5 Blogs Before Lunch

NBC To Dump iTunes

The New York Times is reporting that NBC Universal, unable to come to an agreement with Apple on pricing, has decided not to renew its contract to sell digital downloads of television shows on iTunes.

Should this decision move forward, iTunes would lose its largerst supplier of digital video to Apple’s online store, accounting for about 40 percent of downloads.

NBC is reportedly unhappy that Apple will not give them more control over the pricing of songs and videos that are sold on iTunes, and are seeking better piracy controls and the ability to bundle videos to increase revenue.

Geico Uses The Flintstones, Cabbage Patch Dolls and Beverly Hillbillies In New Campaign

It is clear that the folks at Geico Insurance like to entertain us. The company created the walking/talking Geico Gecko, and Caveman with anxiety disorders (who've now evolved to having their own TV series).

Geico is now reaching into pop culture history to tug at our fond memories by using the characters from The Flinstones, The Beverly Hillbillies and the Cabbage Patch Kids.

In what is called "The real scoop" campaign, Adweek reports that:

the spots have the look of behind-the-scenes quasi-investigative shows that look at the seamy side of Hollywood stars. In "Cabbage Patch," we learn about Ben Winkler, who was "one of the first Cabbage Patch Kids." He was a star as a child, but hit hard times when he became an adult. That is, until he switched to Geico, saved money and became a star on a reality dance show.

In "Hillbillies," we learn via actual footage from the 1960s TV show that before Jed Clampett found "black gold, Texas tea" on his backwoods farm, which enabled him to move his family to Beverly Hills, he saved money by insuring his car with Geico.

In "Flintstones," a reporter asks: If Fred earns an average salary by working at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company, how can wife Wilma afford to wear such "big rocks" around her neck? The answer: He insures the Flintmobile with Geico.

We say, "yaba, daba, do!"

Missy Elliott Track Promotes Doritos Snack

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is creating a campaign for Doritos Collisions featuring Grammy-winning artist Missy Elliott. The marketing integrated campaign not only includes TV spots, and an online prescence, but also boasts an exclusive track that will not be commercially available.

The result of the campaign is the opportunity to boost Doritos image, as well as an opportunity to hype Elliott's new album.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

In the TV spot that debuts Sept. 17, Elliott is seen working on a new track and then pausing to snack on Doritos Collisions chips. Inspired by the two different-tasting chips in the same bag, Elliott has an epiphany: Her song needs two different musical styles. So she immediately injects her hip-hop track with a little bit of country twang.

Elliott's manager, Mona Scott of Violator Management, said the campaign offered her client the perfect creative outlet. "The whole idea of the mashup is so prevalent and popular in music today," Scott said. "It's so Missy. And the fact that the campaign takes place in a studio means that Missy remains in her element, which makes the whole thing authentic."

CNET Study of In-Game Advertising Habits

A study conducted by CNET Networks for the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) finds that gamers don't notice the difference between in-game advertising and branding that is placed to make a scene more realistic.

That's good news for marketers in the booming world of in-game advertising who are looking to target young men who shy away from traditional forms of media advertising.

Research found that 86% of gamers polled said that they were happy to see ads placed within games if it brought down the prices they had to pay.

From Brand Republic:

Of the 3,575 UK-based gamers surveyed, 52% said they had seen an in-game ad during the past 12 months. Of these, 33% said they would be either quite likely or very likely to buy a product they had seen advertised while playing, and 64% said that they felt positively towards the brand.

It also revealed that the majority of gamers do not see in-game ads as intrusive, although 14% said that ads ruined the gaming experience.

Jill Orr, managing director at CNET Networks UK, said: "We got a clear message from gamers, if in-game advertising is realistic, contextual and non-intrusive, there is great potential for advertisers, especially given that gaming is increasing at the expense of other leisure activities."

Forty per cent said that ads in games made them more realistic while 27% said that interacting with a brand during the game, such as gaining more energy by drinking a can of Red Bull, did not constitute advertising.

The Marketing Of A Bay Bridge Closure

The "other bridge" in San Francisco--not the Golden Gate, but the Bay Bridge that links The City to the suburban East Bay (Berkeley, Oakland, etc.) will be closed for repairs over Labor Day weekend, and the the state agency that manages the span is spending big to make sure every Californian gets the word.

For those unfamiliar with the area, San Francisco is a peninsula, and the two bridges are the major link off the 7 mile by 7 mile spit of land known as "The City by the Bay." So, a bridge closure is an obvious fiasco for thousands of travelers over this busy weekend.

The California Department of Transportation (also known as CalTrans) has launched a marketing campaign to get the word out about the three-day closure. They've run TV and radio ads, printed about 600,000 glossy brochures, and notices about the shutdown have been flashing on hundreds of electric freeway signs from Southern California to the Bay Area.

The governmental department even sent notice to the folks at the University of Tennessee.

Huh?

It seems that about 10,000 fans are expected to travel to the Bay Area to watch the University of Tennessee Volunteers play the Cal Berkeley Bears in a football game. After the CalTrans notice arrived, players and fans moved their hotel reservations from San Francisco to the other side of the bridge.

The bill for all of this marketing: somewhere between $500K and $1million.

Eek.

The Bay Bridge is set to close Friday at 8 p.m. to allow workers to replace a 350-foot section of the structure. CalTrans has pledged to reopen the bridge by Tuesday at 5 a.m.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

AT&T Is Dropping "Fewest Dropped Calls" Ad Campaign

The folks at Wired are reporting that AT&T will no longer use the "Fewest Dropped Calls" claim as its tagline. (The line was inherited from when AT&T was Cingular).

There are conflicting reports as to why--some say it is due to pressure from a lawsuit filed by the folks at Sprint and/or the voicing of concerns by the Better Business Bureau. Others (i.e. an AT&T spokesman) just say it is part of an overall shift to a new message: "More bars in more places."

From Bryan Gardiner of the Wired Blog Network:

Turns out, the assertion was never really true, and was based on only a small part of a larger Telephia report. As a whole, the report notes that AT&T Wireless did not have the most reliable network in places like New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, according to Broadband Reports. Recent studies from Consumer Reports and JD Power mirror these findings, and have placed Cingular/AT&T at or near the the bottom of their rankings for reliability and satisfaction.

To us, "More bars in more places" and "Fewest dropped calls" sound pretty much the same--with the "More bars..." line being a little more "acceptable" to the folks in the AT&T legal department.

But the big question is whether consumers will believe the claim at all...

"Anchorwoman" Satire Or Reality TV?

I'm not sure if you were bored enough had the chance to see the first episode of the new Fox reality series "Anchorwoman" I was sucked in by the promos, and decided to watch the show. My attention lasted about 20 minutes. I would have only watched the first ten minutes, but I got caught up wondering if this was a "reality" show like Bravo's "Work Out," "Blow Out" and "Flipping Out" series, or the defunct MTV show "Making The Band" or a reality show satire like NBC's "The Office."

All of the "actors" seemed to be playing to the camera, and playing their roles to "type". The scenes and situations were absurd. In fact, the whole premise of the show was absurd. Surely there was no way this was a real character. But it was.

It seems that this is to be a true account of swimsuit model Lauren Jones' attempt to turn herself into a news anchor for a Texas TV station. Jones was a Barker Beauty on "The Price Is Right," Miss New York and featured WWE Diva before the series put her into the newsroom of KYTX Channel 19 in Tyler, Texas.

The first episode drew an estimated 2.7 million viewers (a Nielsen Media Research 1.0 rating/3 share in the adults 18-49 demo). The show was immediately cancelled, and will not run a second episode.

Was Fox so embarassed by the show that it ran away after only one episode? Or does a poor first showing immediately trigger cancellation--even for a summer series?

The number of viewers is about a third of the viewership Fox attracted a week earlier with the finale of its popular "So You Think You Can Dance" but that show is becoming a cultural icon like American Idol. Should "Anchorwoman" really be compared to this success?

The remaining six episodes of "Anchorwoman"'s eight-episode order will be available on the Fox on Demand section of Fox.com and MySpace.com. Perhaps she'll find an audience there, and become an underground cult classic.

Sources: The Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter.

What's Old Is New Again: Ecology, Love and Healthy Eatin'

Social impact issues like ecology, love, and healthy eating were key constructs back in the 60's and 70's and were reflected in corporate messaging. Now, after the excesses of the 80's and 90's they are returning to our social consciousness. And once again, marketing is reflecting society's interests. To end the week, I thought I'd post a few messages that were as relevant 40 years ago as they are today. For all you marketing execs out there, ponder these messages this weekend.

Power to the people, Baby.

Coke taught the world to sing in 1971:

Mikey liked it, even though it was good for him in 1972:

Ronald McDonald had an environmental conscience in 1976:

Celebrating The Birthday of a McIcon: The Big Mac Turns 40

The Big Mac's "special sauce" has caused many a middle-aged spread. Now, the pop culture icon is turning middle-aged.

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY BIG MAC.

The Big Mac was invented in 1967 by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchise owner in Pittsburgh, and has since been adopted by more than 100 countries worldwide to become a staple of pop culture and a cultural unifer. No matter where you are in the world, you know you're only a short walk away from being able to mack on a Big Mac.

The Big Mac now has a museum dedicated to it in the US, and continues to generate tens of millions of dollars every year for McDonald's. According to McDonald's latest estimates, around 550 million Big Macs are sold in its US restaurants every year, equating to 17 every second.

Despite not being used for over 30 years, the Big Mac's trademarked jingle, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." still resonates with a generation. In the 2004 documentary Super Size Me, several women were interviewed. None of them could correctly recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but could accurately recite the slogan, to their embarrassment. And in 2003, American Greetings released a Christmas ornament of a Big Mac, on which the slogan was both printed and played aloud by pulling on a string.

The sandwich has given rise to The Economist-devised Big Mac Index; an informal way of measuring the purchase power parity between currencies. Economists view the index as one of the world's most reliable financial indicators, given its ubiquity across all major global markets.

There is also a "Big Mac-aholics" group on the social networking Web site Facebook.

Weighing in at 540 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat, the icon of the fast food industry is also a target of health lobbyists worldwide.

From the documentary "Super Size Me", to the film "Fast Food Nation", the Big Mac is being cast as the primary villian in the tale of an unhealthy nation.

Despite this trend, the Big Mac Museum, which was opened by 89-year-old Delligatti in North Huntingdon, Pittsburgh, celebrated the sandwich's 40th birthday with great fanfare.

At 40, The 'B Mac can surely rest on it's bun and celebrate a well-lived life.

HAPPY 'B DAY BIGGIE M'

SOURCES: Forbes, The Associated Press, Brand Republic and Wikipedia.

Macy's New Ad Campaign Features A Laundry List of Celebrity Hawkers--From Martha Stewart and Donald Trump To Jessia Simpson and Sean Combs

The blossoming of boutique brands and the growth of Internet shopping is making department stores more and more irrelevant. In attempt to revive Macy's sagging fortunes, the company has decided to spend $100 Million on a campaign featuring Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Emeril Lagasse, Sean Combs and...Jessica Simpson.

It took me a second to realize what all of these celebrities have in common, and why they'd be put in a campaign together...they all sell name-branded items at Macy's. And, this could be part of Macy's brand problem.

Macy's fortunes rely on attracting those who aspire to be a Jessica Simpson, and those who admire Martha Stweart. In order to hold on to their multi-department, mega-store status, they must cater to all. This is a big task indeed.

From The Wall Street Journal:

This attempt to jazz up a department-store category that has been plagued by a dowdy image carries some danger if it alienates Macy's core consumers. "Simply putting a sexy marketing campaign on top of a business that is out of step with shoppers is risky," says Bob Kahn, founder of Kahn Consulting, a branding firm based in Darien, Conn.

The spots often will poke fun at aspects of their public images, such as Ms. Stewart's micro-managerial tendencies, Ms. Simpson's mental acuity and Mr. Trump's hair.

One TV spot, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, features an exchange between Ms. Stewart and R&B singer Usher. "I worked on two fragrances, how many things did you make?" asks the singer. Ms. Stewart replies: "Two thousand or so."

The ads feature other celebrities interacting with Macy's brand hawkers. Tim Gunn, co-host of the TV show "Project Runway," is seen using Martha Stewart bed linens to create a dress for Ms. Stewart's daughter. In a 90-second spot, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons teaches a sales clerk how to fold shirts; Donald Trump blow-dries his hair in the suit department and Tyler Florence, a chef from the Food Network, delivers breakfast to designer Tommy Hilfiger as he primps his merchandise.

Again from the WSJ:

The Macy's ad campaign comes just several months after major upheaval took place in its marketing department. In June, Anne MacDonald, a well-known and highly regarded ad executive, abruptly departed after being on the job for only about 16 months.

A person close to the company says she left because she and the company disagreed on what direction marketing should take. The person says Ms. MacDonald favored more long-term image advertising, while some executives at the retailer wanted more short-term promotional ads. Ms. MacDonald couldn't be reached to comment. Macy's declined to comment on Ms. MacDonald's departure.

If Macy's can't improve sales, its massive annual ad budget could come under pressure. Macy's shelled out $1.17 billion for ad time and space last year, and Mr. Lundgren recently said it aims to reduce its ad spending over time. A spokesman for Macy's said "it is not prudent" to do so in the near future while Macy's works to improve sales trends and build the Macy's brand.

The ads were created by Macy's and WPP Group's JWT, which hired movie director Barry Levinson ("Diner" and "Bugsy").

The campaign is set to launch during the Emmy Awards show Sept. 16.