order to secure and maintain consumer attention, marketers must find a way to reach widely dispersed audiences with messages that are constantly evolving and changing. They need to be able to respond to any message that doesn't connect with consumers and make changes across multiple mediums and campaigns in real-time. But the rapid pace of distribution today can also serve as an advantage for marketers that both understand and are able to leverage tools which automate and manage the distribution of content, including the download, conversion, distribution, and rights management of video, images and other rich media. Without a process for managing each step, these efforts are likely to fall flat. As companies begin to implement digital asset management technologies that can streamline this process, they become much more equipped to take advantage of the revolution in content marketing.