Coca-Cola Goes...

The beverage industry has seen vast changes recently. With bottlers and distributors hooking up with one another in different markets and selling products other than thiers---there is no telling what is next.

The Story
Coca-Cola (KO) shares popped higher May 25 after the beverage giant announced it will acquire Energy Brands Inc., known as Glaceau, and its full range of enhanced water brands for $4.1 billion in cash. The company said the deal gives it "a strong platform to grow its active lifestyle beverages."

The deal is Coke's largest acquisition, and the company expects it to shave 1 or 2 cents from earnings per share this year. But it expects the deal will add to its earnings in the first full year following the completion of the deal.

The deal will also curb Atlanta-based Coke’s share-buyback plan. Coke said it now expects to buy back $1.75 billion to $2 billion worth of shares this year, down from its previous plan of $2.5 billion to $3 billion.




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Out of Home is Smart-The OVAB!

Ah, I have a special place in my heart for out-of-home media. In many markets out-of-home has become highly demanded, thus climbing up the food chain. After years of hard work and technology advances the industry is gaining footing and rates are going up as inventory becomes more demanded and available at the same time. Digital billboards, D-EPs, wallscapes, digital signage networks, placed based TV (video), street teams, mobile billboards, posters, movie theater advertising, and sampling are some of the valuable and must have outlets for a brand that wants a well rounded and diverse campaign on a national, regional and local level. As TV ratings decline; newspapers get sold, move online, and lose overall readership, the demand for OOH in some markets is sky rocketing. Companies such as Fairway, Adams Outdoor and Lamar have rasied thier rates to fit the demand, and extra resources they are using (including the purchase of digital billboards and the staff to operate these systems). The article below is about the OVAB tapping into the cable industry and the leveraging of cable's not so long ago past of being a "new channel" and successfully moving through the phases of entering the market. Educating the buying community, while still selling the "media" is a common challenge that was faced by both cable and the internet and now narrowcast out-of-home networks (dgital or video). Narrowcast networks are very similar to cable in terms of targeting, but not in creative (at least not digital signage)-it makes sense that a cable veteran would be an ideal hire for any of these networks, if coupled with other professionals that can work as a team using strengths of each executive to build out the network from deployment to content to sales and operation. It just makes sense. I am a little confused about why the OVAB is not both video and digital (I may be uneducated here?)-I hear very different opinions about engagement and the content on these networks. It may be that measurement of these networks can be weighted based on the content matching the demographic.

MediaBuyerPlanner: The newly formed Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau has tapped a top executive from Comcast's TV ad sales organization as its first president.

Kim Norris, formerly division vice president at Comcast Spotlight, worked closely with the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau during the early years of cable when the new medium was struggling to get on base with Madison Ave, writes MediaPost. Norris plans to follow a similar game plan - which would call for setting standards and developing research that would make disparate out-of-home networks comparable and easy to understand and buy - to establish the OVAB.

Norris's appointment comes a day after Reactrix, a digital out-of-home media company, also named a well-know cable TV sales vet as president. Sue Danaher, most recently one of the top sales executives at MTV Networks, is a veteran of cable's pioneering days at Turner Broadcasting.
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Media Planners, Media Reps, and New Media Outlets

Clients are confused? Not Proctor, Coca-Cola or AT&T. I am confused, and confusion is good for me and helps to get the creative juices and out of the box thinking flowing strong. Critical thinking about the best media channel or outlet for a client, mixing it up, sell your media and present another to your client can equal customer service these days. I am speaking of media reps that are working with national or regional clients on larger buys that have clients whom are interested in the market and whats new-well the media reps are some of the best resources to these clients (or agencies) and when done with savvy and in a professional manner in which the client will appriciate the insight or broker of a deal; a rep can strengthen the relationship and become to source or go to for that client and thier network. This can be tricky and has to be done with awarness and full understanding of the clients needs and resources. So the article below was a "nice" read about media professional on the buying and planning side and for the most parts at agencies. Media is truly a hot topic, even if you are a spot or broadcast buyer. I sometimes wonder about the "handcuffs" or stuggles some of the younger planners may have with corporate policy and having thier ideas approved-this is some of the reason emerging or new channels of media are not catching on as fast as expected......like any other industry there is always the corporate culture and much appreciated, based on years of research and strong relationships. There are also the agencies and direct clients that are full force and have entire departments checking into this Gen X and Y media.

They Have Lasting Relationships
Remember when media planners and buyers were the low-paid, under-appreciated members of the agency team? Well, that was then. Now media is the place to be. With the splintering of advertising media, clients are confused about how to reach their customers in cost-effective ways. Hell, they're confused about how to reach them, period.
Marc Brownstein So enter the media folks. They're placing advertising everywhere -- on all three screens and in places that were never considered advertising vehicles. And they are leading the way with guerilla marketing. I'm jealous that they have the client's trust to handle all of the non-traditional parts of the buy as well.

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Idol Fundraiser Drops in Ratings

As if this is a surprise.

'Idol' fundraiser hits a new season low Averages 9.6 in 18-49s, off 6 percent from last weekBy Toni FitzgeraldApril 25, 2007
“American Idol’s” first-ever “Idol Gives Back” fundraiser is a noble idea and may well raise millions for charity. But it apparently did not hold as much interest as the usual singing competition for “Idol” fans.
The reality singing show fell to its lowest Tuesday rating of the season last night, a 9.6 Nielsen overnight among adults 18-49, as the contestants and a huge array of celebrity guests appealed to viewers to pledge money for numerous American and African charities.
Of course, a season low for “Idol” is still way ahead of every other show on television, and even though it was off 6 percent from last week’s then-season-low 10.2, “Idol” still crushed the competition on a very slow night.

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Kraft Shifts From JWT......and more..

JWT and Kraft. Kraft very well may have invented the grilled cheese sandwich, I am sure they did from the archives I have researched. I had a discussion recently with a retired agency executive, followed by an hour talk about his career and work for JWT. I learned a lot about the history of Kraft advertising and media use, no secrets though-maybe next time.

Being Shifted From JWT
Kraft Foods is again demonstrating its unhappiness with its largest agency partner, JWT, by shifting the creative duties for six brands to other agencies. Kraft spent more than $160 million to advertise the brands in major media last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a division of Taylor Nelson Sofres that tracks ad spending.
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Out-of-Home Digital is Real, Folks!

Brands have to adapt to the the shift in media consumption or "lose millions in brand equity!" Those are not my words but it is the truth! Newspaper is moving online and the bigger players have already witnessed the purchase of a leading ooh digital network (Captivate). Even smaller broadcasters such as Capital Broadcast (who has always focused on new media channels other than broadcast) see the value in interactive, new media channels, digital out-of-home, and mobile. Billions are in broadcast and maybe at some point some more of those dollars will be pulled to new channels that reach the right consumers. The slow and somewhat silent move to test the waters is happening under our noses. In house testing by some of the worlds leading brands has been happening for years and you would be amazed at exactly what data they have complied. With the predicted expansion and growth of the OOH industry I suggest that one of the top 25 advertisers purchase all of the spots on narrowcast networks across the US-that would be a headline itself! I think it could be done; ad spending in the industry is very small at this time compared to TV dollars, print spending and spending on the remaining media outlets.

Out-of-Home Digital Media Is Now Interactive
by
Monte Zweben, Co-founder & Chairman of SeeSaw Networks
Out-of-home digital media is growing explosivelyThe Outdoor Advertising Association of America forecasts that up to 25% of all billboards will be digital in five years and a 2006 Veronis, Suhler, and Stevenson Communications Industry Report forecasts that out-of-home digital media will grow at a rate of over 20% a year. Additionally, Profitable Channels reports that digital out-of-home networks are growing at a rate of about 10 new networks per month. Their report estimates that about 700 digital out-of-home networks have been launched since 2002 and says that the out-of-home digital media industry segment accounted for $1.2 billion in national ad spending in 2006.

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Bluetooth Nokia Marketing

Bluetooth Marketing Faces Privacy Concerns

Nokia is launching a Bluetooth marketing campaign in the UK to promote its 6680 handset - joining the growing list of big brands like Volvo and EMI that have experimented with Bluetooth marketing - but some lawyers, trade bodies and agencies have expressed concerns that brands running these campaigns are in breach of privacy regulations, New Media Age reports(via Adverblog

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