The busy beavers over at NYTimes.com follow up the launch of their celebrity advertising campaign this week with TimesWidgets, customizable widgets you can post to your website or social network profiles.
Definitely the right kinds of moves, but if they be enough to reverse the direction of drastically falling revenues remains to be seen.
Forrester research confirms what every marketer with a atom of common sense has been thinking for years.
(nod to Young Manhattanite)
The New York Times has launched a new video campaign titled ‘Conversations’ via a YouTube channel. The videos feature celebrities talking about how they use The Times. Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell and Kenneth Cole all shill for NYT at http://www.youtube.com/nytimes
IAC’s Citysearch expands its coverage greatly from 140 local city guides to 75,000. Cityguide has yet to expand outside of the United States.
According to figures released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, online ad spending approached $5.9 billion during the third quarter, an increase of 11 percent over the same frame in 2007 and up 2 percent versus Q2 of this year. The $5.9 billion figure represents the second-best quarter ever for the industry.
Sign of the apocalypse: Pepsi splits with BBDO.: “
Regardless of what you think about the new cans, its clear the world has gone truly haywire when BBDO is no longer Pepsis lead agency. BBDO had the account for 48 years. 48. Thats almost 50 years for those of you keeping score at home. In ad years thats akin to an epoch. Adweek is reporting that the account is shifting to TBWA\C\D.Yeah, its all within the Omnicom family but still. We make no judgment on the right or wrong of it. Its just that few (any?) advertising marriages have been so incredibly stable. The sun rises in the East and BBDO is Pepsis agency. Please note this in your ongoing study of advertising history. This change is a certain sign that the poles of the Earth shall reverse themselves at any minute.
UPDATE: A post script with one to-be-taken-with-a-grain-of-salt theory as to the why.
“
(Via American Copywriter.)
Having redeemed itself for its loss in the VHS/Betamax format war with Blu-Ray, Sony now has to actually sell Blu-ray players.
Their strategy: spend boatloads of cash in the form of a $25 million campaign themed ‘Tru Blu.’
Euro RSCG has cut nearly 2 percent of its staff in New York, or roughly nine positions, the Havas agency acknowledged today.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The Detroit dilemma has hit Interpublic Group of Cos.-owned Campbell-Ewald, which is slashing up to 100 employees, executives familiar with the matter said. The move, which would reduce staff by less than 10%, is due to drastic budget cuts at key client Chevrolet and the departure of other accounts, they said.
(Via Advertising Age – News.)
Kudos to whoever did this. Anyone know who the talented party is?
Agency Layoffs