This USA TODAY article helps explain the outrageous salaries many college football coaches earn. Often, a public university's coach ranks as the highest paid public official in the state, well beyond the governor, for instance. Ohio State's athletic program is the nation's top collegiate sports moneymaker. Ohio State made $89.7 million from ticket sales, royalties, advertising, broadcast agreements and other sources …
Russians Succumb To IKEAization (See, We Really Are Alike)
Russia Profile: It’s 5 p.m. on a grim and rainy Saturday afternoon in November, and finding a parking place near the IKEA store in the Tyoply Stan region of Moscow seems to be impossible. The gigantic parking area is completely full, and the line of cars waiting for available spots stretches for at least another hundred yards. “During the past ten years, the middle class had been growing fast, and so have its …
Continue Reading about Russians Succumb To IKEAization (See, We Really Are Alike) →
Where Hugh Began…The Genesis Cartoon
Going To Great Lengths To Compete With Starbucks
Lewis Lazare: Maybe it's the name. Dunkin' Donuts, after all, doesn't suggest it's a chain that puts quite as much emphasis on its coffee as it does doughnuts. But starting this week in the Chicago market, and nationally as well, Dunkin' Donuts is introducing a new ad campaign from Hill, Holliday Connors Cosmopulous/Boston that hopes to convey the message the chain takes its coffee very seriously indeed. The launch …
Continue Reading about Going To Great Lengths To Compete With Starbucks →
Brands Top The 2005 Billboard Charts
Thirty-five percent of the top 20 songs on the 2005 Billboard chart contained brand references. According to strategy firm Agenda, Inc., 2005 was the year that: Missy Elliott’s Jell-o made the boys say hello, Mariah tottered back with a bottle of Bacardi, and the widest possible range of brands were showcased in the Billboard chart; from George Foreman Grills, to Froot Loops, to Listerine. …
Continue Reading about Brands Top The 2005 Billboard Charts →
Everything That Rises Must Converge
Kristi Arellano of the Denver Post queried local ad execs about Crispin Porter's imminent move to Boulderado. Pasquale "Pocky" Marranzino, president and chief executive of the Denver ad agency Karsh+Hagan (a division of The Integer Group), said his firm uses the Colorado lifestyle as a recruitment tool. "It's succeeded in some cases and not in others," he said. Cathey Finlon, CEO of McClain Finlon Advertising in …
Continue Reading about Everything That Rises Must Converge →
Six Percent Out The Door
NYT: Across the country, the National Association of Realtors and the 6 percent commission that most of its members charge to sell a house are under assault by government officials, consumer advocates, lawyers and ambitious entrepreneurs. But the most effective challenge so far emanates from a spare Madison, Wisc. bedroom in the home of Christie Miller. Ms. Miller, 38, a former social worker who favors fuzzy …
Carmaker Does Soft Sell For BET
Adweek: The True Agency has created a 30-minute original program for luxury carmaker Infiniti that features five black artists talking about design without once mentioning the brand. Nor are there any commercial breaks. Instead, the conversation ends after 25 minutes and segues into images of Infiniti's various models. The program, moderated by former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, will premiere Feb. 9 …