February 14, 1994
Every day, supermarket shop pers find themselves stand ing in the cereal aisle, deciding whether to buy regular Rice Krispies or new Rice Krispies Treats; or in the cookie aisle, choosing a familiar Chips Ahoy! or the latest, Chunky Chips Ahoy!. Making product move off the shelves is a game played against a clock that's as unyielding as pro basket...
February 14, 1994
In an effort to ensure that broadcasters have a place on the information super highway, a bipartisan coalition of 12 key senators has introduced legislation to allow broadcasters to use TV channels to provide nonprogramming services. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., would also require the Federal Communications Commission t...
February 14, 1994
Darn and drat! I missed last week's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue party at the Supper Club in Manhattan. It was my library night. Pat Ford, a native of Buffalo and barman at Wollensky's Grill in Manhattan, reports that to his chagrin the new rallying cry in Buffalo is, "Strive for Five!" They could have given lessons in masochism to the Marqui...
February 14, 1994
Detroit automakers will likely hold on to their recent gains and may even take another small bite out of import nameplates this year, based on a new study of magazine reader reaction to auto ads. "There's a real commitment among people who say they intend to buy domestic brands," said Philip Sawyer, analyst for the Starch Automotive Advertising St...
February 14, 1994
Spanish-language media should get a boost from 1990 U.S. Census Bureau data confirming what they have been saying all along: Hispanics often prefer to communicate in Spanish even as they become Americanized. That conclusion is being touted in two recently released studies from DRI/McGraw-Hill, Lexington, Mass., and Strategy Research Corp., Miami. ...
February 14, 1994
Cable operators, telephone companies and multimedia designers have recently begun to court agencies and advertisers with detailed descriptions of the opportunities that will soon be available on the digital superhighway. But to an advertising professional, the superhighway often feels more like the yellow brick road. We're all "off to see the wiza...
February 14, 1994
Los Angeles is a city of contradictions. While headlines covering disasters-both man-made and natural-dominate the news, the mythical Eden of southern California is kept alive through popular TV shows like "Baywatch" and the perpetually sunny coverage of the Rose Parade on New Year's Day. "It's hell and paradise married to each other," said David...
February 14, 1994
What is a network? To Jamie Kellner, who's spear heading Warner Bros.' drive for a "5th network," it's a group of TV outlets of any description (cable, broadcast) that run the same programs at the same time. If so, what does that make "Nightline" and the David Letterman show, with their many delayed broadcasts? Or the entire NBC daytime schedule,...
February 14, 1994
BOCA RATON, Fla.-If the grocery industry's Efficient Consumer Response effort is to work, some fine-tuning is needed. That's according to executive comments and a series of preliminary reports released at last month's Food Marketing Institute Midwinter Executive Conference. ECR is an industrywide effort by 11 trade groups to make the grocery supp...
February 14, 1994
At the entrance to the Manhattan headquarters of Sam & Libby Inc. stands a life-size cardboard replica of the shoe company's founders, Sam and Libby Edelman. Inside, showroom walls are covered with photos of the handsome couple and their three picture-perfect children rolling on a sandy beach, riding horses and sitting in their Jeep. Promoting th...
February 14, 1994
Pity the proud parents of the marketing program for Chrysler's new Neon. As reported in our behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for the launch of the small car, great effort was expended on deciding how to reach a new generation of potential buyers. Nearly 30 focus groups and discussions with an unusual panel of experts on the so-called Gen...
February 14, 1994
When videogames, violence and kids mix, the result is booming sales- and controversy-for the $6 billion videogame industry. Last year's best-selling martial arts videogame, Acclaim Entertainment's Mortal Kombat, also happened to be one of the bloodiest, targeting boys with heavy gore and mutilation of its characters. But the high-profile success ...
February 14, 1994
The spring release of "The Flintstones" on the big screen is looking more and more like a page right out of history, with unprecedented levels of promotional support from tie-in partners Mc Donald's Corp. and Mattel Toys. But Universal Pictures' big challenge is matching its 1993 success with "Jurassic Park," while proving a TV series can be succ...
February 14, 1994
Does it strike you as ironic that Advertising Age named Hal Riney & Partners as its Agency of the Year and then promulgated the notion that a prospective merger between N W Ayer and Riney is tantamount to "linking lifeboats in an attempt to survive"? Do you detect a small inconsistency in the fact that the "lifeboat" story appeared on Page 2 of yo...
February 14, 1994
`Body' The fitness experts at Studio Simko, New York, have launched Body, a monthly dis-tributed to members of upscale health and fitness clubs. Each club has a customized editorial wrap section providing news about the gym, its members, schedules and classes, with a generic center section of general interest news and information about health, nut...
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...
