February 14, 1994
Fortunately, most editorials in Ad Age start at A and end at Z. However, the editorial in the Jan. 31 issue headlined "Names outlast reinventions" started at A and got lost. As a former journalist at The New York Times, I learned early that editorials are supposed to express a point of view. I assume that the editorial writer had an idea at the be...
February 14, 1994
History repeated itself at Super Bowl XXVIII. The Buffalo Bills and the TV commercials that ran during the game were both losers. It was a duplicate performance for both of Super Bowl XXVII. One day after the 1993 Super Bowl, viewers surveyed remembered an average of 2.99 commercials, which means 78.01 had no recall (John Antil, marketing prof., U...
February 14, 1994
A recent survey conducted by MCI Communications Corp. has come up with the surprising discovery that consumers want education first and entertainment second from the information superhighway. The MCI Multi-Media Survey was commissioned late last year by the No. 2 long-distance telephone provider to help MCI shape the development of network-MCI, it...
February 14, 1994
It's a given that John Malone is the most powerful man in TV. But he's apparently quite influential on Wall Street, too. In a profile in The New Yorker's issue dated Feb. 7, Mr. Malone, ceo of cable TV's mighty Tele-Communications Inc., helped send CBS' stock price upward with a mere allusion to a possible CBS combination with Walt Disney Co. "It...
February 14, 1994
Americans are shopping differently. And these new shopping habits have very interesting implications for the major brands. Research undertaken by the Grocery Manufacturers of America tells us that the $360 billion grocery industry has made the transition when it comes to where and how people shop. Grocery manufacturers now offer for sale 644,78...
February 14, 1994
Figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding aren't the only ones with a lot on the line in the Winter Olympics. As the Games began in Lillehammer, Norway-scene of the first biennial Winter Olympics-Ms. Kerrigan held a news conference and Ms. Harding fought to hold her place on the team. CBS and its 83 advertisers held their breath, hoping hei...
February 14, 1994
When Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison takes the stage at CBS Studios in Hollywood tomorrow, it will culminate a nine-month campaign to reposition the once-obscure database software company as the leading-edge supplier for the interactive age. Oracle will unveil its Media Server and other related software at a glitzy event hosted by Walter Cronkite a...
February 14, 1994
Retail was the driving force behind a third-quarter 8.5% increase in out-of-home spending, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. Spending by retailers on outdoor boards, transit shelters and buses rose awhopping 95% from a year earlier, a major contributor to the overall $432 million in spending for the quarter. For the fir...
February 14, 1994
Borrowing from Procter & Gamble Co.'s playbook, General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac division plans to build up the brand identity of individual models, making names like Bonneville and Grand Am as distinctive as the Pontiac nameplate. Three newly named brand management directors will have broad authority to ensure product features and marketing program...
February 14, 1994
MEDIA NEW YORK-Norman Bierman has been named exec VP of NBC Cable Advertising Sales, succeeding Angela Pumo, who left. Mr. Bierman previously was president-ceo of sports marketing company Sports Alliance International. As head of NBC Cable Advertising Sales, Mr. Bierman will oversee sales for all of NBC's cable, international and new media prope...
February 14, 1994
Montreal's No. 2 supermarket chain has learned the value of magazines as an ad medium-not for its own print ads but to boost readershipof the chain's circulars. The free-circulation Le Magazine Provigo reaches consumers inserted in the fliers of Provigo Supermarkets. A typical issue of the food-related magazine also carries anywhere from two to fi...
February 14, 1994
Tetley warms up $30M tea account review SHELTON, Conn.-Tetley will start reviewing agencies for its estimated $30 million tea account, following a split with its shop of eight years, Rotando Partners, Stamford. A conflict with Rotando's largest client, Ocean Spray Cranberries, caused the breakup. ESPN, MTV tackle football deal in Europe NEW YORK...
February 14, 1994
There is already a split within the movement to reward people who voluntarily turn in firearms. Foot Locker has seceded from New York businessman Fernando Mateo's Goods-for-Guns program, planning instead to take its own Shoes-for-Guns program national. Mr. Mateo burst onto the scene in New York in December with what was then called Toys-for-Guns....
February 14, 1994
Brand name manufacturers are taking the offensive against private labels. In its first major effort on the issue, the Grocery Manufacturers of America kicked off a yearlong public relations campaign in defense of national brands on Feb. 12 with a speech by GMA President C. Manly Molpus (see related story in Forum on Page 22). His talk, at the Int...
February 14, 1994
Turner Broadcasting System and Reader's Digest are teamingup to play games. The media companies are leveraging their worldwide positions to jointly develop a global, cross-media ad package centered on this summer's Goodwill Games. SmithKline Beecham has already signed on as the exclusive healthcare category sponsor, and other deals are expected s...
February 14, 1994
Hachette Filipacchi Magazines is in discussions with major infomercial production companies about an alliance to develop programming for Hachette advertisers. Hachette's search is believed to be linked to its agreement to develop a cable TV channel based on Car and Driver and Road & Track with Tele-Communications Inc. Hachette also is in discussio...
February 14, 1994
In five short months as an advertising team, Harry and Louise have merely: forced the White House to revamp its healthcare plan; led first lady Hillary to rip them; and caused President Bill, begrudgingly, to invite their sponsors to help shape national policy. So much for the notion you can't fight 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Regardless of whether Pr...
February 14, 1994
Supermarkets are staking out a place in the burgeoning home office market. Xerox Corp. is teaming with supermarket chains for specially designed Xerox Document Centers, an aisle featuring Xerox Office Basics. The Office Basics line of home office supplies includes copier and fax paper, self-stick notes and computer diskettes. "As we look at the ...
February 14, 1994
The new-product problem seems to extend into the alcoholic beverage market. When it comes to beer developments, the approach seems to be: Take an idea from another country and run it up the U.S. flagpole. Japan, for example. Dry beers, brewed longer and supposedly smoother tasting, were a big hit in Japan, so here they came. The dry brews the U.S...
February 14, 1994
Kroger Co. plans a marketing coup March 1 when it installs the first interactive kiosk to give consumers healthcare and over-the-counter drug counseling in all 64 Dallas division stores. "Most pharmacists put out information sheets for consumers," said Jim White, pharmacy merchandiser for the supermarket division. "We want to take it one step furt...
