Advertising Industry Archive

Oprah Winfrey’s offer of a free KFC grilled chicken meal for anyone downloading a coupon has created two interesting things: A 1960s-style sit-in at a Manhattan KFC when management refused to continue honoring the offer. Yet another opportunity to debate whether using black people to advertise a fried chicken chain is racist. You can read about the DraftFCB-inspired mini-riot over on...

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In an address to the FIPP World Magazine Congress in London, Publicis CEO Maurice Levy complained that he is increasingly faced with clients wanting only “a couple of words on a search engine page”, rather than an expensive TV and print campaign, The Guardian reports. Thus, print is mostly dead, he told the conference, which is dedicated to the print industry. Levy was mercilessly...

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Observers of the acquisition/settlement between Rupert Murdoch’s News America Marketing and Floorgraphics Inc. were left wondering how much NAM had paid for the upstart provider of floor ads in supermarkets. That was not revealed at the time of the settlement in March. On May 6, NAM’s parent, News Corp., released its Q1 (fiscal Q3) results … but the filing with the SEC...

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The recession continues to batter web advertising and lead generation provider ValueClick, with sales and profits both down, and job attrition at the company. CEO Tom Vadnais says he is in the market to acquire new companies, though. The basics: Revenue declined 20 percent to $135 million; net income declined 31 percent to $13.2 million. Vadnais said: … advertising spending and budget...

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Globalhue, the agency accused of overbilling the $14 million Bermuda Tourism account by $1.8 million, has been punished by the island client with another $28 million in business. The Bermuda Royal Gazette reported Tuesday that Globalhue has been awarded a new, two-year, no-bid contract to tout the island, worth $14 million in billings for each year. Back story: Globalhue was the subject of a...

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Interpublic CEO Michael Roth got a 21 percent raise in total compensation, bringing his pay to $10.8 million, in 2008, according to the SEC. The compensation award came on the heels of a year in which both revenue and net income rose at the agency network. Other top IPG execs got modest or flat raises. McCann Worldgroup CEO John Dooner got a compensation cut, from $5.9 million to $5.2 million....

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YouTube has sent letters to content providers who include product placements in their videos, reminding them that they cannot post commercial material without YouTube’s permission. As Mediaweek reports: The subtle implication is that YouTube could yank down these users’ videos if it so chose. But the bigger issue is that the Google-owned video giant needs to monetize as much of its...

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Current TV — Al Gore’s low-profile, user-generated cable news network — sent out an agency RFP by Twitter and the responses revealed all the usual anxieties and naivety of the client-agency-review consultant three-way when it comes to choosing a new shop. Adweek’s Brian Morrissey has a nice story on it here. After Jordan Kretchmer, brand vp at Current, sent out his tweet...

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Coca-Cola has been referred to the FTC for alleged misleading advertising for Powerade Zero. Following a complaint by Pepsi (marketer of rival Gatorade), Coke refused to follow a recommendation of the National Advertising Division that its ads for Powerade Zero be changed to make it clear that having fewer calories actually provides less energy, not more, for users of sports drinks. The...

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Alliance Data Systems had a so-so year in 2008 but its top executives made out like bandits, sharing a 25 percent raise in total compensation between them and having all their — and their spouses — expenses paid for them, according to a filing with the SEC. In 2008, the customer loyalty marketer reported revenues of $2 billion, up from $1.9 billion; and profits of $217 million, up...

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