While much of Adland is focused on tapping into growth markets overseas, three former vice presidents at MDC’s Crispin Porter + Bogusky are taking the opposite tack with a new shop called MADE -- as in “made in America.” Its focus is on breathing more life into American brands and getting consumers to buy more American products. The Boulder-based start-up has been formed by the trio of Dave Schiff, Scott Prindle and John Kieselhorst. The new shop’s mission is to help American companies “thrive and compete” with a marketing approach that will revolve around the concept of an integrated consumer-brand community. Schiff, a 10-year veteran at CP+B, was most recently vice president and executive creative director at the shop. He claims that more than 5.5 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been “lost or outsourced” since 2001. He asserts: “If the average American spent just 1% more on American-made goods and services, it would create 250,000 new jobs. We feel like we can help make that happen.” Prindle was executive technology director at CP+B, while Kieselhorst was executive design director. While their new focus is on American companies, at Crispin the trio did work for big multinational firms, such as Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, Burger King, Mini Cooper, Molson and Ikea. While Crispin has its own media department, it’s not clear to what extent MADE will offer media planning and buying services to clients. Also unclear is whether the MADE founders -- who claim to have venture capital backing from undisclosed sources -- approached Crispin or its parent MDC first about funding their shop. Reps at both MDC and CP+B declined to comment on the new company. “It’s really a story about them, not us,” said the Crispin rep.
There are some key voices missing in high-level discussions about advertising strategy -- the bosses of client companies, according to a panel of ad agency executives speaking at the 4A’s “Transformation” conference in Los Angeles. The unanimous verdict: CEOs need to take more responsibility for -and be more involved in -- marketing and advertising decision-making. CEOs have been able to dodge ad discussions, in part by pushing these duties off on CMOs, who then become scapegoats when things don’t work out, according to Ty Montague, the co-CEO of co:collective. “The reason so many CMOs are getting thrown under the bus is because fundamentally, story-telling is not just the purview of marketing. A lot of CEOs have abdicated the responsibility of understanding and telling the story of their businesses," he says. "It has to be embraced from the top.” Bill Hagelstein, president and CEO of RPA, said the benefits of client CEO involvement extend to creative: “The work is so much better if you’re working with the decision-makers who are big believers in their brand.” However, Tom Carroll, president and CEO of TBWA Worldwide, pointed to organizational impediments: “The results are always better when the CEO is involved… the question is, how you get that relationship?” Asked what else “keeps them up at night,” several of the panelists mentioned structural issues within their agencies -- principally the composition and balance between permanent, full-time staff and outside collaborators. Montague said his agency is built on the premise that teams can be assembled on an ad hoc basis, which means he puts a lot of thought into “who should be on staff to solve client problems, and who should we be working with ”from outside the agency. Hagelstein said he is also keenly aware of “the need collaborate to get the best thinking, [and] what should we be building inside our shops” versus outsourced.
More big media companies want to determine consumer usage and reach of new digital media platforms. Now Disney/ABC Television Group has announced an effort with Nielsen to measure video consumption on iPads. With 55 million different versions of iPads now sold -- and another 3 million new iPads sold in the last few weeks -- the companies say it's important to understand how consumers are using the iPad when watching video. Nielsen will create a panel by asking 200 people to download a special "meter," which will measure reach, duration, frequency and page views of their iPad apps and Web usage. The opt-in Nielsen iPad panel will aggregate and measure video consumption, app usage and other activity over the course of a year. The companies believe the study will offer the first view of actual iPad behavior -- as opposed to self-reported data -- along with demographics and other insights. Disney has been studying consumer tablet behavior for some time, but now wants some deeper data. “Nielsen’s proprietary technology has the potential to deliver unprecedented additional details about consumer viewing patterns,” stated Peter Seymour, executive vice president of strategy and research for Disney Media Networks. Cheryl Idell, executive vice president at Nielsen, added: “The insight gleaned from this study, using these metering capabilities, is an example of how we meet our commitment to deliver cross-platform understanding to the industry.” Disney isn't the only media company looking to find deeper analysis. Recently, media agency Group M announced a deal with Nielsen to measure cross-platform -- traditional TV and other digital media -- reach and frequency of Group M clients media campaigns.
Local TV advertising selling alliances aren't easy. A year ago, national cable advertising company NCC Media launched its "I+" (Interconnect Plus) campaign -- an effort to pool together a mix of cable, satellite and telco inventory -- all to give local TV advertisers more reach for their messaging. Primarily, the NCC Media effort is to pool 25 big cable networks from the top 25 markets. Some critics say while it is a good effort, the mix of inventory and impressions is uneven in many markets -- and still not near the reach of traditional broadcast spot inventory. No matter. Proponents speaking at this year's 4A's Transformation LA panel called "Playing Nice in the Sandbox" said the additive inventory has increased average market TV penetration, which has been good for business. Lisa Meier, senior vice president of media sales West for Time Warner Cable Media Sales, says: "Every conversation has changed now. It doesn't just include wired cable." She notes that the big challenge is getting advertisers to change their media plans to adapt to the new NCC "I+" model. Richard Forester, vice president of new business development for DirecTV, says it has been positive. Previously, he admitted that DirecTV -- despite its big base of 20 million-plus U.S. customers -- didn't exactly fit the model for a national TV seller, especially when competing TV networks and programmers covered some 80 million to 100 million U.S. TV homes. Frank Foster, vp of business development at AT&T AdWorks, says: "Locally it made a lot of sense to partner.. We now have a wide, deep funnel." Steve Lindsley, regional vice president of Comcast Spotlight, says in Denver alone, Comcast has added some 200,000 homes -- mostly from adding DirecTV inventory into the mix. "Right now this is a tremendous opportunity.. I think it's the golden age of cable TV ad sales." Can competing TV companies really work together in the future? Lindsley says one just needs to look at what other bigger competing TV programmers do when it comes to selling advertising together, such as CBS and Turner Broadcasting efforts around airing NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. "It's great for viewers." By way of comparison, the "I+" efforts follow some industry footsteps. Lindsley added that decades ago, competing local-area cable operators greatly improved their efforts when pooling resources and constructing big, market-wide local cable interconnects that encouraged local marketers to make local TV deals.
Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy is set to receive a $21.6 million payday shortly -- the result of a deferred compensation plan tied to performance goals and length of service that was set up in 2003, a spokeswoman for the company has confirmed. But Wednesday, as word of the big payday spread, it became a huge political football in the company’s home market of France. Executive pay is sensitive at a time when the country is struggling financially and bracing for economic austerity measures. The country is gearing up for an election in May and the two leading candidates -- incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Party contender Francois Hollande have made an issue of excessive pay for corporate executives. Both sides have commented on Levy’s package, although it was created nearly a decade ago, well before the emergence of economic difficulties currently besetting much of Western Europe. A Publicis Groupe spokeswoman confirmed that the plan was designed to serve as both a performance incentive for Levy to achieve various growth and profit measures and also as a mechanism to keep the CEO in place through the nine-year period ending Dec. 31, 2011. “Since it has been in effect, details of this system have been regularly communicated to shareholders and to the market, in complete transparency, and have been submitted for vote and approved by Publicis Groupe shareholders’ meetings,” the Paris-based rep replied via email to a query seeking comment. The rep also indicated that the $21.6 million payout represents 0.4% of the value created for the company and its shareholders over the nine-year period that the program has been in place. Levy had to remain on board as CEO for the full nine years to collect the payment. Still, the politicians were having a field day Wednesday, using Levy as a whipping boy for excessive CEO compensation. Dow Jones quoted French government spokesman Valerie Pecresse as saying the payment was "disproportionate" at a time when the country was struggling economically. And the Dow wire also quoted Hollande as saying: "As we ask our fellow citizens to prepare for difficult times, there are some people who grant themselves high pay. That will change." Hollande, who is currently leading in the French election polls, has proposed a 75% tax bracket for the nation’s wealthiest individuals. Levy had intended to retire at the end of last year, but has agreed to stay on until the search for his successor has been completed and at least through the end of 2012.
Digital ad firm Rokkan and ad agency Team Detroit launched a real-time social project as part of a larger campaign promoting Ford Motor Co.'s 2013 Ford Escape. The project influences the direction of participants on NBC's reality show "Escape Routes." The campaign attempts to redefine social TV with support from the production company Profiles. Rokkan created and launched Ford's pre-season and the regular-season Web sites, as well as the game on Twitter and Facebook platforms that will run throughout the season, beginning March 31. This is the second year the companies worked together to promote the show and Ford. Last year, the Ford Focus project aired on Hulu rather than NBC. The show on NBC sends six teams on a nationwide collaborative competition, each in a 2013 Ford Escape. The teams work with online fans to conquer various challenges and tasks to win prizes. Registering with the Web site --available on the desktop, tablet and smartphone -- makes consumers eligible to win a prize, such as a camera, bicycle, trip or Ford Focus. Viewers will find the challenges in the games similar to those on "The Amazing Race," which Profiles also produces. People who interact with the site -- comment, play interactive games or upload user-generated content and help the teams with their challenges -- have an opportunity to earn points and badges, explains Jim Blackwelder, VP of technology for Rokkan. "Leveling up to certain badge and point thresholds gives you a likelihood of winning some of the prizes," he says. Teams on TV have different tasks. This week, the teams participated in a talent show. The videos were uploaded online, so people could vote on them. That team will earn points and the results announced on the TV show. A relay race will also include using tech to find information or gain direction from viewers through social media comments and tweets. There are several types of challenges, from interactive to flash challenges that happen randomly. The cameras are not on 24 hours per day, but when they are, the teams can communicate with viewers. "We're opening doors that allow viewers to communicate with the people on television shows through social channels in real time," Blackwelder said. "You can watch these people 24 hours per day, and also interact with them through social channels and live tweets."
In the last few years, big magazine publishers have been branching out into new, complementary areas of business such as marketing services through acquisitions and joint ventures. The trend is continuing: Hearst Corp. has acquired a 20% stake in Stylus Media Group, which provides business intelligence to consumer-facing companies in categories including automotive, technology, media, retail, fashion and hospitality. The information and analysis provided by Stylus is used by design, marketing, branding and business development departments to refine their products, marketing, and business strategy. The list of Stylus corporate subscribers includes Saatchi & Saatchi, Starwood Hotels, Mulberry, Sony, Ford and Marks & Spencer. Hearst’s stake in the company will be managed by its Interactive Media Group. Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr. stated: “.. spotting the next trend can mean success or failure. We believe that Stylus offers information that no company should be without.” While details are not yet available, the consumer and market information gathered by Stylus could conceivably be put to use by Hearst and its advertising clients in a number of ways, including brand positioning, ad targeting and competitive intelligence about marketplace rivals. This isn’t Hearst’s first investment outside the publishing world. In February, it increased its stake in the Fitch Group, the financial ratings and analysis outfit, to 50%; Hearst first took a 20% stake in 2006 and added another 20% in 2009. Back in June 2010, Hearst acquired iCrossing, a digital marketing company that does planning and development for Web, email, mobile, search and social media marketing. Hearst has also invested in a number of online and tech-focused companies, some of which are connected with digital publishing. Its venture capital arm, Hearst Ventures, has recently acquired stakes in HootSuite and BuzzFeed. Hearst also acquired, and then sold, a stake in online music service Pandora.
Visible World, the addressable TV advertising tech provider, said it has received a patent that will give it increased bandwidth, allowing the continued delivery of different creative in the same ad slot, which brings household targeting based on demographic and other data. The “dynamic bandwidth allocation for addressable content” is Visible World’s 16th patent and works with traditional linear TV. The company said it “does not solely rely on [VOD] or set-top boxes with local DVR storage.” Twelve-year-old Visible World has been working with all types of addressability for some time and also enables delivery of interactive ads. It works with 200 advertisers with reach into about 80% of U.S. cable homes served by a run of operators, including Comcast, Cablevision and Charter. Its addressable advertising offerings enable geographic targeting with Comcast's Adtag/Adcopy brand, where a cable provider can serve a different ad in a different zone simultaneously, as well as at the more granular household level. Investors range from WPP to Time Warner Cable to Viacom. On the company’s Web site is a tracker of how many ads it has served in a given day. The Wednesday midday figure was running at close to 380,000. Editor's note:Adtag/Adcopy is a Comcast Spotlight brand and Visible World “automates” campaign executions used by MSOs. Visible World’s investors include an investment arm of Time Warner not Time Warner Cable.
With its new shows in development, Bravo is sticking with successful concepts: fashion, real estate and life in Orange County. Three new series, still in working title mode, are part of a wider development slate the network is building as it looks to increase original programming further as part of the Comcast fold. “Fashion Stories Of NYC” follows budding design stars as part of teams working under the aegis of Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley. “Property Envy" takes viewers inside “unusual” private homes. Design and real estate panelists will offer their takes en route to the selection of a most-envied property. “MD: OC” follows physicians that make house calls to wealthy Orange County, Calif. residents. Billed as “real-life ‘Royal Pains’ (a USA show),” Bravo says house calls can include high-class problems, such as a doctor “racing across town to give a housewife a last-minute Botox injection.” Bravo has “9 By Design” about a husband-and-wife NYC design team and “Million Dollar Listing New York,” about high-end real estate agents offering a glimpse inside top properties. The series that started a powerhouse franchise is “Real Housewives of Orange County.” Also in development at Bravo is “10 Things That Make Me Happy” (working title), where celebrities unveil family heirlooms or seemingly trivial things, such as T-shirts that hold sentimental value. “Female Entrepreneur Project” “(working title) “celebrates the fact that women are leading the charge to build innovative and inspiring companies." Viewers can “watch some of the biggest names in corporate America help them shatter through the glass ceiling.”
Alesha Taylor and Ralexis Castro, students at New York’s High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media, presented their integrated media campaign for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative at the first annual TEDxHarlem conference. They worked with a team of 22 other students to create the campaign with TV, Web, print and mobile components. Each ad targeted teenagers in order to promote exercise. The 4As and the Advertising Club of New York were responsible for helping bring the students and their work to the larger New York City community. “We were entered into a competition in the early fall where we were asked to make a print campaign for Let’s Move! Then someone from the TEDx organization asked us to expand on that concept,” explains Taylor. The students worked together as a unified team, each member with their own role. “We had a whole big creative discussion with the production class,” recalls Castro, “and we tried to figure out the best way to approach the market. What [corresponds to] the brief the most? What [teenagers] actually want.” They concluded that the teen demographic would best relate to a videogame. The print campaign, the first part of the project, plays on Nintendo’s Wii Live graphics with the tagline “Life Live.” When the students moved forward with the integrated campaign, they took the gaming ideas with them. Taylor and Castro presented their campaign commercial at TEDxHarlem to a large audience, explaining the concepts and drive behind the campaign. As for their future in advertising, both know what they want. “I’m really interested in the stuff R/GA does because they’re very digital, and they did the Nike Plus campaign,” says Taylor. Castro wouldn’t turn down offers from Euro RSCG or Google Creative Lab.
Have you noticed how -- with the exception of most political campaigns, beer ads on TV and Epcot Center -- the 20th and early 21st centuries produced no utopian visions for the future at all? Dystopian visions, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen, and can be found on multiple screens in any cinema multiplex at virtually any time. (Case in point, last weekend’s box office bonanza, The Hunger Games.) In his wonderfully readable book, "Amusing Ourselves To Death," media ecologist Neil Postman memorialized the debate between the top two dystopian visions of the 20th century -- Orwell’s Big Brother of "1984" and Aldous Huxley’s anesthetized society of "Brave New World" -- in a series of couplets. “What Orwell feared,” he began, “were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell,” he continued, “feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism. "Orwell feared the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the Feelies, the Orgy Porgy and the Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy. In "1984," people are controlled by inflicting pain. In "Brave New World," people are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short,” he concluded, “Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.” What the hell happened? Little aberrations like a couple of world wars, genocides, famine, viral epidemics and natural disasters aside, one might think that the weightier minds of the past 100 years and change might find some reason to forecast rosier times. Apparently not. Maybe. We’re all just cranky because we can no longer speak our minds without getting sued or shot -- or both. Not that bad, you say? Consider how few of the great sitcoms of the 1950s and '60s would be tolerated for even a split second in today’s politically correct climate of smiling fascism. Why? Because they all made fun of authority. Real authority, guys with guns. They went after cops and spies and the military, all of whom are strictly off limits these days. Can you imagine a "McHales Navy," "Bilko," "F Troop," "Get Smart" or "Car 54" playing in prime time today? The great ones that didn’t elicit laughs at the expense of cops, spies or the military poked fun at poverty and ethnicity instead. They would be equally silenced by the same patently unfunny political correctness. Think "All in the Family" (“You Polack meathead!”) or "Sanford and Son" (“Ya big dummy!”) So who’s left to make fun of? Only frat boys, the political right and hapless middle-class fathers. As Holden Caulfield would say, “Very big deal.” Jed Clampett would shake his head and mutter, “Pitiful, jes’ pitiful.” Talk about easy marks. Jon Stewart wakes up every morning and thanks God for Rush Limbaugh. That makes two of them. But the political and financial elites that rule the world wouldn’t have it any other way. They know that the great lessons from the 1960s had less to do with freedom and liberation and more to do with crowd control. Of course, they’re gonna need it -- especially if we can’t find ways to make fun once again of who we are (and everyone else) without getting shot or sued.