(4/5/09)

BlackBerry To Introduce Apps

Research in Motion is making the ever-more-popular apps available to BlackBerry users.

The application store, which is called BlackBerry App World, has been introduced to the public.

BlackBerry has traditionally been a phone for very business-minded people, but recently the phone has been marketed to the general consumer audience. The introduction of the app store is supposed to help with that.

One drawback of the BlackBerry apps is that they will start at $2.99, which is significantly more expensive than Apple's 99 cent apps.

For the full story, go to BlackBerry.

Google to Offer "Tweet" Ads

The search engine Google has begun offering advertisers units that show their last five "tweets" or status updates.

The first company to take advantage of this new system is Intuit, the maker of the TurboTax program.

Intuit plans to use these Twitter ads as a way to soft sell their product to consumers by simply letting them know that they exist and can answer their questions.

Seth Greenberg, the director of marketing at Intuit, said that they are looking at these ads as more of a "conversational vehicle." Colleen Gatlin, a TurboTax spokeswoman says she looks at them as "enablers," meaning they can connect the people who have questions to those who are able to answer them.

For the full story, go to Google.

Denny's New Promotion

Denny's will be running a new promotion where if a customer brings in a friend and orders a Grand Slam, their friend can get a free Grand Slamwich.

The freebie will take place April 8 between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. and is being marketed to customers as a "random act of kindness."

Ads for the promotion will air during the NCAA basketball championship.

The amount Denny's spent on measured media in 2008 increased 13% from what they spent in 2007, rising from $63 million to $71 million.

For the full story, go to Grand Slamwich.

(4/4/09)

Chicago Office of JWT Closing

After struggling to maintain old clients and attract new ones, JWT, Chicago is planning to close its doors.

The agency had a hard loss in 2007 when its biggest client, Kraft Foods, withdrew its account and put it up for grabs to competitors.

The Chicago office has been in competition with its New York City headquarters for many years.

JWT has had a rich history in Chicago. It was founded in 1891 by Charles E. Raymond and thrived from the beginning with clients such as Ford, Cream of Wheat and Aunt Jemima. The agency is famous for coming up with the Oscar Mayer jingle and Kellogg's Rice Krispies' "Snap, Crackle and Pop."

For the full story, go to JWT, Chicago.

P&G To Change Advertising

Procter & Gamble recently settled a lawsuit with Georgia-Pacific Corp., the maker of Brawny paper towels.

Georgia-Pacific claimed that P&G's new Bounty paper towels are not 25% thicker as advertised.

As a result of the lawsuit, P&G will discontinue all advertising that bears the claim that the new Bounty towels are 25% thicker.

Georgia-Pacific will not receive any compensation and P&G does not have to admit to any wrongdoing.

For the full story, go to Bounty.

E.R. Ends Well

On Thursday, NBC's long-running medical drama 'E.R.' ended its run with strong ratings.

The show, which ended after 15 seasons, aired a one-hour retrospective before the two-hour finale. The retrospective pulled in a 3.5/10 rating and share and the finale had a 6.0/16.

This led NBC to the top spot of the ratings for Thursday.

However, the show's series finale ratings are nothing compared to those of other NBC cornerstones, such as 'Friends,' 'Cheers,' and 'Seinfeld.'

For the full story, go to E.R.

(3/30/09)

Mars About to Launch New Candy

Mars is getting ready to launch its new candy brand, "Fling."

The low-calorie candy will be targeted at women. Its marketing includes suggestive taglines and commercials.

Several of these taglines include "It's not cheating if you don't feel guilty," "Your boyfriend doesn't need to know," and "Pleasure yourself."

"Fling's main competitor will be Hershey's chocolate Bliss candies, which are also aimed at women.

For the full story, go to Fling.

The Problem with iPhone Apps

The iPhone application trend has marketers salivating over getting their brand in the mix.

However, with the rapidly increasing numbers of applications, marketers are having a harder time getting noticed by consumers.

Studies show that only about 1% of applications have any long-term use; the rest are quickly discarded after a few weeks of use.

Bryon Morrison, the president of Ipsh, says that apps should be just a part of a broader marketing scheme.

For the full story, go to iPhone apps.

CIA Using College Students for New Ideas

As the CIA continues its advertising and marketing campaigns for new recruits, it is tapping into young, fresh talent at major universities.

The semester-long CIA Collegiate Marketing Program is currently taking place at the University of Southern California, the University of New Mexico and Michigan State University.

The program basically transforms a business class into a full-fledged ad agency.

Students are separated into groups representing the creative, research, media, PR and non-traditional departments of an agency and work closely with the client (the CIA) to produce new marketing solutions.

For the full story, go to CIA.

Liz Ross Leaves Tribal DDB

Liz Ross, president of U.S. operations and global chief marketing officer, is leaving her post at Tribal DDB.

She has said that it is time for her to move on. She will be leaving next month and the position is not expected to be filled.

She says that although she loves the creative side of the agency world and that she had grown up there, she will be keeping an open mind.

The agency's former CEO Matt Freeman left last summer and Ross's departing is another blow to the company's leadership.

For the full story, go to Liz Ross.

Auto Industry's TV Comeback

Carmakers seem to be making a return to television advertising as Time Warner's Turner channels, which include TNT, TBS and TruTv, are experiencing an increase in automaker ad spending.

Another network said it has noticed marketers making scatter purchases.

Automakers have to get their ads out there to increase sales in the critical upcoming months: April, May and June.

The frequency of many car ads has increased due to the NCAA basketball tournament.

For the full story, go to car ads.

CIA Advertising?

Yup, they are. The Central Intelligence Agency is turning to popular advertising methods such as print ads and radio to boost its recruitment.

These recruiting efforts are creating buzz online, with bloggers writing about the ads they've seen or heard.

The CIA has been sending recruiters to college campuses to promote their work.

They have also been marketing on Facebook.

For the full story, go to CIA ads.

Obama's PR

Recently, President Barack Obama has been everywhere trying to get support for his new stimulus plan.

He appeared on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "60 Minutes" last week. His appearance on "The Tonight Show" was the first for a sitting president.

Analysts say that this effort to be seen on all these programs is also to make him seem more human and allow him to talk to a wider audience.

Obama has obviously been ignoring the old idea that a president being overexposed and getting too much press is a bad thing. Most people think that this tactic seems to be working so far.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135462

New Models of BMW Mini to be Introduced

Despite the declining economy, BMW Mini will be introducing several new models this year.

The number of minis sold jumped 28% in 2008 from 2007. However, through February 2009, their sales had decreased 16%.

This week they will be launching their second-generation convertible.

The company thinks the car will sell well globally, but not as well in the U.S. due to the sliding auto industry. They will be able to target their advertising more easily at a narrower niche audience.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135443

McDonald's Testing New Product

McDonald's is currently in the process of testing out a new product: the Snack Wrap Mac.

This new concoction consists of half a beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions wrapped in a flour tortilla.

The wrap will be cheaper than a Big Mac at $1.49 and is intended to draw people who want to snack between lunch and dinner.

According to a McDonald's spokesperson, the results of the testing so far have been great.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135459

Delta Plans to Rebrand with Merger

After its $3 billion merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines is making plans to rebrand and change its marketing tactics.

Between January and November of 2008, Delta spent about $61 million on media, whereas Northwest had only spent $10 million during that time.

The airlines merged in October 2008, with Northwest becoming a subsidiary of Delta.

The rebranding process is part of the company's plans to integrate the two airlines.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=135411

Reebok Changes Advertising Account

Reebok has switched its advertising account from McGarryBowen to DDB.

Reebok has been in a downhill slide for the past several years. Its U.S. market share is down to 2% from almost 9% in 2005.

The company's head of global brand marketing, Rich Prenderville, said that they favored DDB because they could sense the agency's passion for creativity and they like their nontraditional thinking.

In their new marketing, they will be focusing on Reebok's traditionally stronger sector: women's fitness.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=135395

Text Hoaxes' Affect on Walmart

On March 18, a text message was passed around in at least 16 states warning women to avoid going to Walmart.

The texts, which were tailored to fit the particular area they were being passed around in, said that if women went to Walmart, they would risk being killed.

The police in many of those states have decided that this is a hoax and it can be traced back to a similar event that took place in 2005 in Tennessee.

This rumor happens to be at a very inconvenient time for Walmart, as they were getting ready for the much-anticipated release of Twilight on midnight of March 21.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135382

Ford Increasing Market Share

Ford Motor Co. is stealing some of the market from General Motors and Chrysler as it's retail-market share increased steadily for four consecutive months through January.

Data shows that in January and February of this year, 19% of consumers who planned on buying a GM car and 15% who planned to purchase a Chrysler or Dodge switched to one of Ford's brands.

Ford has been getting good publicity for not accepting a government handout in these rough economic times. GM and Chrysler both did.

Ford's newest ads are focusing on people who aren't necessarily in the market to buy a car, otherwise known as the "upper purchase funnel" of consumers.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135105

Coca-Cola Pushing Vault Soft Drink

In a very aggressive marketing move, Coca-Cola will be giving away a free sample of their citrus drink Vault for every customer that buys one of PepsiCo's Mountain Dews.

The idea behind the campaign is that once Mountain Dew drinkers taste Vault, they will want to make the switch.

The campaign is being called the "Vault Taste Challenge" and will last through late July.

PepsiCo does not appear to be fazed by this campaign because it believes that its Mountain Dew drinkers are loyal.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135104

Gun Sales Increase

Background checks for firearms sales increased by 42% in November, followed by increases of 24%, 28% and 23% in December, January and February, respectively.

The election of a Democratic president and the ushering in of a Democratic administration may have something to do with this recent increase in firearms as some consumers predict tighter gun control laws.

It can also be attributed to the bad economy. People feel less secure and also see hunting as a way to get some meats cheaper.

Manufacturers and retailers have seen increases in spending on firearms, despite the declining economy and tightening of consumers' pocket books.

For the full story, go to http://adage.com/article?article_id=135092