April 03, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Speaking at an annual gathering of cable television public relations chiefs, the president-CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association declared that broadband is now "the engine of our economy." Kyle McSlarrow expressed surprise that so little of the current presidential campaign debate was focused on the regulatory fate of of broadband. In other news in this 3 Minute Ad Age, and in a new twist on the user generated content, Conde Nast's Cookie magazine has launched a seal-of-approval program based on readers' -- rather than editors' -- evaluations of a broad range of consumer products.
April 02, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Five months ago there were a good many skeptics when Canadian Club launched its new "Damn right your dad drank it" ad campaign. For instance, the pitch broke the rule that you never tell young male consumers to go out and buy their fathers' brand of liquor. But the retro-themed campaign has accomplished the improbable: boosted Canadian Club sales significantly. In other news in this 3 Minute Ad Age, Yahoo has taken up the mantle of publisher and launched a magazine-like site. And, Time Inc. latest internal presentation has ratteld its staffers.
April 01, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Although the Internet does generate a daily hurricane of political campaign news, buzz and raucous debate, it still doesn't attract many political ad placements. This, even as television routinely rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars in political ad buys. And reports at last week's Television Bureau of Advertising Marketing Conference made clear that political media buyers will likely continue to bypass the web for the foreseeable future. The reason? They perceive it as a communications utility rather than a political advertising medium.
March 31, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Political spending was the big topic at the Television Bureau of Advertising's annual marketing conference last Thursday. Among those discussing how the protracted Obama-Clinton clash has scrambled campaign spending patterns was NBC Political News Director, Chuck Todd. In this interview with 3 Minute Ad Age, Mr. Todd also notes that John McCain's campaign funding problems are bigger than many fully understand. And, he says, cable networks have the upper hand in this political spending season -- as well as the best opportunity to profit from their new technology capabilities in the next.
March 28, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- More adult women than ever are playing digital games and that underscores the potential of advergaming to reach this coveted female demographic. That was one of the topics addressed by Limor Schafman at this week's breakfast panel of the New York Media Information Exchange Group. President of Keystone TechGroup, Ms. Schafman also touched on the issue of sex and female game players. In other news in this 3 Minute Ad Age report, a review finds ABC's new "Squeegees" webisode project to be weak and rambling fare at best. And, BMW's Mini Cooper is launching a new sub brand of tiny car.
March 27, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- New data is in about DVR households. And it's not good. Ad zapping does appear to directly impact product sales. A three year research project by Information Resources, Inc., has found that purchases of new "pacesetter" food package goods brands were about 5% lower in homes that have DVRs. In other news in this 3 Minute Ad Age report, Heavy.com is using editorial intervention in an effort to shape user-generated content into more mainstream content. And, Honda is seeking a few good consumers willing to pay $600 a month to lease its new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.
March 26, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The New York International Auto Show, the annual showcase of new models as well as marketing campaigns of the major car makers, is underway in town this week. And none appeared more elated with the results of their recent advertising efforts than Audi CMO Scott Keogh. He crowed about the broad impact of Audi's Super Bowl commercial, which was a spoof on the famous "Godfather" horse-head scene and one of the game's most talked about ads. In other news, legendary ad man Hal Riney died on Monday of cancer. The founder of Hal Riney & Partners ad agency, his work helped change the nature of retail and political advertising.
March 25, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- There aren't many in the advertising industry who have jobs like Doug Scott has. Executive director of Ogilvy Entertainment, he's chief of a major content creation operation within a larger advertising agency comnpany. There, he oversees large-scale video projects of the sort that were previously the exclusive domain of movie studios and TV networks. And his remarks at Ad Age's digital Marketing Conference drew the audience's keen attention at the same time they provided insights into the latest branded entertainment trends.
March 24, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- When asked at Ad Age's Digital Marketing Conference to recount his most memorable story about Donald Trump, NBC president-CEO Jeff Zucker wryly noted that he had had many "surreal" discussions with The Donald. But the one that stood out most in his mind was the meeting at which Trump asked him for a raise as the host of NBC's "Apprentice" show. And Mr. Zucker's telling of that tale was the most entertaining of his remarks all day. And on a more serious topic, Mr. Zucker also said NBC was open to providing more ad agency-like services directly to marketers, because "we're not just a content company; we're a content and marketing company."
March 21, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Speaking at Ad Age's Digital Marketing Conference, NBC Universal president-CEO Jeff Zucker said the first week's traffic at Hulu.com greatly exceeded the network's expectations. A joint venture of NBC and News Corp., Hulu was designed as the traditional television industry's counterpunch to YouTube. In this interview, Mr. Zucker explains why his network decided to create it's own video site rather than partner with YouTube. And, he addresses the question of what Hulu means for NBC.com, the established website that also been providing online access to the network's prime time shows.
December 04, 2004
ULUWATU, Bali -- Since the 1970s, the 125-year-old jewelry giant Bulgari has diversified so much that jewelry now accounts for only 40% of its revenue. The rest comes from luxury goods and services operations that, in 2004, came to include hotels. Built on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean the Bulgari Bali features sumptuous villas rather than rooms and its many amenities include chauffeur-driven golf carts. Martin Lindstrom interviews the general manager about how one evolves a luxury jewelry brand into a resort chain.
