• Not Ad-ding Up
    With most signs pointing to a soft "upfront" season for selling commercial time, one media guru is predicting falling major network ad sales for a second straight year.
  • Buzz is Overrated at the Upfront Petting Zoo
    Emerging from a line of people waiting to have their photograph taken with the cast of a new sitcom, a tipsy twentysomething media buyer gushed to her friend, "They could be, like, the next 'Friends!' " The hyperbole flows as freely as the alcohol at what we'll call the celebrity petting zoo, this most sacred ritual of the post-upfront presentation party, where Madison Avenue types get to mingle with the new talent. And why not? Her employer is about to plunk down millions of dollars to advertise on the network carrying this new show.
  • Tequila Brand Placed In Broadway's 'Sweet Charity'
    As part of a product placement campaign in Broadway's Sweet Charity, playwright Neil Simon approved a script change to promote Gran Centenario tequila, according to the deal makers. The arrangement was the latest brand integration success by Amy Willstatter, president of New York-based Bridge to Hollywood/Broadway, who specializes in inserting product promotions in and around live theater productions.
  • Advertisers Want Something Different
    The world of advertising turns upside down when the advertisers - not the agencies - are the ones pushing the envelope. But that is what has been happening. The advertising business is undergoing an upheaval, forcing executives to radically change how they do business. Marketers are trying desperately to stay ahead of the technological innovations that are changing how consumers view their messages - and are putting pressure on their agencies to adapt.
  • On Fall TV, the Networks Are Planning Something Borrowed
    For the six big broadcast television networks, imitation is the sincerest form of desperation. As they try to keep viewers from defecting to cable and other media, the networks are aggressively shaking up their prime-time lineups for the 2005-6 season, according to advertising executives, stuffing the schedules with eye candy centered on subjects - like the supernatural, crime and sexuality - that dominated this past season.
  • Lite Leads Pack in Radio Ad $$$
    WLTW (106.7 FM) is not just a ratings gorilla, but a cash machine, according to BIA Financial Network's 2004 radio revenue estimates. BIA's annual estimate of ad revenue once again puts five New York stations in the national top 10, with WLTW and WINS (1010 AM) ranked No. 1 and 2. WCBS-AM (880) is sixth, while WFAN (660 AM) and WXRK (92.3 FM) are No. 8 and No. 9. "These are the ratings that really matter," says Lite-FM program director Jim Ryan.
  • Grow Up, TV Advertisers
    You find them in surf shops, golf shops, sporting goods stores: ball caps bearing the legend "Old Guys Rule." For women, "Fifty is the new 40." Once an oxymoron, "Adventure Cruise" is now a successful marketing ploy. Universities compete to land the "life learning" travel market. So why are television advertisers spurning this demographic gold mine? Last week, CBS announced the cancellation of four prime-time shows simply because they appealed to a just-over-50 crowd. CBS is fighting its reputation as the geezer network by dumping the baby-boomer demographic bulge, though these graying heads will be alive and spending accumulated wealth …
  • Flap Hits Time Inc. Between The, Er, Eyes
    Ads for an upcoming reality TV series, "Beauty and the Geek" on the WB network, were rejected by two weekly magazines at Time Inc. - People and Entertainment Weekly - apparently because they were too sexy and provocative.
  • The Force Is With 'Star Wars' Marketing Partners
    May the marketing force be with you: That's the message from firms seeking to bask in the aura of the new "Star Wars" movie. Scores of marketers and agencies developed licensing tie-ins as part of marketing and merchandising opportunities arising from the May 19 release of George Lucas' "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
  • European Marketer Launches One-Second TV Commercial
    One Second, a new breath freshener in the form of a menthol gel, launched today in Belgium with a TV commercial lasting just one second.
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