How Stuff Works, the "not yet profitable" web property owned by investor Carl Icahn and others, will be acquired by Discovery Communications for $250 million. The deal highlights how established media companies increasingly are expanding on the Web through targeted acquisitions instead of building their own sites, a strategy that largely has failed. "We're way behind in new media and digital," says Chief Executive …
Jack Knows Jack
David Kiley of BusinessWeek looks at Jack Daniel's success overseas. For Pok Rui Bin, 29, drinking Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 after 12-hour workdays in Beijing means mixing it with green tea. What appeals to Pok about the Tennessee whiskey, he says, is the smooth smoky flavor, "and how it's hand-crafted and all comes from this one special place…I love that American West stuff." Allowances can be made for Pok's poor …
Coors’ Multiple Wives
First Coors gets married to a Canadian. Now, the Golden, CO-based brewer is adding another wife, this one from London and Milwaukee. And check this, the first wife's name will be dropped. How unfair life can be. The new company will combine Coors' two breweries with Miller's seven plants. Under the deal, a Coors product can be brewed at a Miller plant and vice versa. Thus, the combined firm will bring its production …
Poor Memory? Buy An iPhone
Sprint Speeds Towards Its Own Demise
I know the good ad men and ad women of California Street like to invite immense challenges. It's a way to stay fresh and test one's mettle. The Sprint account presents such a challenge. According to Ad Age, Sprint Nextel continued to bleed customers (340,000) in the most recent quarter, leading to the resignation today of Gary Forsee as chairman and president-CEO. After winning the $1.2 billion account earlier this …
Continue Reading about Sprint Speeds Towards Its Own Demise →
Raising A Glass To An Iconic Brand
To paraphrase a old saying, reading about beer is like dancing about architecture. But Bill Yenne's Guinness: The 250 Year Quest For The Perfect Pint makes a fun read, especially when you're sitting at a bar on a Sunday afternoon and the Falcons are playing like a Pop Warner team. From the beginnings of Arthur Guinness, an Irish brewer in the mid-1700's, through the present day, Yenne talks about how Guinness has …
Better Business Starts Here
Better Business Bureau is a 95-year-old nonprofit organization. It's brand image is entrenched; yet, the BBB will challenge consumers to wake up to its full identity with a $700,000 rebranding campaign that launches this week. Its rebranding campaign -- including a new Web site, logo, book series and commercials during shows such as "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy" -- drives the point home with its slogan: Start with …
The Very Genius Of It All
Tucked into this Wall Street Journal article (paid sub. req.) on staving off ad fatigue, is a nugget about the popularity of Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" radio campaign. The ads combine a bombastic announcer, sappy 1980s rock music and outlandish tributes to trivial achievements, such as the invention of the foot-long hot dog. They leave male audiences giggling. And they have been a staple of sports-radio …
