Archive for July 15th, 2008

When Yahoo! announced last month that it planned to expand its search partnership with Google, ad buyers said they were worried. Now, a new report appears to confirm some of their fears, as it predicts that Yahoo!’s search ad rates are set to surge.

Search ad technology specialist SearchIgnite, which claims to help its clients manage $350 million in paid search ads, said Yahoo!’s keyword ad prices should increase by an average of 22 percent, assuming the embattled Web giant attempts to maximize profits on the keywords it out sources to Google.

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Without fail, one of the first questions I’m asked by advertisers who are considering running their first video game program is: can you make a game for our brand? The question seems to make sense on the surface, but many brands have gone down the path of advergames to attain only mediocre to poor results. An advergame can be classified as using a video game to advertise a product or message. While most brands love the opportunity to provide consumers with an engaging interactive experience based solely on their product or marketing campaign, consumers don’t always see advergames as the best way to scratch their gaming itch unless certain elements are included.

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Olympic visitors coming to Beijing hoping to pick up a pirated copy of “Iron Man,” “Kung Fu Panda” or runaway B.O. fave “Red Cliff” should be prepared to go home disappointed; Chinese authorities have clamped down on counterfeit DVD sellers in the run-up to the Beijing Games. In Beijing, officials will be on call 24 hours a day to catch pirate sellers, according to a report in the China Press and Publishing Journal. Normally, checks are made during office hours, and the shops and stalls and street vendors do a brisk trade in the evening.

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Hollywood blockbusters dominated the European box office over the weekend as “Mama Mia!” and “Kung Fu Panda” opened huge in the U.K. and Spain, while “Hancock” and “Wanted” continued to enjoy strong biz in Germany and Italy.“Mamma Mia!” sang up a storm at the Blighty box office, bringing in $13.2 million in its opening weekend via Universal. That haul comfortably trounced Will Smith’s superhero antics in “Hancock,” which slipped down to second place for a sophomore haul of $7.37 million, bringing its cume to a hefty $33.5 million so far.

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Henkel KGaA’s Dial Complete is launching an effort that centers on an online video contest, via YouTube, where contestants submit their most creative take on hand washing.

The effort, dubbed “Campaign for Clean Hands,” includes a contest (for those under 18) and Web site, Campaignforcleanhands.com — both launching in September. The home page features games, puzzles, a hand washing chart and other interactive features used to promote the brand.

As 2008 is an election year, Dial chose to incorporate the theme into its contest. The “Campaign for Clean Hands” asks consumers to create a speech, song, jingle or rap touting the importance of clean hands. Dial and its PR agency, Liggett Stashower, Cleveland, will serve as judges.

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Imagine this: You’ve been handed a toy box filled with $150 million, one of the most iconic franchises in modern-day pop culture, and critically acclaimed acting heavyweights such as

Christian Bale, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. With a mere seven months to go until you steer your film across the box-office finish line, however, one of the stars you’ve been staring at every day in the editing bay suddenly passes away, leaving a legion of fans in mourning. What do you do?

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General Motors said today that it would reduce and consolidate its marketing and sales budget, including motorsports activity that would likely involve its sponsorship of Nascar.

The automaker’s marketing focus going forward will be “protecting launch products and brand advertising,” GM chairman Rick Wagoner said in a statement.

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Strong brewery ties

(Robert Cohen/P-D)

By Dan O’Neill

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

07/15/2008

As citizens of St. Louis collectively try to catch their breath and make dollars and sense of the sale of Anheuser-Busch Cos. to Belgian-based InBev, sports business citizens are doing the same.

According to estimates by trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights, A-B’s U.S. spending on marketing exceeded $378 million last year. Nielsen Media Research and the Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal show the beer maker spent $218,210,715 alone on advertising during sporting programming. That number dwarfed the next biggest sports spender — Chevrolet — by more than $45 million.

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“Nip/Tuck” will come to a close in early 2011, FX President John Landgraf said today at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.

The network has picked up an additional 19 episodes, which in total will bring the series to a close at 100 installments, bolstering its odds of an afterlife in syndication.

Mr. Landgraf said production has wrapped on the final eight episodes of the fifth season, which are scheduled to air in early January 2009. Creator Ryan Murphy will stay on until the finale.

FX made several other announcements during the panel, including its order of 39 more episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” The cable channel also is ordering up a new series called “Testees” for October from Kenny Hotz of “Kenny vs. Spenny” fame.

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By iTVX Staff

Various online sources confirm producer Joel Silver plans on putting a movie together on comic icon Plastic Man. Oddly enough Keanu Reeves, an actor who appears extremely wooden in almost all of his roles, is attached to star, reuniting with his Matrix filmmakers he Wachowskis. The duo plan on making the film their follow-up to this spring’s Speed Racer, which crashed and burned in the box office.

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