• A-B Selects Three Finalists in Media Agency Search
    Anheuser-Busch's Busch Media Group has narrowed the group of media agencies to three from which it will select one to assist its ad buying research and planning efforts for according to sources. The shops said to still be in contention include Aegis Group's Vizeum, Omnicom's OMD and WPP's MediaCom, per sources. The selected agency wouldn't get an AOR assignment, as A-B will continue to lead both buying and planning from the in house Bush Media Group. Paul Chibe, U.S. vice president, marketing, A-B InBev, who is overseeing the effort, didn't immediately return a call late Friday seeking comment about …
  • Schpiel Time With Terrence Kawaja
    Luma Partners' Terrence Kawaja loves to do schtick. He's done it in everything from viral video mash-ups to his own version of Don Maclean's bye-bye "Amercian Pie" -- all to make salient points about our every dynamic and increasingly confusing industry of ad-related technologies. Now he's going to play Bill Maher vis a vis his own version of "Real Time" Tuesday afternoon as part of Advertising Week in New York. You can see the trailer/invitation here.
  • Nets/Exchanges/DSPs Now More Than Half Of All Online Display Buys
    Advertisers and agencies now use ad networks, exchanges and/or DSPs (demand-side platforms) to buy more than half their online display advertising, according to findings of an Econsultancy survey of advertisers and agencies released this morning by the Rubicon Project. Breaking that stat down, the respondents said they bought: • 55% of their display inventory through ad networks • 32% through DSPs • 30% through exchanges The role of DSPs is much greater in North American than Europe, where half of all online display ad buys are now made through one of the myriad of platforms now servicing …
  • TRA Kantar Mediation Fails; It's Back To Court Over Patent Case
    TRA and WPP's Court-ordered mediation related to an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies has ended without resolution, TRA said Friday. Earlier this year TRA sued Kantar for launching its RapidView Retail media planning tool service, which it alleged violated patents related to TRA's similar TRAnalytics offering launched several years ago. The mediation session followed a denial of a motion by TRA for a preliminary injunction by the Federal Court in Manhattan barring RapidView from the marketplace until the case is settled. With the unsuccessful mediation, TRA said the suit now proceeds with its request for a permanent injunction and …
  • Blekko Gets $30 Million Investment, Yandex Leads
    Russia's search engine Yandex invested $15 million in Blekko, along with a commitment to share some computing technology. The funds match another investment of $15 million from a group of mostly earlier investors: U.S. Venture Partners, CMEA Capital, and PivotNorth Capital.
  • Facebook Drives Web Traffic To Car Manufacture Web Sites
    Facebook refers nearly as much new-vehicle buyer traffic to automaker Web sites as independent automotive content providers, such as Autotrader.com, Cars.com and Edmunds.com, according to the 2011 Website Performance Tools Report. The study from J.D. Power and Associates and Compete released Thursday finds 6% of new-vehicle buyers visiting OEM Web sites found their way through Facebook after visiting an automaker's site. This compares with Edmunds.com at 8%, and AOL Autos at 4%. New-vehicle buyers visit 3.4 automotive websites, on average, during the six months prior to their purchase, according to the study. No surprise that it also identifies …
  • Bayer Reviews U.S. Media Duties
    Bayer has just kicked off a review of its U.S. media assignment, just two years after consolidating the account with Interpublic's Initiative, sources confirmed. Spending on the account is estimated to be $350 million to $400 million per sources. In 2009 Bayer placed its U.S. HealthCare media duties with Initiative after a review. At the time the IPG media shop was already handling the client's Consumer Care division. The HealthCare account had been split between Initiative, which handled national broadcast duties, and WPP's MEC, which handled the rest of the account. It was not immediately clear …
  • Shazam Adopts Ongoing Unlimited Tagging
    Content discovery app Shazam today announced it would permanently provide unlimited tagging within its free app for iOS and Android devices. Previously, there was a limit of five tags per month, as when the app "tags" a song's name when someone holds their phone up to the radio to find out what it is. More recently, Shazam has extended its service to television, allowing users to tag select TV programs and commercials for discounts and exclusive content. Instead of limiting tagging to help drive people to its paid Shazam Encore app, the company will now encourage users to more …
  • Ram Official Truck Of Detroit Red Wings In Sponsorship Extension
    Chrysler Group has extended its partnership with the Detroit Red Wings for the 2011-12 National Hockey League season. Chrysler Group says its in-arena presence at Joe Louis Arena will be "greatly enhanced" as part of this new agreement. "Chrysler Group has been a tremendous partner for the Red Wings over the years and we're very pleased to be extending and expanding our relationship with them," says Olympia Entertainment President Tom Wilson. "Both of our brands have been a source of pride and inspiration for the people of Detroit and we look forward to continuing to be joint symbols of …
  • eBay Sponsors Tagging On Shazam
    Shazam made it easy to identify what song you're listening to the radio or somewhere else by holding your phone up to the source. Within seconds, the app "tags" the song's name, the artist and album. Shazam more recently expanded that capability to television, allowing users to "Shazam" select TV programs and commercials to get bonus content and discounts via the app's audio recognition technology. Now the company is doing away with the limit of five tags per month to offering unlimited tagging in iOS and Android devices in its updated free app through an eBay sponsorship. Shazam …
« Previous Entries