Interpublic Group’s Draftfcb is undergoing a major reorganization, with its media operation shifting to sibling organization Mediabrands, the company has confirmed. The move, which comes amid a search for a new CEO, will enable Draftfcb to refocus its practice on core competencies, including creative, strategic planning, data management, CRM and digital. Mediabrands manages most of IPG's media assets, including its two big media shops, UM and Initiative, start-up media agency network BPN, research and negotiation unit Magna Global and various specialty firms. But the media operations of some of IPG’s full-service agencies like Draftfcb and Mullen have remained outside the purview of Mediabrands. Draftfcb has estimated total revenues exceeding $1.1 billion although the media business that is shifting from Draftfcb to Mediabrands amounts to less than $10 million in revenue. Now the Draftfcb media team of about 50 staffers, led by chief media officer Rich Gagnon, will be housed organizationally within Mediabrands. Gagnon, who had reported into Draftfcb, will now report to Shane Ankeney, managing director Initiative U.S. The reorganization is a work in progress. Still to be determined is how the Draftfcb media assignments will be divvied up among the three main media shops: UM, Initiative and BPN. Eventually, the Draftfcb media specialists will migrate to one of those agencies, depending on which client brands they work on. Draftfcb’s media clients include Merck, Boeing, Dow, Amtrak and Microsoft. Initiative already does buying for Merck and is expected to inherit Draftfcb's planning-focused media assignment for that client. Earlier, the two shops had shared the MillerCoors business, although the entire assignment migrated to Initiative last year. The basic idea behind the realignment per executives is to facilitate easier access by Draftfcb media clients to the full portfolio of Mediabrands tools and resources, such as the IPG Media Lab, trading desk Cadreon, Shopper Sciences and other specialty services. The realignment has been ongoing outside the U.S. In a memo to U.S. staffers today, Draftfcb Laurence Boschetto wrote the move would "formalizing our existing alignment between Draftfcb and IPG Mediabrands to further leverage the full power of Mediabrands’ resources for the benefit of shared clients. In effect, that means our media people at Draftfcb will continue to work on our integrated brand teams, but will operationally become part of IPG Mediabrands.” In the same memo, IPG CEO Michael Roth stated: “Since the creation of IPG Mediabrands, we've looked to deliver the benefits of media scale and innovation ... This move is an evolution of that strategy, which will allow the insights and expertise that IPG Mediabrands and Draftfcb bring to clients to be combined into an even more integrated set of offerings and capabilities.”The media realignment is the latest in a series of steps the agency is taking to bolster its offering. Last week, the agency announced that Javier Campopiano had been named chief creative officer at the shop’s New York office. The company confirmed in November that a search was underway to find CEO Boschetto’s successor. This story has been updated.
Viacom had a rough fiscal first quarter 2013 down 16% in revenue -- mostly due to lower film entertainment results.Overall, revenues sank to $3.31 billion during the period with operating income down 22% to $797 million.Its media/TV networks witnessed a 6% decline in domestic and worldwide advertising revenues -- all due to lower ratings. Viacom's main networks include Nickelodeon and MTV Network brands. But affiliate fees were higher -- 4% domestically, and 3% internationally.The company's networks were down 2% to $2.4 billion, with operating income down 9% to $1 billion.Its filmed entertainment unit's revenues (theatrical, home entertainment, television) sank 37% to $975 million -- mostly from difficult comparisons to a year ago against big box-office generators "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." Home entertainment revenues were down 43% as a result of fewer releases. Television license fees were down 24% to $227 million.The filmed entertainment unit's operating losses increased during the period to $139 billion from $31 million.Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive officer of Viacom, stated that despite difficult short-term comparisions, "our ongoing investments in programming continue to produce results, with positive ratings trends and growing consumer engagement in new hit content."In mid-day trading, Viacom's stock was up nearly 1% to $62.74.
Well before Super Bowl Sunday, some opportunistic advertisers were already benefiting from excitement around the big day. In fact, among those brands advertising during this year’s game, some have so far managed to increase their “impact media value” by more than 1,000%, according to new data from analytics firm General Sentiment. Wonderful Pistachios, for one, has seen its media value jump 1,442% over a three-month average. Apparel brand Gildan has also done well, seeing its media value rise by 387%, while Skechers witnessed a 346% increase in media value over a three-month baseline average. In sheer dollar terms, car brands Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have seen their average daily media value leap to about $2.2 million (from an average of $1.5 million over the past three months) and $1.8 million (from an average of $1.3 million), respectively. Weeks before kickoff, Taco Bell has also done well, as its average daily media value has risen to $768,418 from a three-month average of $322,109, while Hyundai has seen its average daily media value jump to 829,890 from a three-month average of $301,543. Overall, Facebook still holds the prize for highest impact media value, as General Sentiment reported earlier this month. In the fourth quarter of last year, the social giant’s combined value of news media, social media and Twitter was estimated to be worth $753 million. Google ranked second during the fourth quarter. The researcher estimated the search giant’s combined media value to be worth $558 million.
BBDO was the most awarded creative agency network in the world in 2012, according to the Gunn Report, which tracks industry award competitions such as the Cannes Lions and numerous other global, regional and national contests.It is the seventh year in a row that BBDO, a unit of Omnicom, has taken the top spot in the annual compilation. In addition to being the most awarded agency network overall, it also took top honors in the digital category for the first time. It was ranked No. 1 in the film category too.Andrew Robertson, president/CEO, BBDO Worldwide, stated: “Great work works great. It makes money for our clients. I am especially proud of our performance in digital.” Sister agency DDB was the second-most-awarded agency network overall, while WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather came in third. Rounding out the top five were Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett and WPP’s Young & Rubicam.A commercial for French pay TV channel Canal+ called “The Bear” was the most awarded TV spot of the year, per Gunn. It was created by BETC Paris, a unit of Havas.The second-most-awarded spot was an ad for Argentinian electronics and telecom giant BGH Silent Air called “Dad’s In Briefs” from Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi.A spot for Doritos Dips from AMV BBDO London took third place. A spot for food chain Chipotle from Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles was fourth. Placing fifth was a spot for the John Lewis department store chain from Adam & Eve DDB London. Gunn will issue a separate report for most-awarded media agencies and related work.
As marketers continue to build anticipation for their Super Bowl spots, Toyota looks to have found resonance with its creative starring Kaley Cuoco of “The Big Bang Theory." As of Thursday morning, the ad and a teaser had generated more than 9 million combined views on YouTube. The spot itself had some 6 million views -- more than any other pre-game ad or teaser on the video site (the figure approached 6.5 million as the day wore on). A Mercedes teaser with Kate Upton had some 5.6 million views Thursday morning. Spots for Audi and Volkswagen -- where the creative could change on game day -- each had about 3.3 million views. A Volkswagen teaser with singer Jimmy Cliff and stars of YouTube viral videos had generated 1.2 million views. An extended clip with YouTube sensation Ryan Higa for Wonderful Pistachios had 1 million, as did one of the finalist videos in the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl competition. Coke's “Chase” spot featuring three groups racing for a bottle in the desert only to end up in front of a billboard – viewers can vote on the ending -- had generated some 900,000 views. On Thursday, Samsung released a Super Bowl spot starring Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd that was generating some 21,000 views an hour on YouTube. A SodaStream spot that CBS rejected featuring exploding Coke and Pepsi bottles had close to 2.2 million views late Thursday. The company is looking to convince people that its device that requires only the original bottle is an environmentally friendly option.
Time Warner Cable's stock took a big hit in connection with its fourth-quarter earnings results -- even as some key metrics continue to show improvement.Revenues were up almost 10% from a year before to $5.5 billion. Two of its long-term growing businesses continued to show some positive effects. Time Warner did add 75,000 high-speed data subscribers and 34,000 more voice subscribers.But the company's net income slid to $513 million from $564 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.It also continued to lose ground from its traditional video business -- as all cable operators have witnessed. Time Warner lost 129,000 residential video customers. Revenue for this business -- still the lion's share of all company business -- was down 3% to $2.5 billion.During mid-day trading, Time Warner Cable's stock was down nearly 11% to $90.01.Time Warner's local and other advertising revenues saw a 29% gain to $313 million. It recorded an increase in political advertising during the quarter, as well as benefits from selling advertising time from TV platforms. Time Warner also gained from starting two Los Angeles based regional networks during the period.The report comes days after news of Time Warner's striking a $1 billion deal to carry Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers. Glenn Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable, says this will mean long-term subscription fee increases.
Real Simple Launches Wedding ChannelReal Simple has launched a Weddings channel on its Web site, RealSimple.com, according to Folio. The channel consists of a dedicated home page with navigation to resources including checklists, gift ideas, décor, hairstyle inspiration, and a wedding planning boot camp. Some of the content will be drawn from Lover.ly, a wedding-focused search engine and network of blogs and Web sites, which launched in 2011, and which Real Simple partnered with recently. The deal also gives RealSimple.com access to Lover.ly’s advertising inventory. Separately, Lover.ly is also planning to re-launch its Web site and launch a new mobile app.A sampling of RealSimple.com’s new weddings channel includes features like “100 Ways to Simplify Your Wedding” and “Daily Wedding Finds.” Visitors will also be invited to subscribe to an email newsletter “Kick Start Your Wedding Planning.” While Real Simple is launching new content channels, it’s also taking hits on the personnel side, as part of the layoffs announced by Time Inc. Adweek reported that publisher Sally Preston, who joined Real Simple in 2011 from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, is leaving Time Inc. Preston will be replaced by Charlie Kammerer, previously group publisher of This Old House and Coastal Living. Maxim Launches Fragrance Line Young men know that it’s important to smell good. Alpha Media Group is launching a new line of men’s fragrances in partnership with Omni Scents. The “Maxim Fragrance Collection,” set to premiere in department stores and fragrance retailers in this fall, will bring “excitement, fun and suggestiveness to the fragrance world,” according to Omni Scents founder, CEO and president Neil J. Katz. Jack Kliger, executive chairman of Alpha Media Group, said the fragrance line will “provocatively express the brand’s unique voice." Morgan To President, Time Out North America Time Out North America has named Jennifer Morgan president, with responsibility for all operations including online and print properties in both New York and Los Angeles. Previously, she served as chief operating officer and chief marketing officer at Collective. Time Inc. Branded Solutions Hires Vautravers, Leung Time Inc. Branded Solutions, the magazine publisher’s integrated sales and marketing division, announced two new hires this week. Stephanie Vautravers joined the division as executive director for digital sales, with responsibility for managing the New York digital sales team and serving the company’s largest East Coast clients. She joins Time Inc. from Turner, where she most recently served as director of mobile advertising for Turner Digital Sales. Barbara Leung has joined Time Inc. Brand Solutions as associate director for sales development. She previously worked at Conde Nast, where she most recently served as senior insights manager.
Barbara Lippert owes an apology to every single non-black Jamaican for implying that they do not exist! She has her head so far up her own... She isn't even educated enough to know that Jamaica is a country of many colors: people from Africa, India, European decent all claim Jamaica as their home and ALL speak in the same manner. This commercial is as racist as the outback commercials... Both impersonate (rather poorly) a different country's dialect. I don't find the add very funny nor creative... But it has nothing racist about it! The above is a snippet of one of the more polite notes of the hundreds I’ve received since Monday morning, when I appeared on the “Today Show” to discuss the early release of VW’s “Get Happy” Super Bowl commercial. The spot, a cross between “Cool Runnings” and “Office Space,” shows unhappy white dudes (and for some reason, one Asian guy) in short-sleeved white shirts and ties, glumly hanging around their soulless workplace, all with a case of the Mondays. “You know what dis room needs? A smile,” Dave from the Gopher State tells his colleagues, lit-up and gesturing during a downer of a meeting. “Who wanna come wit I?” That sounds funny, granted. But I said I didn’t like the way “black people” were used to infuse happiness into uber-white people. That’s what brought on the letters, mostly from Jamaicans or friends of Jamaicans or people who like to vacation in Jamaica. And unlike the letter writer above, they mostly found the spot funny. The “Today Show” subsequently put up a poll on its Web site to determine whether viewers found the spot offensive. About 93% of the voters did not. I was told I was uptight, a dumbass, and too P.C, among other things. That’s what makes a ball game. Still, I’d like to apologize for the gross imprecision with which I spoke. I should have made a distinction between Jamaican and “black.” Jamaica is an island with a beautiful mosaic of residents of every stripe and background. The Jamaican patois and culture is associated with fun and friendliness and "irie" (no worries,) not color. I’m sorry for my mistake. Secondly, I realize that a word like “racist” is way too important and inflammatory a term to throw around when discussing a Super Bowl commercial featuring a positive Jamaican vibe, even if it’s a stereotype. More precisely, I should have said that I found the device of using the Jamaican voices coming out of Minnesotans too contrived, and racially insensitive. I also found it weird that not one African-American was included in the office. Why? And while obviously surprising and memorable, the voice thing put me in mind of the whole Jar Jar Binks controversy from “Episode I: Phantom Menace.” Another character with a Caribbean accent, Binks was a clumsy, loud, comic foil. It also reminded me of the time (granted, long ago) in advertising when typically, big, older black women were the only ones who were allowed to express emotion. There was an AT&T commercial in the 1970s featuring just such a woman, crying, because her son called to say he loved her. Look, I’m know I’m just a white lady from New York. And parts of the commercial were funny. I loved when the guy said he came from “De lahnd of ten tousand lakes.” There’s a wonderful moment when the guys are in the Beetle, the Jimmy Cliff cover of the Partridge Family song, “Get Happy” is playing, and the spot begins to make sense, because the Beetle is a happy car. The teaser, with Jimmy Cliff, was terrific. But then the whole awkward division between uptight white guys and Jamaica comes back when they pull into a spot and another white bureaucrat says “You’re late!” It’s too bad the whole commercial wasn’t shot with everyone singing inside the car -- it would be so much less jarring. It’s certainly not going to be the worst commercial at the Super Bowl (if it runs.) Not even in the bottom 20. But it’s certainly not up to VW’s past standards, like “The Force.” But really, any car can advertise that it makes you happy. And I found it bizarre that there is zero link, and even a vigorous disconnect, to a German car company, still touting German engineering. That’s about as far as you can get from “irie.” Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Who’s going to win the Super Bowl? Taco Bell or E*TRADE? Or both! Wait, which one does Ray Lewis play for? It’s almost amazing, the fan-like zeal that Super Bowl ads generate among the masses. In a culture fixated on “zapping” ads, or at the very least, relegating them into the background, the Super Bowl is that singular media event where ads actually share the spotlight, rather than borrow it. It’s a day when the mass of viewers actually savor ads — sharing them, commenting on them and even betting on them – before, during, and after the big game. Advertising is not dead, as we all know. But it is evolving at a frenetic pace, in ways that can help brands and the agencies that love them reach the holy perfecta of ROI: achieving brand and sales lift, rather than one or the other. It’s good news, and yet we expect it to get even better. Let's win bigger. Wisely, of late, brands are realizing the value of a Super Bowl ad need not be limited to those magical moments after kicks and between quarters. Looking at the present and future, we expect to see the best brands and agencies taking some or all of the following steps.Tease the engaged. Used to be you kept Super Bowl spots in an undisclosed location until air time, guarding its content and strategy like a secret sauce formula. No more. Brands and agencies increasingly are realizing that previewing “teaser” or even entire spots doesn’t detract from an ad’s eventual luster; rather it serves as a form of “romance commerce" It gives engaged brand fans an early form of currency to share among their friends and family. Primed by movie and gaming premieres and even wireless handset and other tech launches, young consumers in particular have become accustomed to the joys of shared anticipation. Inspire the first “flick” across multiple media domino chains. No sooner does a spot drop on YouTube than it hits the corporate Web site, Facebook page and Twitter feed – all of which coincide with the CEOs appearance on morning TV, or the celebrity spokesperson’s late-night interview. Simultaneously, customers are engaged by hashtags, URLs and various virtual and real calls-to-connect, such as app downloads, offline promotions, etc. Think include, not intrude. Brands and spots in categories beyond fashion and entertainment are playing in the lifestyle space. If your brand is not suggestive of a lifestyle these days, is it really a brand? Whereas “engagement” has served as our holy grail metric, our notion of engagement is usually temporary, limited to the seconds the spot actually airs. Going forward, brands should aim at something stronger: partnership. How can we transform consumers into our partners, moving beyond a “make our ad” sweepstakes approach, to a broader “co-create our entire brand experience with us?” Have an overarching experience strategy, not just a creative strategy. There’s almost nothing more exciting than a home run (or touchdown!) piece of creative. Exception: an integrated, consistent customer experience that builds your brand across platforms and channels over time, while inspiring transactions. If your Super Bowl spot isn’t cut from the same cloth as the rest of your calendars, from product development to media and beyond, chances are it will be like a wide-receiver’s highlight-reel catch in a losing effort: talked about by your true fans, but not worthy of a championship. Winning is determined long after the splash. At the end of the Super Bowl, we’ll know whether the 49ers or Ravens get a ring. But in our modern media world, it will take far longer to discern who the winners of the ad derby are, as ads’ true resonance in our liquid paid/owned/earned world will emerge more like the rings on a pond. They will continue to emanate long after an initial splash. From where I sit, that’s a fairly Super proposition.