Advertising Industry Archive

The CLIO Awards organizers have made a mystifying decision to give Mark Cuban an honorary award at its 50th anniversary gathering in Las Vegas, in May. Cuban is currently the subject of a complaint by the SEC, alleging insider trading. It was filed Nov. 17, 2008. Cuban denies the allegations. The complaint alleges that Cuban, a major shareholder in Mamma.com, had a confidential phone call from...

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President Obama’s omnibus appropriations bill calls for the FTC, FDA, Agriculture and the CDC to come up with new standards for advertising food — particularly junk food  — to kids. The headline used by Ad Age, “FTC Could Set Standards for Food Marketing Aimed at Teens,” sounds alarming, but advertisers in the food business will roll over and go back to sleep when...

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Omnicom is requiring that U.S. commercial producers wait until clients pay its agencies before they pay the producers’ bills. The news, reported by Adweek, confirms that Omnicom is doing everything it can to slow down outgoing cash payments as clients slow down their payments to agencies. BNET first reported this Feb. 18, when we noted a decline in Omnicom’s working capital and a...

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News America Marketing Group has agreed to buy Floorgraphics Inc., the company said. A deal price was not disclosed. The acquisition — which consists primarily of FGI’s client and supplier contracts and “other assets” — comes immediately after the two companies agreed to settle their lawsuit in midtrial over whether Rupert Murdoch’s News America had sabotaged...

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Arnold Worldwide announced 40 layoffs in its Boston HQ office, which has 600 staffers. That round of cuts comes after just under 50 layoffs in October. The move has triggered an outpouring of bitterness on Adweek’s comments boards. (Note that Adweek.com continues its evolution from provider of agency news to provider of free bulletin boards to disgruntled agency staff. Last time it was...

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News America Marketing Group has settled the case against it from Floorgraphics Inc. before FGI finished presenting its case in court. As blogger Daniel Low points out: … the timing – in the midst of trial after compelling testimony from Floorgraphics’ first few witnesses — suggests that it is for a substantial sum. The settlement will be greeted with cheers by executives at...

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Although ValueClick is suffering horribly in the recession (Q4 revenue down; a loss of $256 million), its five top executives are not. They received $19.4 million in compensation between them last year. That was a $12.4 million pay raise from the year before, when those five executives received only $6.9 million in total compensation, according to a ValueClick filing with the SEC. (UPDATE: See...

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DirecTv, Comcast and others are to start advertising their pay-per-view porn channels, according to Ad Age. Part of the reason: falling profits at porn companies, where DVD sales are being eaten away by free “product” on the internet. Playboy posted a $145 million loss in Q4, for instance. Age adds this priceless piece of analysis: … a lack of marketing may also be to blame...

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Alliance Data Systems reported increases in revenue and net income today. The news suggests that while the rest of the business suffers, there’s still money to be made in the most boring part of advertising: loyalty programs and direct marketing to shoppers. ADS reported revenues for full year 2008 at $2 billion, up from $1.9 billion; and profits of $217 million, up from $164 million. The...

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Advertising industry lobbyists have asked the FTC to stop proposed reforms for expanding its jurisdiction over infomercials, celebrity endorsements, bloggers and consumer testimonials. The advertisers’ comments ask the FTC not to require that they disclose when they are making claims that don’t tell the whole truth. A BNET exclusive on Nov. 22, 2008, reported that the FTC was...

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