“Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.” -Nat King Cole in 1954 According to Crain's New York Business, Omnicom will spend $1.25 million over five years to fund a group of diversity experts. The mission of the Omnicom Diversity Development Advisory Committee is to identify and attract minority talent to its agencies, develop outreach programs to elevate the profile of the ad industry within the minority community, and …
A Safer Corn For Popping
According to Media Post's Marketing Daily, ConAgra—the nation's largest popcorn maker—will use an integrated campaign to tout the fact that its reformulated Orville Redenbacher and ACT II microwave brands no longer contain added diacetyl, a creamy, buttery flavoring. Other popcorn makers have already made similar moves, following the discovery in 2002 that diacetyl was making popcorn factory workers ill. ConAgra says …
Don’t Try This At Home
USA Today knows how to write a lead. There's a new twist on consumer-generated marketing: Ellen DeGeneres-generated marketing. Chris Bryant, 23, now starring in his own Nike ad, got the gig thanks to the funny woman's interest in his unusual abilities. With Bryant appearing as a guest on her show, she rang Nike CEO Mark Parker during the broadcast and pushed the company to make an ad. The rest, as they say, is …
Zip Zap
Sell to a holding company and your agency brand will forever be in danger. According to Ad Age, Zipatoni, a prominent marketing services agency, is no more. The 22-year-old St. Louis shop -- best known for zany promotions and retail work -- is being folded into Interpublic Group of Cos.' sibling Rivet, the shops announced today. Toronto-based FCB Direct is also folding into Rivet. The new Rivet, based in Chicago, …
Don’t Bogart That Pay Dirt, My Friend
Rumors are flying that News Corp., fresh off its acquistion of Dow Jones, wants to marry the business persons' newspaper to LinkedIn, the soc net for suits. Apparently, Rupe is willing to pay nearly double the sum he shelled out for MySpace. But get this...according to Wired, Dan Nye, CEO of LinkedIn said it would take "a lot more" than a billion dollars for the company to sell out. It's hypothetical and incredibly …
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‘Tis The Season For Agency Holiday Cards
...this one is from Dailey and Associates [via bad banana blog] …
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First You Report, Then You Sell Ads
5280 is a lifestyle magazine serving the Denver market. The title's editor and publisher, Daniel Brogran, writing in Folio describes his magazine's commitment to investigative journalism. To do this kind of work, we've had to more than triple our staff and increase our editorial budget by nearly $1 million per year. But we've seen a tremendous return on our investment. In the last four years, 5280's paid …
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Data Rules (But Not By Itself)
Adweek has outlined what it considers to be the top ten industry trends for 2007. This one, in particular, caught my eye: DATA IS KING "Content" is no longer the be-all, end-all in the digital age. The growing number of social networks and marketers interested in targeted, relevant messages has given rise to a new proclamation: data rules. Excuse me Adweek, are you high? Data doesn't grow on trees. Content pulls …