• Marketing Pro Slams Weather Channel
    The Weather Channel will begin naming winter storms. Contributor Jason Samenow is lukewarm as are the reactions he's seen on Twitter, Facebook, blog comments, and other digital places. "But one of the more convincing criticisms of the storm naming initiative I've seen originates from Chris McMurry, PR director for MGH, a Maryland-based advertising agency," he writes. Samenow says McMurry's take is that TWC may do its audience a disservice by (intentionally or unintentionally) prioritizing "branding" over substance.
  • Sainsbury's Must Change Ads
    Sainsbury's, which claims to help consumers "live well for less," has been ordered by the UK Advertising Standards Agency to change some of the adverts for its Brand Match campaign after they were found to be misleading following complaints from rival supermarkets and shoppers. The print and online promotions promised consumers they would not "pay more for brands than you would at Asda or Tesco."
  • Sony Music Puts India In Coke Studio
    Sony Music Entertainment India has partnered with mobile ad network Vserv.mobi to slot advertising onto the newly launched Coke Studio music app, a spin-off from the Coca-Cola-backed MTV Coke Studio television series. The app delivers a diverse mix of music styles from India with leading local artists playing independent, classical, folk, Sufi and popular genre music.
  • Why Japan May Actually Be Another Planet
    The cars, like everything else in Japan, are just so much cooler than what we have here. Just look at this fascinating and hilarious view of the automotive ecosystem there. The auto designs are just wildly creative, and cute, too. And even the soup delivery boy has a degree in applied physics: check out the noodle shop scooter with a cantilevered cargo rack designed to always remain stable regardless of what the scooter does. Don't you feel stupid? I do. Maybe it's not too late for Cram School.
  • Kraft Faces Lack Of New Products
    Kraft is splitting into Mondelez International Inc. and Kraft Foods Group, the North American grocery enterprise. The snacks business has grown almost 30% a year since 2009, but Kraft's new North American grocery business suffers from years of underinvestment in new products and marketing. It has a portfolio of aging brands in need of freshening. Kraft Foods will spend more on marketing and research and has unleashed edgy new TV commercials that are already generating buzz on YouTube.
  • Unilever To Overhaul Flora In UK
    Unilever is looking to overhaul the advertising strategy for its Flora brand, after calling a review of its advertising agencies. It is thought that the pitch process signals a shift in strategy for the brand. Flora's advertising account is currently held by DDB, which won the account from BBH in 2009. Said a Unilever spokesperson: "We can confirm that we are conducting a review of the creative agency services for our Flora brand in the UK. This is in line with our policy to review agency appointments every few years. We will announce the outcome in due course."
  • Luxury Brands Go To Print
    Maybe brands like Cartier, and Oscar de la Renta are reading reports from Ipsos MediaCT, which found that affluent consumers read more print media. Those brands, plus Carolina Herrera and Harry Winston are doubling up on ad placements this month in Hearst's Town & Country not only in the October issue, but in the fall/winter Weddings publication released at the same time.
  • New Ads For Truvia Are Sweet
    Stevia leaf is the zero-calorie sweetener du jour. And Cargill, which makes Truvia, is billing it as the all-natural alternative to Equal, NutraSweet, Splenda and Sweet N' Low, among others. A new, $30 million campaign, via Seattle-based Creature plays up the Stevia plant origins of the sweetener with a new theme, "From nature, for sweetness."
  • 4A's CEO Nancy Hill On The Biz
    Yes, it's Advertising Week again, so put on your walking shoes. 4A's CEO Nancy Hill talks to Adweek about opportunities in the industry and whether anyone still wants in. "Before there were the various career options we have now, we were a very attractive business for someone with a creative leaning. But now we've got so much more competition from creative environments that are business driven," she says. There's much more at the jump.
  • Joe Montana Relaxes In Skecher Spokesman Role
    The former NFL quarterback will star in his second commercial for the footwear and lifestyle product company, this time touting Relaxed Fit shoes. As previously unveiled, the new multi-media global campaign will also star Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and baseball icon Tommy LaSorda. The effort will lead to a Skechers spot to run on CBS during Super Bowl XLVII in February, the company's fourth consecutive trip to the Big Game. Montana was a part of Skechers' first Super Bowl campaign during Super Bowl XLV in 2010.
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