The Wall Street Journal was working late last night, as they posted a short but important business story at 2:29 a.m. Yahoo Inc.'s board plans to reject Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6 billion offer to acquire the Web giant, a person familiar with the situation says. After a series of meetings over the past week, Yahoo's board determined that the $31 per share offer "massively undervalues" Yahoo, the person said. …
L.L. Bean Hires New Consultant To Find New Agency
Man, it's deja vu all over again. From Adweek: L.L. Bean has placed creative chores on its ad account into review, a company representative confirmed. Consulting firm Select Resources International, Santa Monica, Calif., will help conduct the search for the Maine-based retailer, sources said. Our friend Dean Gemmell at BlackLabFive, relating a conversation he had with the previous consultants, had some interesting …
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Headline Writing 801: Instructor Permission Required
The iconic VW van is 60 years old this year. DDB Paris is celebrating the fact with a poignant series of throwback ads. [via Adland] …
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LesserEvil Takes On The Big Boys With A Great Story
If there's two things I love, it's sweet n' salty kettle corn and challenger upstart brands with great stories. Combine those and you get LesserEvil Snacks. The packaging caught my eye at Fresh Market so I picked it up, and the writing on the box was great. As is the fun brand story on their website: Here at LesserEvil, we are all about the snacks. We love to eat them. Love to share them. Love to think up wild new …
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Not Billie Dee Williams’ Colt 45
Ad Age looks at an age old truth about mature brands. They need to get new customers in the franchise in order to survive. Talk about a marketing conundrum: Revive Colt 45 malt liquor -- once seen as an exploitative product that preyed on the urban poor -- as an edgy choice for young hipsters. But Pabst Brewing Co. is trying to do just that, with a campaign from Seattle boutique Cole & Weber. To appeal to younger …
Their Chicken Ain’t All That
Tyson Foods, Inc. has been touting its line of antibiotic-free chicken as part of a $70 million advertising campaign. But, competitive poultry producers are upset that the Arkansas-based company has been making false claims about its product. Calling themselves the Truthful Labeling Coalition, Perdue Farms, Sanderson Farms Inc., Gold'n Plump Poultry Inc. and Foster Poultry Farms accused Tyson of displaying …
Better Fitting Western Wear
Kansas City Star takes a look at Lee Jeans, a firm that ended its 18-year relationship with Minneapolis-based Fallon. The account is now at Arnold in Boston. Lee is centered on a pull, not a push, strategy. In other words, the consumer dictates needs and Lee fulfills them. Lee president Joe Dzialo said the company has undertaken extensive research to understand its customer, research that includes large-scale …
Studying Silicon Valley’s Higher Math
Microsoft's $240 million investment in Facebook, which bought them a paltry 1.6% of the company, might now be a model for other social media investments. According to The New York Times, Slide, the maker of applications for social networks, has raised another round of funding – $50 million from the private equity funds at Fidelity and T-Rowe Price, two major Wall Street investment houses. The firms have taken a nine …
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