The results of a survey scheduled to be released today at a conference sponsored by the Association of National Advertisers bring to mind the familiar Mark Twain remark about the weather: Everyone complains about the inability to determine the return on investment from advertising spending, but no one seems satisfied with what is being done about it. The survey was conducted in April by the advertiser association and two partners, Marketing Management Analytics, part of the Aegis Group, and Forrester Research. For instance, 61.5 percent of the survey respondents said it was important to them to define, measure and take …

In the face of continuing congressional concern about the violent and sexual content of entertainment products, a new industry-backed group is launching an advertising campaign to educate parents about the controls they already have to protect their children from such fare.

About 40 models are living on the side of a building as part of New York City's first-ever live billboard. The three-story display is a new fragrance advertisement from the Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company. Pedestrians are able to view the models as they live in the billboard throughout the day and night.

An emerging class of sleep aids is spurring an advertising effort that industry watchers say could rival the saturation campaign for erectile dysfunction drugs.

Like millions of women going through menopause, actress Cheryl Ladd quit taking hormone pills after research showed risks of breast cancer, stroke and heart attack. Ladd's subtle promotion is the latest twist in the 7-year-old practice of celebrities promoting drugs, whether they use them or not: Rather than pitch a specific medicine, the celebrities make you "aware" of suffering you might have overlooked and usually point you to a Web site sponsored by a company selling a treatment for that condition.

Interpublic Group, the world's third-largest ad conglomerate, said Tuesday that Frank Mergenthaler will join the company Aug. 1 to replace Robert Thompson as chief financial officer. Mergenthaler, 44, most recently served as CFO of Columbia House Co., a direct marketer of music and home video products. Previously, he was deputy CFO for Vivendi Universal and spent more than 10 years at Price Waterhouse, becoming a partner at the accounting firm in 1996.

Former Vice President Al Gore, co-founder of a new television channel launching next month, said he's shunning politics ? and so is his media venture. "I consider myself a recovering politician. I'm on step nine," Gore told a meeting Monday of the Television Critics Association.

Just weeks after John A. Byrne, editor at Fast Company, helped save his magazine from the dustbin by recruiting Joe Mansueto to buy it, Mr. Byrne is leaving to become executive editor at BusinessWeek, a newly created post.

The Africa Channel, an independent cable network showcasing soaps, films, music, reality TV and news shows from the "Dark Continent," is set to launch on Cox Communications cable systems on the digital tier in September.

As Inflight Newspapers & Magazines Inc. fades from view amid federal probes of industry circulation practices, publishers that had relied on it to deliver magazines to airlines face hurdles proving that circulation through the distributor was paid for and legitimate. In a signal of the problems some of the nation's leading magazines may face, BPA Worldwide, a magazine-industry auditing company, emphasized last week in a letter to members that it would not allow an exemption from its rules for publishers who could not document paid circulation through Inflight, which is based in Valley Stream. At least one member had sought …