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January 3, 2013

News for the advertising, media, and marcom industries

Top Story

Avis is mum on marketing Zipcar but will keep its name
Avis Budget Group said it is keeping the Zipcar name after its $491 million acquisition of the company, as it considers it "to be a very strong brand, the worldwide leader in its segment," according to a spokesman. The company didn't comment on marketing plans for Zipcar, which was in the middle of choosing a creative agency last year when Chief Marketing Officer Rob Weisberg left the company. Avis itself changed shops only about a year ago, and it also recently dropped its longtime tagline "We try harder." Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (1/2)

Agency News

Postal Service delivers media business to Interpublic's UM
Interpublic's UM has won the U.S. Postal Service's media agency business, after a review. Interpublic's Campbell-Ewald was the incumbent. USPS, which spent $95.8 million on measured media in 2011, according to the Ad Age Datacenter, is conducting a concurrent creative review, expected to be settled in the first quarter. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (1/2)

Creative

Evian campaign brings snow to London
Danone water brand Evian is making it snow in London with a "Live Young" campaign centered around adult-size playground equipment it is installing at two London locations. The swings and seesaws are linked to a snow-making machine, so snow falls when adults play. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (1/2)

Media

Al Jazeera will take over Current TV
Al Jazeera, the news network owned by Qatar's government, has announced that it will take over U.S. cable channel Current TV, which was founded and partly owned by former Vice President Al Gore. The network will turn Current TV into a new channel, Al Jazeera America, with a majority of programming emanating from the U.S. Time Warner Cable, which had been carrying Current TV on a contingent basis because of poor ratings, said Wednesday it will now drop it from its lineup. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Media Decoder blog (1/2), Bloomberg (1/3), The Wall Street Journal/Associated Press (1/3)

Trends & Research

Facebook's mobile strategy is paying off, analysts say
Wall Street analysts at JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch are smiling on Facebook's advertising prospects, especially its future on mobile platforms. The analysts cited the ad platform Facebook Exchange and its prospects for mobile advertising, a sticking point since the social network's initial public offering acknowledged weakness in that area. Analysts also cited the success of Pepsi and Samsung campaigns via Facebook. Bloomberg Businessweek (1/2), MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (1/2)

Marketer News

Polaroid to showcase Android camera at retail Fotobar sites
Polaroid is opening at least 10 experimental Polaroid Fotobar retail shops with an emphasis on turning camera-phone imagery into something more valuable. The move complements a new Android-based camera that Polaroid is expected to introduce at CES. "Our answer to the meteoric rise of picture-taking and the [improved] quality of picture-taking is to establish a retail concept where you can see a product and make it into something special," says Warren Struhl, Fotobar founder and CEO. Locations will include New York, Boston and Las Vegas. TechCrunch (1/2), MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (1/2)

Technology

Amazon and Facebook should embrace Ad Choices, agencies say
Facebook and Amazon offer targeted display advertising that incorporates third-party behavioral data, but unlike most media companies and ad networks, the Web giants have opted out of the industry's self-regulatory Ad Choices program. This creates a headache for agencies that use the sites, requiring as much as 20 hours of extra work per ad campaign to document compliance with industry rules, VivaKi Senior Vice President Grace Liau says. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (1/2)

Association News

2013 New York Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies
For more than 25 years, the 4A's New York Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies (IAAS) has been training the city's best and the brightest in the advertising agency business. Many of today's top agency executives are IAAS graduates. IAAS is the perfect vehicle for the next generation of advertising leaders because students develop skills by working on an actual client assignment in a team environment to gain real-world experience within the advertising industry. This year's client is serve® from American Express.

The course runs from Jan. 22 to May 14, so don't miss your chance to sign up now for this valuable opportunity.

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