• Newspaper Real-Estate Ad $$ Gone For Good?
    The sagging housing market that has lead to a slump in real-estate advertising at newspapers is bad enough, but what is worse for publishers is that even when a recovery comes -- assuming it does -- most of that money will not return. Real estate ad dollars are shifting online at an increasing pace as industry executives move out of newspapers and onto the Internet. That shift is going to sting, because classifieds can make up more than 35% of newspaper revenue. Mike Simonton, a media industry analyst at Fitch Ratings, notes that the Internet's share of real-estate …
  • NBC Kicks Off Massive Football Promo Campaign
    NBC has kicked off a major promotional campaign for its "Sunday Night Football," with commercials from four seconds to two minutes on traditional media and also on TV monitors in taxis, theater lobbies, retail store TVs, airline flight screens and stadiums. Tagged "Sunday Night is Football Night," the promos feature announcers Al Michaels and John Madden, along with players like Reggie Bush, Peyton Manning and Michael Strahan. The Peacock Network began a teaser campaign as early as its Kentucky Derby telecast in May and has since run them on major sporting events. But the movie theater and gas-station …
  • Frito-Lay Shifts Some Brands From BBDO
    Frito-Lay has reshuffled some of its agency assignments, moving creative duties on its Lays and Cheetos brands form BBDO to Omnicon siblings Element 79 and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. But while it loses two big brands, with combined spending of about $81 million, BBDO will get some work on a new fruit-and vegetable-crisp product called Flat Earth. It gets that (and keeps Sun Chips) in what Frito-Lay describes as "portfolio initiatives" believed to be health-and-wellness related assignments. "Consistent with PepsiCo's move several years ago to bring all its creative work under the Omnicom family of agencies and provide …
  • Fallon Top Pick To Replace Conan
    NBC is looking for Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan O'Brien when the latter steps up to "The Tonight Show" in 2009, according to insiders. While the net's late-night chief Rick Ludwin says he doesn't expect an announcement until early next year, he confirms Fallon is the frontrunner. In February, Fallon signed a developmental deal with NBC that included the possibility of replacing O'Brien. Now, some people familiar with NBC's thinking say the network believes the pair of Fallon and O'Brien would be a compatible two-hour block. NBC has not done any run-throughs with Fallon, but Ludwin is confident …
  • NBC. NYT Link Up For 2008 Campaign
    The New York Times has made a deal with NBC News to jointly cover the 2008 presidential campaign, with the newspaper's content placed on MSNBC.com, while NBC News reports will be on the NYT's Web site. More specifically, NBC News will get first crack at breaking news and enterprise reporting from Times reporters and vice-versa, while the two "will explore ways to work together on day-to-day political coverage and at major political events," although it will not interfere with the news organizations' existing relationships with other partners. "The 2008 campaign is already the biggest political story …
  • Marketers Running Away From Vick
    As Michael Vick's legal troubles mount, products he endorses and NFL trading card companies are putting some distance between themselves and the football star. Even though the Atlanta Falcons' former quarterback pled not guilty to charges related to a dog-fighting ring, his endorsement contracts are disappearing. Reebok has stopped making and selling his jersey -- and he will not be produced on any more football cards. While Nike has left the door open to distribute Vick's shoe, it is contingent upon acquittal, and he still faces a possible entire-season suspension fro the NFL. The group People for the …
  • New "Drafting" For ESPN's NASCAR Coverage
    NASCAR fans have long heard about "drafting" and how some drivers like the late Dale Earnhardt were so good they could "see the air." And as racing returns to ESPN, the network says it has developed technology that will allow fans to see it, too. The channel is now enhancing its coverage with "Draft Track," a technique that lets viewers witness the airflow created by the race cars. They will see the air flowing over and behind cars changing as they pass, run side by side or line up nose to tail. "We continue to be fascinated with …
  • Spanish Language Cable Market Takes Off
    As negotiations in the $1.55 billion Spanish-language broadcast TV upfront wind down, another ad market is just getting going -- Hispanic cable. Advertisers have about $100 million to $125 million reserved for nets like Galavisión, the bilingual mun2, Fox Sports en Español and ESPN Deportes. Talks are expected to run through the summer. "We're just getting started in terms of dollars being registered," says Victor Parada, vice president of advertising sales at Discovery Networks U.S. Hispanic Group. The market is relatively new, with several networks only in their first or second year of negotiations. Hispanic-targeted cable networks accounted …
  • Gorby Goes Upscale In New Vuitton Ad
    Mikhail Gorbachev, who once starred in ad for Pizza Hut, is moving upscale, trading in fast food for fine leather. The former Soviet leader appears in a new global print campaign for Louis Vuitton. The move comes during a big shift in the luxury business, as well-heeled Russians make up growing part of the market. Pietro Beccari, director of marketing at Louis Vuitton, says the goal of the campaign is to broaden the appeal of the brand, especially in places like Russia and China. Recent Louis Vuitton campaigns have focused mostly on its fashion lines, featuring actresses like …
  • Lib Groups Target Fox News Sponsors
    Fox News Channel is the target of an organized campaign by liberal groups that are urging its advertisers to stay away from the conservative cable channel. MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America's Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking their supporters to monitor ads on the net with an eye toward building a database to use in an organized phone campaign. The groups have already scared Democratic presidential candidates away from debates sponsored by Fox, and now about 5,000 people have signed up to compile ad logs, says Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New …
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