Case Shmase. Show Me The Money: The media seems to be caught in a rut over possible replacements for ousted AOL chairman Steve Case. Let’s remember newly hired president Jon Miller is no slouch
here. But away from the name game, I think we’re overlooking a very basic problem that AOL and TimeWarner have to reckon with: revenue. AOL has not been able to monetize its services like its
competitors. AOL has not been able to sell advertising very well on its site. And TimeWarner needs to make this whole package work in an integrated manner for planners and buyers. I say it’s back to
the “big idea.” The big ideas this time are going to come from salespeople and marketing people. They will be account and property specific. They will be simple, like going to Nike and saying, “Hey,
what if we developed a package that gave you price efficiencies for buying AOL, SI and SI For Kids.” If I was buying any AOL/TW properties, I wouldn’t care who runs the joint. I still want the best
deal for my client.
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The Global Ad Village: That sound you just heard was from people all over the world who have found out that the State Department has ended Charlotte Beers’ “Shared
Values” ad campaign. No smack against Ms. Beers or McCann-Erickson, but in today’s geopolitical environment, this was an impossible assignment. Advertising, to me, won’t sell a nation. Unless, of
course, it’s election time.
Parting Shot: Know what really freaked me out about yesterday’s news coverage of the missing bubonic plague vials? Most news outlets had a logo for the
plague. A logo for the bubonic plague! What else do we have logos for? Smallpox? Cirin?
