How Stuff Works, the "not yet profitable" web property owned by investor Carl Icahn and others, will be acquired by Discovery Communications for $250 million. The deal highlights how established media companies increasingly are expanding on the Web through targeted acquisitions instead of building their own sites, a strategy that largely has failed. "We're way behind in new media and digital," says Chief Executive …
Nike’s Investing In Experiential. Big Time.
“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive, we’re in the business of connecting with consumers.” - Trevor Edwards, Nike’s corporate vice president for global brand and category management This is a great time to be in the marketing services business. The inverse is also true—it's not such a great time to be in the TV commericals-making business. Nike spent just 33 percent of its $678 million …
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Saatchi ECDs Quit
Saatchi & Saatchi/NY ECDs Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico have left the agency, according to Best Ads on TV. These are the guys who did "Hot Juicy Burgers" for Wendy's and won a platoon of awards during their 2-year stint at the agency. My two cents on the Wendy's spot is that it works too hard and feels strained. But the "Happy Morning" viral they did for Folgers is genuinely odd and inventive. (Too bad the online …
Nice Lurk
It's time for yet another entry in the "If you're thinking it, someone's already doing it" category. I had this idea a while ago that I could conduct the operation of this blog from a coffeeshop around the corner from Wieden's Northwest Portland compound. It would be like a modern day sit in, minus the politics. I'd blog as I always do everyday, but I'd also remind our readers that I was in fact lurking. Well, …
Portrait of a Dream Client (Too Bad She’s Fictional)
Mad Men's Rachel Menken, as portrayed by Maggie Siff, exudes confidence, intelligence, taste and other attributes one might like to find in a business partner. This is how Siff describes her character to her alumnae magazine: "Rachel is intelligent and thoughtful, very direct — a truth-teller — and also very in touch with her sexuality. She is a powerful, attractive woman who is articulate in defending her right to …
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Caption It #23
[via McChronicles] …
Targeted Placement In Toronto
In what seems like an obvious move, The Toronto Star is planning a revamped approach to selling newspaper advertising, including a switch to modular ads and sectional pricing, starting Jan. 1, 2008. Sectional advertising means ads will run in sections selected by advertisers and a separate rate card will be developed for each section tied to readership and demographics. Fred Forster, president and chief pioneer of …
A Few Good Creative Men
I'm not sure who put this together, but it cracks me up: …