Not that we don't doubt Arnold would crush Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in a grudge match but the fight the two are currently waging leaves the outcome a bit less certain. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is running a billboard campaign in 12 cities across the nation to bring business to California. The billboard features Arnold in a tight T-shirt, muscles exposed with the headline, "Arnold says California wants your business." in response to that campaign, Romney has launched his own billboard campaign featuring his decidedly less muscular, although fit self, dressed in a business shirt with the headline, "Smaller muscles, but lower taxes! Massachusetts means business." We love Massachusetts and we love Arnold. May the best billboard win.
We love a good brand partnership but we think there's a limit to how many brands should be smacked together at the same time. Try to follow this. There's this thing called ESPN The Truck. It's a 53 foot interactive television sportscenter on wheels letting people experience ESPN HD, play video games, download programs and get their picture of the cover of ESPN Magazine. All good. ESPN got together with Comcast Spotlight's Chicago ad sales team to take the truck to Subway restaurants in Bolingbrook, IL for a day. All good. A cable sales team capitalizes on its cable carrier for local exposure and Subway gets in on the exposure too. Not done yet. ESPN The Truck can't just stand on its own brand. It has to have two more brands sponsoring it so now we throw in Mazda and SIRIUS for good measure. On one hand, this is great marketing in terms of co-branding and amortizing costs across several interested parties. On the other hand, its a brand onslaught the consumer has to digest and interpret. OK, so it's really not all that confusing but what's easier - remembering one brand or five?
- ZenithOptimedia Group has upgraded its outlook on ad spending for 2005 and 2006. Worldwide, ad spend is expected to rise 4.8 percent in 2005 and 5.6 percent in 2006.
- Dave is close to overtaking Jay. Ratings for The Late Show With David Letterman are within 0.4 of a rating point behind The Tonight Show With Jay Leno among adults 18-49, the closest since 1995.
- A new report from the Dieringer Research Group suggests that people still prefer buying products offline rather than online, even when they conduct product research online.
- The media was denied its circus last night when Martha Stewart snuck into Alderson prison under cover of darkness for her five month stay.
- Bob Guccione, former Penthouse publisher, has refused a $500,000 per year, ten year offer from the magazine's new owners to stay on as editor.
The Association of National Advertisers has launched its annual conference today at the Ritz Carlton in Naples Florida. The ANA's public relations firm, CooperKatz and Company will be covering the event and blogging it live here.
We'll cover it too but not as well as CooperKatz and Company's Steve Rubel and Lesley Weiner. Lesley will be in Naples at the event and Steve will be in New York. Stay tuned.
Activist group FreePress, suddenly realizing the media business is all about making money, has launched a campaign claiming the media have hijacked democracy and made political coverage all about keeping advertisers happy rather than reporting actual news.
Oh, the horror.
Agenda reports a new campaign from IKEA which consists of 39 mattresses wrapped to look like billboards and hung in major Paris railway stations. We wonder how long it will be before Parisians tire of the campaign, rip the mattresses from the ceiling and hop on for a nap. Or how about all those teens who are looking for a place away from their parents to get a little closer to their girl/boyfriend? Looks like IKEA has some nifty experiencial marketing going on.
Hot off her work for for A&E Biography's Naked Truth ad campaign with the Olsens, Annie Leibovitz stepped into the world of Peninsula Hotels to shoot images for the hotel's recent ad campaign called, "Portraits of Peninsula."
The press release gushed in typical fashion, "So much of what makes Peninsulas style of hospitality special is the personal connection our staff has with guests," said Peter C. Borer, Chief Operating Officer, The Peninsula Hotels. "Our culture of warm and genuine service is expressed through every one of our family of employees. To us, service is an art, which is why we chose a true artist to represent it. Annie Leibovitz captured the spirit of our employees with sincerity. Through the honesty of her images, we have created a campaign that will resonate with our audience for a very long time."
AGENCYSACKS New York created the campaign.
London Ad Agency ASABAILEY has rolled out AIR (Advertising In Retail), a network (demo) providing advertisers the ability to place television ads or long-form videos alongside the advertiser's product listed on a participating online merchant's website. The AIR network provides marketers the ability to influence sales at the moment of purchase. The premise that influencing consumers at the moment of purchase is, of course, not new.
However, the proliferation of digital media and online buying may make models such as AIR network viable options for marketers interested in getting closer to consumers at the moment of purchase as well as maximizing production dollars spent creating ads.
Capitalizing on the success of its My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, FOX is making the obnoxious thing a trend with its new My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. The reality series will spoof both Fiance as well as NBC's The Apprentice complete with Donald, Caroline and George look-a-likes telling 12 contestants to "get the hell out of my office" after failing such tasks as begging for money on the street. Oddly, we think this series will be a success. We don't know why, we just do. The series airs November 9 at 9 PM.
We know jessica Simpson is already as delicious as they come but she's now made herself, much to the delight of hubby Nick Lachey, even more delectable announcing the an addition to her Dessert line of body care products. At Rockerfeller Center Sephora earlier this week, Simpson debuted Taste, an edible body cream designed to taste like the foods Simpson experienced in childhood.
"It's low-calorie," Simpson said. "It's like having dessert without the calories, so if you're on a diet, it's a good thing to just kind of lick off every now and then. Or have someone else do it - that's even better" We wonder if the streets of New York will now be filled with wafting, mouth-watering food scents driving people to helplessly lick strangers as they pass each other by. Perhaps Simpson should donate her product to the homeless. They need it more than those of who have homes and spend our money on stuff like this.
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