America's taste in advertising got real - and racy - when it came to their favorite ads in 2003. A look back at the results for the year of Ad Track, USA TODAY'S weekly consumer survey, showed humor again at the top of the charts for likability, though with some new themes.
For the advertising industry, the first of many changes expected next year will descend as soon as Thursday.
Say what you will about air travel, but an airplane is still that rare public place where you remain relatively insulated from barrages of advertising. Wait till next year, though. Airlines are gearing up to bring a lot more advertising to us in 2004 in the confines of our airplane seats.
News Corp. czar Rupert Murdoch is expected to ramp up the competitive fight for consumers' TV dollars, now that federal regulators have conditionally approved the company's purchase of a controlling stake in DirecTV.
In the year ahead, media industry stars will do deals, change jobs and make splashy headlines (not to mention, figure prominently in rumors and gossip galore). Here are some people worth watching in 2004.
The Democrats should run Paris Hilton for president. She has already scored a major win over President Bush, on Tuesday night. Hilton's Fox reality series "The Simple Life" copped nearly 12 million viewers that night -- close to a million more than Bush's rare prime-time sit-down with ABC's Diane Sawyer.
Television networks are trying a new tactic to convince game-addicted young people, particularly males, to spend more time in front of the tube.
Here are 10 of the season's worst ideas, and the shows they spawned.
Television executives have almost tired of analyzing the defection of young male viewers from broadcast television. Now, though, programming executives face a more pressing issue: finding programming that young viewers-both men and women-will tune in for.
With an ad recovery finally under way, b-to-b marketers are welcoming 2004 as a year in which they can work with slightly larger marketing budgets and continue to build relationships with customers, investors and business partners. What follows are the top 10 marketing trends to look for in the new year, based on comments from top marketing, agency and industry executives interviewed in recent weeks by BtoB.