Bollore Group, the company led by French investor Vincent Bollore, has acquired just more than 6% of Aegis Group, which owns media-buying and -planning company Carat. Bollore Group bought 3% of Aegis capital on Aug. 2 and as of today increased that stake to 6%. The shares are spread among three Bollore Group entities: 0.53% held by Bollore Participations; 1.52% held by Nord Sumatra Investissements, and 3.98% owned by Financiere du Loch.

For NBC's newest reality show "Meet Mister Mom," all four of the show's primary sponsors not only are integrated into the program and running numerous spots throughout the six-episode series, but they also all have launched marketing and promotional campaigns around their involvement in the show. "Mister Mom" is the latest example of how for many blue-chip advertisers, the integration of products into program content no longer is enough. More and more brands are setting their sights on a loftier goal: building a marketing platform around a brand integration to take full advantage of the equity of the show.

TiVo Inc. announced last month that it was adding a feature to its digital video recording devices that will insert advertising symbols into television commercial breaks, even as customers fast-forward through them. Suspiciously absent from the announcement was any recognition that most TiVo customers would likely say skipping commercials is one of the great joys of DVRs. Ironically, the advance of technology, once hailed by the marketing industry as a means of better spreading commercial messages, now offers many ways for consumers to avoid them - fast-forwarding through commercials, installing spam blockers to e-mail accounts and signing up for federal …

Howard Stern formally announced a deal with In Demand yesterday to put portions of his new satellite radio show on pay-per-view TV without bleeps and naughty-bit-hiding pixelation - unlike the carefully-scrubbed version that aired on the E! cable channel. That could be trouble for Sirius Satellite Radio if many of Stern's young male fans pass on paying $13 a month (plus the satellite radio) to hear naked strippers play "butt bongo" when they can see them for just $10 a month on their plain old TV.

By now, Madison Avenue has become used to the consolidation of big clients that sell consumer products in competitive categories: Daimler-Benz buying Chrysler, Coors and Molson merging, Whirlpool possibly acquiring Maytag. Even so, the announcement yesterday that Adidas-Salomon would take over Reebok International sent executives scurrying to assess the potential effects of the deal on the hard-fought battle among the peddlers of athletic footwear and apparel.

Using sex to sell liquor - and incorporating images where liquor is being used excessively or in an irresponsible manner - are among the chief complaints in the latest advertising code report issued today by the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., the industry's trade group.

The New York Times Co. has signed an agreement with XM Satellite Radio that will give the publishing giant's new radio division a presence on XM talk and classical music channels. The move augurs further efforts by print publishers, who are desperately chasing growth, to distribute content -- and market their brands -- outside of print.

Martha Stewart will have to remain a domestic diva a little while longer. The home-and-hearth marketing queen, who was due to complete five months of house arrest Aug. 10, has agreed to extend the sentence by three extra weeks, her lawyer, Walter E. Dellinger, said in a brief statement Wednesday. The New York Post reported Sunday that Stewart was seen riding an off-road vehicle on her estate and attended a yoga class nearby. Stanton would not say if those were violations or if they constituted part of her employment.

David Pecker, chairman, president/CEO of American Media Inc., on Wednesday lost yet another top editor in what has become a conga line of staffers out the door. Anne Russell, editor in chief of Shape, abruptly left the magazine today, following the resignation this week of Vincent Scalisi, the longtime editor in chief of Muscle & Fitness, who also served as president of the Enthusiast group, which includes Flex and Muscle & Fitness Hers.

It's back to the future at The New York Post. Nearly three decades after first buying The Post and taking over as publisher, Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation chairman, said yesterday he was again taking up the mantle of Post publisher after the sudden resignation of his son, Lachlan.