Hoping to aid sagging revenues and heeding a recent "iconographic creative" request Coke recently made to its ad agencies, long time Madison Avenue legend Harry Webber, creator of such memorable television campaigns as A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste, I'm Stuck on BAND-AIDBRAND, and Dr. Pepper, America's Most Misunderstood Soft Drink, is leading a group of Coca-Cola stockholders in the Hollywood creative community to develop a Coke Classic ad campaign that Webber hopes will put Coke back on the growth path it enjoyed under the late Roberto Goizueta.
Webber has dubbed his ad hoc "Big Idea Company" effort, called Doublethink, an entity un-tethered by traditional ad agency baggage and desire for hefty fees saying, "We don't give a fuck about how much money they (Coke) spend. We only care about how much money they make."
Two weeks ago newly appointed Cola-Cola CEO Nevill Isdell laid the blame for the company's less than stellar performance in the marketplace squarely on the shoulders of lackluster marketing.
Instantly, Chuck Fruit, the new chief marketing officer for Coke scrambled the troops with a so-called "Iconographic Creative Brief" to the entire roster of company agencies around the world.
Writing on his website, Madison AveNew, Webber takes us through recent Coke marketing history including his experience working on the account over the years. He pulls no punches when commenting on the recent efforts of those involved in Coke's marketing, "After John Bergin left, McCann stumbled and Coke struck up a deal with Mike Ovitz and CAA. Mike brought in Len Fink and Shelly Hack to create the infamous CAA "Black Box" team. Coke paid out a lot of money in development fees for very little creative firepower and wound up back at McCann. Then the feeding frenzy began with creative assignments going to Lowe, Fallon, Burrell, Goodby and anybody else they could think of. At the same time the CMO dance began with Peter Sealy and a cast of thousands whipped through the revolving door. The latest cat on this hot tin roof is Chuck Fruit.
Wait a minute. Do all of these names I've been spouting ring a bell? Fink,Hack,Lowe,and Daft. If you were convicted of a felony would you put your fate in the hands of a law firm named Fink,Hack,Lowe,and Daft? However. If cranberry, blackberry and passion flower flavored drinks were blasting away at your customer base, would you bring in a guy named Chuck Fruit to save the day? Damned straight, Jack."
Hoping to get Coke out of its doldrums, Webber issued his open call to the Hollywood creative community. According to Webber the response was overwhelming and the ultimate strategy and campaign the ad hoc creative team was far in advance of the type of branding solution traditional agencies might devise. They created a "Brand Character" for Coca-Cola Classic based upon the recent findings of a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review on the impact of recent political realities on the efficacy of global brands, that is absolutely breakthrough in the category, according to Webber. In what will be either a revolutionary step for Coke and its advertising or a shameful embarrassment for Webber's Doublethink, the ad hoc ad campaign for Coke Classic will be unveiled tomorrow on Webber's Madison AveNew Column.
Today, Toyota launched a new brand campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi of Torrence, CA. The campaign carries the new tagline, "Moving Forward" which leaves the previous "Get the Feeling" behind. Furthering the notion that a car is more than a means to get from point A to point B, the campaign illustrates how Toyota cars are important elements of young adult's lives.
The ads are voiced by actor Rob Morrow and will air on The Tonight Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Scrubs and Last Comic Standing. The TV component will be supported by a print effort in People, Time, GQ, and Wired.
In a welcome, long overdue and revolutionary move, Nielsen has announced it will provide, beginning October 2005, minute by minute respondent level viewing data flagged with minutes including a commercial.
Conceivably, this will now allow for rating viewership of television commercials instead of their containing program. Media buyers will now be able to base program selection on a given program's ability to deliver high ratings for the commercials it contains.
One issue we haven't seen raised, though perhaps minor, is how a minute rating will be attributed to the potentially two :30's that appear within that measured minute. Is it fair to assume two :30's receive the same rating? It's a step in the right direction but a far cry from the desired method of "tagging" every commercial with a unique ID as web ads are to arrive at a "real" delivery number and not one based on a projectable base.
- A psychiatrist examines how viral marketing has infiltrated youth and offers parents tips to help "unplug: their kids from the onslaught.
- Microsoft's online magazine Slate has finally found a buyer. The Washington Post is expected to announce its purchase of the online mag.
- Recent RADAR study high reach to high income groups - 95 percent. Also 97 percent to working women and 94 percent 12 plus.
- An iMedia Brand Summit panel asks the age old question, "Are Agencies Still Relevant?" Another question to ponder, "Why would be be asking that question if they were?"
- In yet another "Not Another Study Confirming What We Already Know," an Online Publishers Association study says...hold your breath...the Internet is our favorite medium. OK, TV did pretty well too.
- Ponderosa Ranch, based on NBC's Bonanza which ran from 1959 to 1973, rides off into the sunset after being purchased by PeopleSoft Founder David Duffield.
- "I play this girl named Caitlin, and I'm dating Logan, who's the cool guy in school, and we're, like, the 'it' couple. And I'm doing a little bit of cheating with somebody." Eesh...Paris Hilton on her guest appearance in WB's Veronica Mars. No comment on her latest sex tape.
Haggar has launched a new ad campaign promoting a line of clothing for those of us who can't be bothered with ironing or, for that matter, keeping various fluids off our clothes. The campaign, called "Stop Time," introduces the Haggar ForeverNew line, "which offers superlative fabric technology features, including virtually no fading, no shrinking, no wrinkles and no stains, even after multiple washes," and will appear in magazines, television and radio. Hey Haggar, heard of the Internet? No? It's this medium that people spend more time with than TV. Yes, hard as it is to believe, people like their Internet more than they like their "must see TV." Come on, give it a try. We know you'll like it.
AdWeak, well known for it's snarky insider ad biz humor recently returned from the dead and along with reporting on how a media planner's boob job caused a 30 percent drop in agency productivity, spent the week in New York City cutting through the bullshit and reporting insightful "truisms" about our self important industry we call advertising.
Conan O'Brien can rest easy. He doesn't have to worry about jumping networks to get a better gig. He's done his time. Today, Jay Leno announced his retirement from NBC's Tonight Show effective in 2009 and named Conan O'Brien as his replacement.
"In 2009, I'll be 59 years old and will have had this dream job for 17 years," Leno said in a statement. "When I signed my new contract, I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor and there is no one more qualified than Conan. Plus, I promised [my wife] Mavis I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60."
The question remains, though, will O'Brien be forced into the Tonight Show mold or will he be permitted to carry over is loser, fresher style? Tune in in 2010 to find out.
Ypulse points to a deal between Mattel and Hilary Duff in which Duff, reigning tween queen and ad babe, will lend her likeness to a new ad campaign promoting a new line of Barbie dolls called Fashion Fever along with new Barbie apparel and Barbie fragrance.
Duff gushed (or rather a press release writer gushed for her), "When I was younger, I was so inspired by Barbie. She has been a role model for my friends and me -- I love her style and her spirit!" Ooo that just makes us want to go grab our GI Joe and hang with these fetch new Barbie chics. Duff will appear in two commercials, one of which will also feature her older sister, Haylie. Print and outdoor will be components of the campaign as well.
Writing in MediaPost's TVWatch, Wayne Friedman says "old fashioned Internet advertising" is holding place for the yet to be "released" TV medium which will include interactive qualities of the Internet but builds on the existing positive qualities of television. Friedman says we'll see dramatic increase in set top box opening screen sponsorship, video on demand messaging, sponsorship of digital recorder menu pages and electronic programming guides. The Internet in a box, so to speak.
Rock the Vote, the national organization which educates young adult on the importance of voting, is furious with AM New York- the free daily newspaper. Apparently AM New York used Rock the Vote's logo without permission for some ads in last week's paper. More to follow.
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