In a move that was long expected by industry observers, Colgate-Palmolive has named Ian Cook, currently its president and COO, as the company's new CEO. He will replace longtime CEO Reuben Mark, who has led the company for the past two decades. The announcement was made by Mark, who said Cook will take over as CEO in 2007 and that the Colgate board has asked him (Mark) to stay on as chairman for a "short time" after that. Cook, a native of the U.K., joined the company in 1976 and has spent his entire career there. He has been president …

The African-American market today is a powerhouse with buying power of more than $762 billion that offers a wide range of opportunities with some segments outpacing their Hispanic counterparts, according to new research. A report from market researcher Packaged Facts indicated that this market, driven by advances in education and employment, will reach $981 billion by 2010. "Having roughly the same purchasing power as Hispanics, African-Americans tend to be left behind when it comes to marketing and advertising because Hispanics are expected to have more rapid population growth," said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts. "Marketers would be wise, …

A former Nissan Motor Co., marketing executive is expected to be named the new vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz. The automaker is expected to announce today that the job will go to Mark McNabb, who is leaving Nissan after 20 years. McNabb had recently been promoted to a high-level post involving responsibilities for overseas marketing at Nissan, a job that would have required a move to Japan. However, Advertising Age reported that McNabb's family did not want to make the move. The company has been without a vice president-marketing since Michelle Cervantez left for the same job at …

Like their American counterparts, young adults in Europe love communicating via the Internet and are more receptive to online advertising than other venues, according to a new study. The research, commissioned by MSN and conducted by a professor at the University of York, found that 37 percent of online advertising is viewed by this group on e-mail Web sites such as MSN's Hotmail. Europeans age 16 to 24 years old use the Web as a social medium, the study found. Thirty percent of Web users in this group communicate via e-mail and IM with friends, family and colleagues. E-mail and …

Once again, marketers are betting on Oscar to come through for them and deliver a large, sophisticated audience for a live event that viewers will watch without being able to zap through commercials. Advertisers like State Farm, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, AT&T, and American Express paid an estimated $1.68 million for a 30-second spot on the ABC telecast, scheduled for Sunday, March 5. What they are expecting for that princely sum is more than 40 million viewers, many of them in the category of adults between the ages of 18 and 49 who earn more than $100,000 a year, a highly coveted …

Online advertising will play a major role in a broad-based marketing effort to support the upcoming U.S. launch of a new light beer from Dutch brewer Heineken. The new product, dubbed Heineken Premium Light, will roll into bars next week targeted to young men ages 25 to 29. To reach that audience, the company will advertise extensively on Web sites like espn.com, foxsports.com, maximcom, msn.com, stuffmagazine.com and yahoo.com. The online effort is the first leg of an estimated $50 million, multimedia campaign. TV and radio spots, print ads, outdoor signs, promotions and a campaign tailored to Spanish-speaking consumers are also …

Frito-Lay wants sandwiches and potato chips to become inseparable soul mates. That's more or less the main message in a new campaign from the snack food marketer that positions potato chips as the natural side dish to a sandwich. The effort includes TV advertising, point-of-sale, and a partnership with Sara Lee Food & Beverage, one of the leaders in the packaged bread and bakery category. "While sandwiches are the No.1 consumed entree at lunch and dinner in this country, more than 35 billion 'naked' sandwiches are eaten a year without potato chips," said Lora DeVuono, group vice president-brand marketing and …

The number of advertisers spending money to place products and other commercial messages in video games is booming. And the amount they are spending is expected to reach new heights in coming years, thanks to a service from Nielsen Entertainment that measure the impact of their promotional efforts. Nielsen forecasts that ad spending on brand placement in games will balloon from $75 million last year to as much as $1 billion by 2010. Marketers especially like using video games as ad vehicles because program producers allow them much more latitude than they receive when trying to place products in traditional …

Marketers are discovering that a good place to reach consumers with commercial messages is at work. The theory is that distracted office workers will take a minute or two to check something out on their computers that they might find entertaining--something that will lighten an otherwise boring day at work. One marketer to take advantage of the scenario is Progresso, which recently produced a two-minute "soup opera" about cubicle life. Another is Beringer Wine, which offers a promotion dubbed "Living 5 to 9" with a downloadable computer alarm clock that reminds workers, while still at their desks, that Happy Hour …

In the third installment of his ongoing series about reinventing marketing, Association of National Advertisers' president-CEO Bob Liodice addresses the accountability issue. He acknowledges that marketing as a business function is suspect in the minds of many top business leaders, and he says the reason is because companies fail to properly measure its impact. "For untold years, we have been using surrogate and soft measurements like awareness, instead of relevant measurements, like incremental sales impact and changes to brand equity," Liodice writes in his blog. "But the key is not just measuring the effectiveness of programs and then reporting those …