Automaker Nissan has turned to the geeky world of computer-speak for inspiration in the next phase of its ongoing "Shift" campaign for a handful of new nameplates. Relying heavily on the designation "2.0"--most commonly associated with the software industry,--new Nissan spots feature titles like "Excitement 2.0" and "Passion 2.0" that zoom into view in a branding spot that shows accelerated drives through tunnels, urban landscapes, and lush countryside. A voiceover promises: "Five new vehicles. All have our best ideas in them. The next generation of Nissan thinking for the next generation of Nissan driving." Nissan is planning to launch five …

Small businesses should avoid traditional media in their marketing efforts and instead concentrate more on "out of the box" tactics like guerrilla marketing to ensure a significantly better ROI on the advertising dollars. That's the message from adman turned author Jay Conrad Levinson, who wrote Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits From Your Small Business, and is a 12-year veteran of major ad agencies, including J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett. Guerrilla marketing is all about efficiency, but that doesn't always mean spending less. Companies tend to allocate about 4 percent of sales on marketing, although some crafty …

United Airlines is cutting its advertising and marketing costs by $60 million, which amounts to 80 percent of the $75 million the company spent on media in 2005. The move was announced this week as part of the company's restructuring following its emergence from bankruptcy earlier this year. "They invested heavily before and after bankruptcy to establish niche products and reinvigorate the brand," said Robert Mann, president of R. W. Mann & Company, an airline industry analysis firm. United's reemergence earlier this year required a focus on traditional media like radio and newspaper ads, Mann said. "Once that's been established …

Yahoo came up with a brainy idea to promote its new question and answer service. The company created a giant purple replica of a brain and fashioned it into a two-story terrarium atop the Hard Rock Café in New York's Times Square. The gimmick is part of Yahoo's "Ask the Planet" campaign promoting Yahoo Answers, an online community where consumers ask and answer questions on any topic. The purple "brain" is large enough to accommodate 22 "brainiacs" who work inside answering questions from Yahoo Answers users around the world. "We wanted to do this Yahoo Answers push because this is …

Without being too specific, DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group is about to introduce a new marketing campaign that for the first time ever hints at Chrysler's connection to its parent company's Mercedes brand without directly mentioning it by name. The move poses something of a risk because while it could add luster to Chrysler's image, it could do the opposite for Mercedes. But Chrysler needs to do something to pump up sales, which have been sluggish because of high gasoline prices pulling buyers away from pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. In a series of commercials and advertisements scheduled to begin later …

Can hot dogs, those perennial summer barbecue taste treats, actually be good for you? ConAgra Foods would have you believe so, in new ads for its Hebrew National brand of kosher dogs. A new national TV effort launching this week proclaims that Hebrew National beef hot dogs are more nutritious than frankfurters sold by its competitors. One 30-second spot shows a cow beneath the slogan, "No Ifs, Ands or Butts," a reference to its assurance that its kosher dogs, prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary law, contain nothing from the rear portion of the bovine anatomy. The ad ends with …

Traditional advertising took another hit this week when the results of a new survey were released by the Association of National Advertisers. The survey showed that only 30 percent of respondents believed that general advertising adds the most value to a marketing plan. That figure was down from 51 percent in a similar poll taken in 2003. The survey was based on responses from 85 major advertisers; the results were released yesterday at an ANA conference on integrated marketing in New York. The poll also found that while 67 percent of marketers develop integrated marketing programs across most or all …

An insurance company is challenging long-held beliefs in the advertising industry with a new campaign that defies tradition by featuring elderly people in ads targeting baby boomers. The new campaign is from Genworth Financial, and features six active, vibrant people who are all at least 100 years old, touting insurance products tied to security later in life. The primary targets of the new effort--on which the company plans to spend $35 million this year--are the thousands of brokers, bankers, and insurance agents who sell its policies. Typically, these salespeople are men ages 35 to 64, with an annual household income …

Fast food marketer Kentucky Fried Chicken is the target of a lawsuit filed by a consumer group charging that the restaurant chain's food offerings are loaded with trans fats. The suit was filed in Washington, D.C. by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and asks the court to either bar KFC from using partially hydrogenated oil or at least post signs in KFC outlets notifying customers that many of its foods are "startlingly" high in trans fat. "CSPI would far prefer the trans-fat problem be solved through voluntary action by restaurants or regulatory action by the FDA, but …

Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts believes the essence of brands is communicated to consumers through emotional messages delivered primarily through screens--computers, televisions, cell phones, etc. Brian Collins, executive creative director of Ogilvy & Mather's Brand Integration Group, isn't so sure. In this lively and perceptive exchange, the two advertising executives debate the issue, and each one makes strong points to support his argument. Roberts: "We've moved into the Age of Paradox--no more either/or, no more black/white. It's all and/and. Experience is key; design is core. Emotion is the common thread, and the screen is the most ubiquitous delivery …