February 21, 1994
Nearly a year after "Marlboro Friday" launched a bitter price war, cigarette marketers are laying plans to spend this summer battling not on price but on the more profitable, predictable territory of advertising, sampling and continuity programs. The two biggest players, Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., are rolling out campaigns to...
February 21, 1994
An article about Terrence McDermott, former president of Cahners Publishing Co., Newton, Mass., erroneously listed Architecture as a Cahners publication (AA, Feb. 7, P. 40). The company publishes Building Design & Construction....
February 21, 1994
Dell Computer Corp. hopes to reignite its notebook computer sales after getting burned last year.
February 21, 1994
CHICAGO-Dennis Chase, 47, a former Advertising Age executive editor who was fatally injured Feb. 15 in a skiing accident in Utah, is being remembered by colleagues as an intensely competitive and enterprising journalist. Mr. Chase was skiing at the Brighton Resort near Salt Lake City with his son, Justin, 14, when he lost control on a downhill run...
February 21, 1994
I was shocked to learn that Marion Harper Jr. is not in the Advertising Hall of Fame. He most certainly should be. Marion was a bold, daring and brilliant innovator. Just during my tenure at McCann-Erickson (1950-1960) he did all of the following: Invented the idea of a holding company with multiple agencies (Interpublic) in order to be able to h...
February 21, 1994
As advertising professionals who have witnessed the power of advertising, we were dismayed by Rance Crain's dismissal of the value of our life's work ("Power of advertising more like a myth," AA, Jan. 10). We are sure that many of our colleagues at other agencies would agree. We are equally certain that they have as much evidence as we do that adve...
February 21, 1994
Re: the Forum article on "trendy graphics" (AA, Jan. 10): Linda Fitzgerald was disappointed in the graphics of her "carefully sculpted words and paragraphs" because she only did half the job. The more important part of the job would have been to work together-in person-with the art director. By sweating out a solution together and creating the per...
February 21, 1994
Now that Donny Deutsch and Steve Dworin have split up, Steve has discovered that he's the hottest property turned loose on Madison Avenue in years. And Donny finds himself considering the acquisition of another shop to further bolster his agency. One of the most combustible but successful pairings in recent agency history, Deutsch/Dworin stunned...
February 21, 1994
Dutch Boy Paints and the National Basketball Association have joined forces for a broad cross-promotion this spring to raise funds for child abuse prevention. Dutch Boy said the effort, to benefit the non-profit Healthy Families America, is its largest and most comprehensive promotion yet. Backed by TV and print advertising and involving indirec...
February 21, 1994
Retailers' hopes for a pickup in apparel sales this spring are fraying. Overall retail sales in January were lackluster, and retailers are putting most of the blame on the apparel category, which has performed poorly since last fall. Analysts cite a continuing lack of fashion excitement in women's apparel, but some observers believe the deeper p...
February 21, 1994
You can often tell the effectiveness of an ad campaign by how the competition reacts. The more on-the-money the ad, the more aggressive the response. By that criterion, the Health Insurance Association of America's "Harry & Louise" commercials questioning the Clinton healthcare plan are in line for the next Cannes ad festival Lion. We've come to ...
February 21, 1994
The direct marketing industry has a tough battle on its hands. The fight centers around a U.S. Senate bill that could force catalog houses and other direct response merchants to collect out-of-state sales taxes for all the goods they ship to customers across the U.S. There's a lot to be upset about. If they're on call as collectors for up to 6,100...
February 21, 1994
One after another, our leading ad agencies are bringing out new tables of organization charts. They are, after all, at a point where they must reinvent themselves, and reconfigure their staffs, in order to meet today's and tomorrow's client needs. And they must do it without ignoring their past. They know the future is already here; it arrived bef...
February 21, 1994
I take exception to Roger Sennott's assertion that "PR's not as well-developed in the Hispanic market because there aren't as many publicity outlets..." (Marketing to Hispanics, AA, Jan. 24). First, understand that PR is more than just publicity. PR steps in where advertising dares not tread and serves as an effective part of the marketing mix. S...
February 21, 1994
While mineral water is the most commonly consumed drink among western Europeans, Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky and Heineken beer are the most popular or most recognizable alcoholic brands in the region, according to a survey commissioned by Time-Life International. The survey, "Time Drinks Survey 1994," measures consumption and purchasing habi...
February 21, 1994
PARIS-Europe's direct marketing industry is sailing through the current recession with an optimism that traditional ad agencies lost years ago. Direct marketers still have considerable legislative and procedural hurdles to clear before becoming a truly pan-European industry But the approximately 2,000 who attended the International Direct Marketin...
February 21, 1994
AmEx juggles direct assignments NEW YORK-American Express' Consumer Card Group reshuffled its direct marketing agency lineup following management changes that divide responsibilities along new lines. Wunderman Cato Johnson will handle all work for Members of Distinction, a new group of AmEx's biggest-spending, longest-tenured customers that inclu...
February 21, 1994
The unexpected runaway success of Germany's year-old newsweekly Focus is teaching European publishers a big lesson. With Focus, Munich's Burda publishing house has tapped into Europe's largest undiscovered market: readers aged 25-39 brought up on fast-paced TV who want snappy stories with lots of color and pictures. "Focus succeeded in finding an...
February 21, 1994
One: Depending on how the federal and state investigations turn out, the entire firm could yet be indicted. Two: For Prudential Securities, after agreeing to pay $330 million in civil penalties to allegedly defrauded investors, this is no time for high-gloss bombast designed to deflect the ugly reality. Three: But there's always gritty "straight...
February 21, 1994
What a difference a name makes. Do you have any doubt that Primerica, the financial services company, will do even better when it becomes Travelers? Or that new computer drawing software for children using the Crayola brand name will sell like hotcakes? But does anyone really think AT&T's NCR computer division will be enhanced when it's renamed A...
