Advertising Industry Archive

The ruling that dismisses WPP’s stock fraud case against Spot Runner will likely infuriate CEO Martin Sorrell, as it describes a series of mistakes on the part of WPP’s lawyers that led Sorrell to believe he was being defrauded when in fact he was not. By giving off-target answers to WPP’s emailed questions and by seeking waivers from other investors who actually controlled...

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Some interesting discrepancies have arisen regarding the revenue and profitability of Razorfish, the interactive ad agency acquired by Publicis from Microsoft for $530 million. In a presentation to investors, Publicis boss Maurice Levy told analysts that Razorfish’s “FY June 30, 2009″ revenue was $380 million (see slide 15). But in a Sept. 22 presentation by Microsoft, the...

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Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s Alex Bogusky has written a blog post titled “Why not take a moment to define success before you pursue it?” It contains navel-gazing questions such as: Why do I need to define success? Bogusky’s answers are thoughtful and illuminating — but also misleading unless you know just how much Bogusky gets paid. Here he is on financial success:...

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It’s politically incorrect to accuse women of being psychotic during their periods — unless you’re Procter & Gamble and you have an endorsement deal for Tampax with Serena Williams. P&G’s new campaign for the tampon (from Leo Burnett) shows Williams firing a tennis ball at “Mother Nature,” who is trying to give Williams a red-boxed “gift”...

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Unilever, PepsiCo, Brammo, Glaceau’s VitaminWater and Pernod-Ricard have all recently bypassed traditional ad agencies in favor of crowdsourcing or other commodified creative processes. BNET has noted before how free design software on the web appears to be putting professional creatives out of jobs. Here are five examples of the comodification of creativity that threatens the agency and...

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A French politician — and 50 of her colleagues — wants a new law imposing a “health warning” on any ad featuring a photo of a model that has been retouched. The warning would say: Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person. That would include pretty much all photos of human beings that appear in ads, as all ad photos are retouched. Even the Dove...

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Ogilvy & Mather vice chairman Bill Gray is retiring, leaving John Seifert* to head the agency as Ogilvy North America Chairman. The move, which was expected, was accompanied by this extraordinary memo from Seifert to the agency, according to Ad Age. It says: Bill has so much to be proud of in his Ogilvy career, and we have much to thank him for. I would not have the leadership opportunity...

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Lamar Advertising has finally found a legal restriction on billboard advertising that it agrees with: The ban on outdoor ads within 75 feet of roads in Panama City Beach, Fla. Why does Lamar want this ban enforced? Because one of its competitors, Summit Outdoor, has erected a sign 61 feet from one of PCB’s roads. Lamar wants the sign taken down. BNET has previously noted that...

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The Church of Scientology claims its ad campaign has “driven” 10 million people to view its web site. It doesn’t say how many converted to the secretive religion. The ads have been running on cable TV, but if you were hoping that they explained what Scientology is about, you’ll be dissappointed. The ads are so bafflingly vague that they’re almost entirely about...

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Even as Liverpool F.C. owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks pursue a £240 sponsorship for naming rights to the club’s planned new stadium, fans urged the pair to exit the club. Fans dislike the debt Hicks and Gillett have laden on the club. The owners went some way to proving their management chops last week when they announced a new £81 million sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered...

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