USA Today reports on another milestone for The Oracle of Omaha. For $100,000, you can buy a high-performance Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG coupe, a 74-day round-the-world cruise in a Royal Suite on the Queen Mary 2 — or one share of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) stock. The price of a share of Warren Buffett's company Monday became the first stock to ever close at the six-digit mark at $100,000, says Ned Davis Research. No …
From A Land Down Under, Where Women Glow And Men Plunder
Aussie expats living in America are bumming. According to NEWS.com.au, the island-nation's favorite spread will no longer be available for purchase in the U.S. The US has banned Vegemite, even to the point of searching Australians for jars of the spread when they enter the country. The bizarre crackdown was prompted because Vegemite has been deemed illegal under US food laws. The great Aussie icon - faithfully …
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A Brand Hyper-Extension
Business Week shows that even a powerhouse media brand can stumble hard and be taken out of the game when it comes to brand extensions. In its 27-year history, ESPN has pushed its brand with the ferocity of a linebacker on steroids. And mostly it has emerged with big wins. But the sports entertainment giant recently admitted to a rare failure in brand extension. Just seven months after launching its own cell phone …
Profits Down At Yahoo
Yahoo is slipping according to The New York Times. Yahoo, the world’s largest portal, said yesterday that its profit fell sharply in the third quarter and that growth would continue to slow for two main business lines — graphic display advertising and advertising on Web searches. The company’s chief executive, Terry S. Semel, was unusually contrite yesterday in a conference call with investors. “I am not satisfied …
Perrier Tries To Look Less Stuffier
I don't recall ever, not once, drinking a Perrier. I haven't even thought about Perrier in years. But today's New York Times reports a new ad campaign is trying to change consumers' perceptions. The humorous campaign, getting under way this week, transforms the name of Perrier, the French sparkling water, into words that end in “-ier.” The reworked brand names, appearing on bottle labels, postcards, stickers, …
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Dove Tackles The Beauty Myth
Dove continues its Campaign for Real Beauty with the above clip, showing just how much makeup and retouching is done for models these days. You can decide for yourself whether the message in the spot is meaningful, hypocritical, or both. As for ruining the illusion, I'm still recovering from the shock of the Yasmine Bleeth mug shot. …
High Life For Men Again (Distributors Breathe Easy)
When I used to work on a big beer account, I was never comfortable with our need to target beer distributors first and consumers second. The thinking was no floor space means no beer sales, which does make sense despite being counter-intuitive for a creative. At any rate, beer distributors have a huge say when it comes to critiquing brand advertising. According to Ad Age, Miller distributors are pleased with new …
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Showin’ Trucks At The Fair
USA Today explains Texans' fascination with pickup trucks. It's a cultural thing. That's the explanation. Some facts to support this argument: More than 27% of vehicles registered in Texas are pickups, compared with 20% for the rest of the nation. The article goes on to explain that the State Fair of Texas, an event attended by more than 3 million people, is ground zero in the pickup wars. This year, for the first …