Interview with Advertising Hall of Famer Andrea Alstrup
A Rance Crain Executive Session With Retired J&J Ad Chief
Social Media Blunders of Five Big Marketers
Speaking at the ANA Integrated Marketing Conference, blogger Joseph Jaffe Lambasts Sprint, Sony, T-Mobile, Target and Starbucks for their social media mistakes.
Lee Jeans' Liz Cahill: A Bumpy Start to Social Marketing
Lee Jeans CMO Liz Cahill discusses the campaign that has been pumping new life into what was a very old but fading brand. An Ad Age CMO Strategy interview.
Hear The Six Best Minutes of Tim Robbins' Controversial NAB Speech
Even as he came on stage at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, it was obvious that Tim Robbins' remarks had already caused controversy backstage.
Hal Riney Explains His Own Best Commercials
Video Excerpts From the 2002 San Francisco Academy of Art presentation at which he reviewed his life's work.
Google Eyes AdSense As a Content Distribution System
In this interview with Ad Age Digital Editor Abbey Klaassen, Google VP Tim Armstrong details how the search giant now views its AdSense system as a content delivery system as well.
Video Highlights From CES 2008
Will consumer electronics marketers be prepared for a rush of millions of analog TV owners who will lose their TV signals in February 2009? It's a major issue at CES.
Video Highlights: The American Magazine Conference
Magazine Publishers Association Chairman and Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. CEO Jack Kliger took the podium to bash "wimp" publishers, who he said reap the benefits of the MPA's work but decline to be members of the organization.
Making TV Commercials the Carbon-Neutral Way
In the first effort of its kind, the Versus cable TV network and Brooklyn Brothers ad agency have completed producing a campaign of TV commercials in a carbon-neutral manner. They used new software that tracks and quantifies the amount of carbon pollutants generated on studio and remote-location film shoots.
ABC's 'Pushing Daisies' Is Odd but Haunting Show
In an oddball twist on crime drama, ABC's new "Pushing Daisies" features a pie shop operator who can resurrect the dead and who partners with a private detective to bring murder victims back to life for one minute in order to interview them about the details of the crime -- and then collect the reward for solving it.
Sex, Drugs and Teenage Angst in Manhattan
Media buyers peg the CW's new "Gossip Girl" as a hit. Set in Manhattan's tony Upper East Side it tracks a group of wealthy teenagers jockeying for social status, sexual conquests and relief from boredom.
MTV's Britney Flop, Alpha Media vs. Wenner, NYT's New Fashion Plan
MTV, which has been in decline as a force in music marketing, and Britney Spears, who is grappling with some serious brand issues of her own, both desperately needed Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards to be a smash hit. But the night was a disaster for both.
Obesity Fears Fail to Dampen Kids' TV Upfront Sales
Despite fears that recent FTC actions and pullbacks by food marketers from some children's programing would dampen this year's kids TV upfront, sellers like Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network actually topped year's upfront sales.
Madison Avenue Stampedes Onto Facebook
Executives from across the spectrum of advertising, marketing and media are turning Facebook, the wildly popular social-networking site that used to be the exclusive realm of college students, into their own virtual frat house.
Video Highlights: Women to Watch 2007
In her remarks at Advertising Age's 11th annual luncheon last week honoring the year's Women to Watch in the marketing and media business, Coca-Cola North America's new chief marketing officer, Katie Bayne, hammered home the need to infuse advertising with new levels of entertainment.
We're Not Tough Enough for Maxim
When Maxim magazine announced that a special ad in its October issue dared readers to prove how tough they were by attempting to tear up a special magazine page, Ad Age editors decided to take that challenge themselves.
How New FCC Mobile Rules May Impact Marketers
Far from being just another bit of bureaucratic procedure, the new mobile phone rules announced by the FCC last week could prove a pivot for sweeping market changes in the next few years.
Levi's Innovative Gay Marketing Move
Levi's latest round of TV commercials for its 501 jeans line features the same commercial produced in two different versions -- one for straight audiences, the other for the gay demographic.
The Huge Implications of Rupert Murdoch's Victory
Rupert Murdoch's victory acquiring Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal is a historic event with far-reaching implications for journalism, the media and advertising, says Ad Age media reporter Nat Ives.
4A's Graduates Largest-Ever Multicultural Intern Class
In an event that marked a significant acceleration of the American Association of Advertising Agencies' efforts to broaden the ethnic diversity of the advertising business, the organization's 10-week Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) graduated its largest class ever last week
New Boom Market: Older Boomer Women
Long ignored by the marketing industry, 50- to 70-year-old women are about to become the richest demographic in U.S. history, according to Marti Barletta's new book, "Prime Time Women."
Video Highlights: CTAM Summit
The likelihood of the cable industry becoming the next Google and the impact of the rapidly escalating science of audience metrics on ad creative procedures were two of the hot topics at the CTAM Summit.
Questioning the Basic Assumptions of Viral Marketing
Computer modeling studies conducted by Columbia University professor Duncan Watts raise serious questions about several fundamental assumptions that anchor the viral-marketing craze.
Nat Ives on the Death of Jane Magazine
Why would Conde Nast close a publication like Jane that had such an emotionally engaged audience, a circulation of about 730,000 and estimated 2006 revenue of $39 million? An Ad Age media reporter takes you behind the scenes.
Video Highlights: Green Marketing Conference
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- If Advertising Age's first eco-marketing conference demonstrated anything it was that the greenhouse gas issue has rocketed from a fringe movement about inconvenient truth to a serious mainstream concern about corporate liabilities.
Heating Up the 15- vs. 30-second Online Spot Debate
The debate over the use of 30-second spots in internet videos was ratcheted up a few notches by a report delivered at the Online Publishers Association "Eyes on the Internet" Tour.
A One-Minute Visual Taste of Cannes: Festival City Sights
This one-minute video is a visual tour of the people and places involved in the 2007 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the largest annual gathering of the world's advertising executives.
The Cannes Festival: A License to Print Money
With nearly 9,000 attendees paying up to $3,000 each for tickets, and ad agencies paying between $200 and $1,000 for each of their nearly 26,000 contest entry submissions, the Cannes Ad Festival takes in an estimated $30 million -- and is believed to have a profit margin in the range of 60%.
Should Cannes Film Category Expand Beyond TV Spots?
Bob Scarpelli, president of this year's Cannes Lions film jury, asked the festival organizers to expand the category beyond TV this year to include video commercials made for internet and cellphone platforms, but he said his suggestion was turned down.
Deprived of TV and Out on the Net
A week-long experiment by Ad Age editor at large Matthew Creamer provides new insights into how the future's most successful online video-search utility is likely to become a media giant.
Boisterous Crowd Drowns Out Effie Award Speakers
The large crowd that packed the Effie award ceremonies in Manhattan's Metropolitan Pavilion was so boisterous that its own comments overwhelmed those of the night's podium speakers. At one point, keynote Shafi Saxena, Unilever's vice president for global brand development for Dove Skin, became so frustrated that she threatened to complete her speech in Hindi if the noise did not subside. But that didn't help. Watch the clip on Ad Age's new Video Page.
Interview: David Verklin on His New Book
In this ten-minute interview about his new book, the Carat Americas CEO discusses upfront 'snake oil salesmanship,' pornography, Super Bowl buys and how creatives are in for some profound changes.
A CMO Round-table Report
Top marketing officers from Home Depot, JetBlue, Clorox and Wells Fargo attend a private dinner hosted by Ad Age and the ANA to discuss crucial marketing issues.
Howard Draft: Is Measurement the Death of Creativity?
"I suspect that many of us secretly believe that (advertising) measurement is the death of creativity," DraftFCB CEO Howard Draft said."We must move toward total accountability in everything we do."
Uncola: History of a 7UP Breakthrough Ad
How actor Geoffrey Holder brought down a racial barrier in a production that is one of the most remembered commecials of all time
Why Vogue's Celebrity Coverage Is Different
Deftly distancing her magazine from the run-of-the-mill celebrity weeklies, Vogue editor Anna Wintour explains why her celebrity coverage is so different (and expensive).
Top ESPN Exec: Online Video Ads Don't Work
"Basically, most of the video advertising on the web doesn't work," complained ESPN president for consumer marketing Ed Erhardt to the Upfront TV Advertising Summit in New York. "It's not very good and it pisses off users," he said.
Parents Television Council Chief Alleges V-Chip Fraud
As many as 80% of the V-chip ratings assigned to programs by TV networks are wrong, charged Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council.
Bob Garfield Reviews the Super Bowl Commercials
One of the biggest advertising blunders of Super Bowl XLI was a Snickers ad featuring a discomforting "'Brokeback Mountain' moment," according to Advertising Age ad critic Bob Garfield.
Hispanic Media Not Doing a Great Job
Coors Brewing's Hispanic marketing chief Paul Mendieta says, "Hispanic media is not doing a great job." He cited rigid Spanish language focus even as U.S.-born, bilingual Latinos select media by content, not langauge.
Satellite War: Video Interview with DirecTV's CMO
DirecTV CMO Paul Guyardo is locked in a ferocious marketing battle with Comcast and other cable providers over which service offers the most high-definition channels.
Common Mistakes of Marketing Creatives and CEOs
DDB Chairman Emeritus Keith Reinhard contemplates the ways creatives and CEOs go wrong in today's rapidly changing marketing industry.
Creating Two of the Century's Best Advertising Lines
In this Rance Crain interview, Hall-of-Fame Inductee Keith Reinhard looks back at his creation of landmark taglines for McDonald's and State Farm.
Executive Session With Rance Crain: Allen Rosenshine
Is the internet only a communications utility or is it an effective venue for building brands? That question is a central issue in this interview with BBDO Chairman Emeritus Allen Rosenshine.
Are CMOs to Blame When Their Budgets Get Cut?
Microsoft VP Jeff Bell, Virgin Mobile CMO Bob Stohrer and Liberty Mutual Group Senior VP Steve Sullivan take part in an Ad Age Roundtable.
Video Highlights From NATPE 2008
NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker told NATPE that his network is drastically reducing the number of pilots it commissions -- a move that will significantly affect the $500 million-a-year business of creating TV pilots.
The Super Bowl Ads Bob Garfield Didn't Like
Ad Age ad critic Bob Garfield disliked so many commercials in this year's Super Bowl that his report about them makes up his full seven-minute post-game video show. Looking beyond just creative quality or selling effectiveness, Garfield asks larger cultural questions about the TV spots
Newsweek Chairman: Digital Age Devalues Reporting
Newsweek chairman Rick Smith discusses the dramatic impact that the exploding world of blogging, instant analysis, consumer-generated content and opinion overload is having on the core reporting function of mainstream media journalism.
Video Highlights: The Idea Conference
There's a lot of laziness in our industry," Droga5's founder and creative chairman, David Droga, told the Idea Conference. He contrasted the working methods of his own shop to those of other large agencies.
Video Highlights From ANA Conference, Phoenix
Anheuser Exec Bob Lachky Reviews the Bud.TV Debacle; plus
Al Gore, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, AT&T's Wendy Clark, DDB's Chuck Brymer, McDonald's Mary Dillon, Clorox's Derek Gordon, Motorola's Casey Keller, Schwab's Becky Saeger, P&G's Jim Stengel
Video Highlights From Advertising Week
Martha Stewart's reflections on the business impact of prison time was just one of the many memorable moments from this year's Advertising Week events.
Marketing the World's Most Expensive Boats
Luring together the marketers and consumers of the world's most expensive pleasure boats, this year's annual Monaco Yacht Show holds rarefied status in the world of luxury goods sales.
Online Ad Spending Less Vulnerable to Recession
Online advertising is likely to be less vulnerable to the feared recession than traditional advertising, says Ad Age Digital Editor Abbey Klaassen in this video report.
Bad Marketing Predictions: The Flaws of Media Forecasting
A report on the distressing gap that too often separates analysts' predictions and the actual reality of how emerging new-media technologies evolve and are portrayed in the annual benchmark forecasts so critical to today's marketers and investors.
A Summer of Event-Marketing News
Vegetable couture and cake-gobbling bridezillas were just the beginning of the marketing stuntsmanship covered by Ad Age intern Emily Tan.
Update: Online Market Research Crisis
Package goods companies that buy huge amounts of online market research are increasingly frustrated by the procedure's serious shortcomings, according to Ad Age editor-at-large Jack Neff.
'Anchorwoman' Crashes Hollywood Fluff into TV Journalism
"Anchorwoman," the new Fox reality show that collides real TV journalism with big blond gobs of Hollywood fluff is really bad. A former swimsuit model and WWE diva is recruited to a news anchor position at a ratings-challenged Texas TV station.
E!'s 'Chelsea Lately' Show Not Quite There Yet*
Chelsea Handler's performance so far as host of E! Network's new "Chelsea Lately" has been anything but stunning and its long-term prospects are not clear, according to Ad Age television editor Brian Steinberg.
'Rescue Me' Losing Steam for Media Buyers
Media buyers are shaking their heads over the sinking fortunes of FX's "Rescue Me," a show originally anchored in the emotional high voltage of New York firehouse life after 9/11.
'Saving Grace': Sex, Crime and Heavenly Visions
"Saving Grace," which stars Holly Hunter, is a new TNT drama set in Oklahoma City that focuses on crime, sex and a fully-winged, tobacco-chewing angel named Earl.
'Army Wives' Marks Watershed for Lifetime
With its original new "Army Wives" show set against the backdrop of an Army base linked to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lifetime has taken a bold step in its quest to change its image.
What the Ad Industry Thinks of AMC's 'Mad Men'
The Manhattan ad community is abuzz over AMC's new "Mad Men" show and it's unvarnished view of the ad business circa 1960: cynical, racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and as drenched in sex as it was in liquor.
Web Audience Metrics Get More Complicated
The business of measuring web audiences isn't getting any easier, says Ad Age digital editor Abbey Klaassen. Nielsen/NetRatings' new metric -- total minutes -- brings new complications for the marketers.
Video Highlights: Entertainment Marketer Awards Conference
Sony Pictures president of marketing Valerie Van Galder's comments about religious backlash were among the many behind-the-scenes industry insights punctuating Advertising Age's annual Entertainment Marketing awards program in Hollywood.
Into a World of Carbon-Neutral Advertising
Jewelry retailer John Hardy is planting bamboo on an entire island off the coast of Bali to offset the greenhouse gases generated by his print advertising in some of America's most chi-chi fashion magazines.
U.S. Ad-Spending Growth Slows Down
Universal McCann vice president Robert Coen Sr., has been give his advertising industry spending forecasts for years but this is the first time he was video taped.
90-Second Tour of Ad Festival Events: More Cannes Visuals
This 90-second video provides an overall visual sense of what the 2007 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival looked like as it approached the end of the week.
Crispin Porter's Grand Hotel Party That Wasn't
Ad agency parties are a major part of the annual Cannes Lions International Ad Festival and Crispin Porter & Bogusky has previously staged its party at the infamous Gutter Bar. This year, Crispin moved it to the Grand Hotel -- a dowdy insitution not previously connected with Festival activities. Ad Age international editor Laurel Wentz reports on that affair was like and why Crispin won't be going back to the Grand next year.
Bob Isherwood: 17 Years of New Directors Showcase
Seventeen years ago, Bob Isherwood, the worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, started a small project at the Cannes Lions Ad Festival to spotlight the work of rising young directors from around the world. That program -- The New Directors Showcase -- has since grown to monstrous proportions and become a defining event of the annual gathering.
The Role of User-Generated Content in Advertising
What's more valuable: advertising around user-generated content? Or using user-generated content to create ads? Those were the types of debates circling the Interactive Advertising Bureau User-Generated Content Conference.
Mobile Marketing Stymied by High CPMs, Small Audiences
Overly high CPM expectations and audiences too small to matter are stymying the development of the mobile phone advertising business, according to media buying executives at this week's Mobile Marketing association Forum.
Report From a New Orleans Ad Agency
The president of a downtown ad agency discusses the frustrations of agency life in a dysfunctional city as well as the strategies that have kept his shop alive.
Report From CBS, Fox and CW Upfront Presentations
Brevity reigned supreme at the late-week upfront events from CBS, Fox and the CW. But CW's show, which was short, still jammed in some fun by kicking off with the Pussycat Dolls.
Advertising Execs Rail Against Political Advertising
Shot at a meeting of the Ad Club of New York, this features Phil Dusenberry and Linda Kaplan Thaler railing against the poor quality and scurrilous inaccuracy of political ads.
Report From NBC and ABC Upfront Presentations
In a curious juxtaposition, NBC's upfront presentation was starkly focused on business, while ABC's flaunted all the trappings of a major Broadway stage spectacle.
O. Burtch Drake: Diversity Hiring in Ad Agencies
Ad agency diversity hiring practices have made progress but still have a long way to go, American Association of Advertising Agencies president-CEO O. Burtch Drake told the organization.
Inside Kevin Roberts' 'Lovemarks' Strategy
In this interview with Ad Age editor Jonah Bloom, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts explains how his "Lovemarks" books are actually a carefully crafted new-business deveopment tool.
Nora Ephron: News Weeklies Can't Last
Magazine writer, screenwriter and blogger for the Huffington Post, Nora Ephron pulls no punches about the future of print media: "(News weeklies) are completely lost."
Time Inc. Chairman-CEO Explains the Downsizing
Time Inc. Chairman-CEO Ann S. Moore told the Magazine Conference that her company was shrinking itself in order to grow. Since then, Time Inc. has sold off 18 magazines and fired employees by the hundreds.
4As' Counsel: Something 'Sinister' Going On
4A's Senior VP-Counsel Adonis Hoffman said something "sinister" is going on as cultural critics blame advertising for "just about anything wrong in America today."
P&G Talks Up Dramatic Change But Move Slowly Itself
P&G Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley and Global Chief Marketing Officer Jim Stengel have been appearing across the country as new-age marketing gurus but has P&G itself followed the advice it is offering others?
RSS (What is RSS?)