Weekly Update 7th September 2006

Weekly Update 7th September 2006 | why am I getting this email?

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Adbrands Weekly Update is back in action, wholly refreshed after its summer break. Hope you are too! Here's some of what you may have missed over the past fortnight:

Our favourite ads this week:

Not one but four notable ads this week. Congratulations to BBDO NY and FedEx, who won an Emmy award two weeks ago for their delightful prehistoric "Stick" campaign. It debuted at the Superbowl back in February and has been running on and off ever since. Still makes us laugh, though, so here it is again. The rest of BBDO's spots for FedEx can be viewed on the corporate website. Leo Burnett's sentimental but admirable Required Reading ad for Hallmark shared the Emmy, but it didn't make us laugh as much...

Also worth a look: Mother's new "You know how" ad for Schweppes, which demonstrates the power of a great soundtrack - by the Spike Jones Orchestra - to lift an otherwise only average piece of film. Try watching a second time with the sound off to see what we mean. Also KesselKramer's very amusing "Ode to testosterone" for Bavaria Beer. (We here at Adbrands know that Bavaria feeling well, especially around 6pm...)

Recently Revised Profiles and Snapshots

Magna Global	Hellmann's
Lipton	Vodafone
General Motors	Morrisons
American Express	Euro RSCG 4D
Kingfisher	Dell
Iams	ConAgra Foods

In the news this fortnight: Advertisers

Online advertising remains one of the industry's hottest topics, as key players Microsoft, Yahoo and Google continue to race one another to sign up leading portals to their ad-serving systems. Microsoft sealed a deal to make its new AdCenter system the exclusive advertising supplier to #2 social networking site Facebook (mirroring Google's recent deal with MySpace). Meanwhile eBay appointed Google as the exclusive supplier of text-based advertising on all eBay sites outside the US from 2007, mirroring a similar arrangement within the US with Yahoo.

Meanwhile, fast-expanding video sharing portal YouTube unveiled brand-sponsored viewing channels in a bid to generate revenues from advertising. The first such sponsor was Paris Hilton, or rather her record company Warner Music, to promote the new album. In a more daring move, brewery giant Anheuser-Busch set up a dedicated inhouse multimedia production unit to launch Budweiser TV, a web-based entertainment channel which hopes to capture the attention of male beer-drinkers with custom-made programming, including sports and stand-up comedy. One section, clearly inspired by YouTube, will encourage users to submit their own homemade ads for Budweiser.

The rapid rise of video and social networking websites was also said to be a contributing factor in the unexpected ousting of Viacom CEO Tom Freston by the group's 83-year-old chairman (and effective owner) Sumner Redstone. Mr Redstone has already sent shockwaves through the entertainment community this summer with his outspoken criticism of superstar Tom Cruise. It's unclear whether or not Redstone consulted Freston in advance on his decision not to renew Cruise's production contract with Viacom subsidiary Paramount, but the group CEO was already under pressure over the unexpected downturn in performance by the company's MTV networks cable unit, which has seen its traditional audience (and many of its advertisers) transfer allegiance to the new breed of web-based networks. Freston was blamed by Redstone for allowing News Corporation to outbid it for MySpace earlier this year. However the re-emergence of the elderly Redstone as an active force within Viacom dismayed shareholders. After a brief summer rally, Viacom's shares dropped by 6% on news of Freston's departure, causing Redstone to comment (according to the WSJ), "We thought we had a good surprise."

Still on web-based advertising, Universal Music and EMI both announced plans to distribute their digital musical catalogues through new ad-funded download site SpiralFrog. Unlike iTunes, Napster and other existing music sharing services, SpiralFrog will not charge end-users for its music. Instead, subscribers will be shown advertising messages each time they download a track. SpiralFrog's CEO is Robin Kent, former CEO of media network Universal McCann. Already the world's biggest music company, Universal Music also became the biggest music publisher as a result of a deal to acquire Bertelsmann's BMG Music Publishing for E1.6bn. Universal Music Publishing was previously the world #4.

Universal's was just one of a series of acquisition announcements, demonstrating that there is as yet little let-up in the global deal-making frenzy. Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, previously the #2 and #3 retail banks in Italy, agreed a merger which pushes the enlarged business into 1st place ahead of UniCredit in that country, and #3 in Europe. UK department store chain House of Fraser was acquired by a consortium led by Icelandic retail group Baugur, which also owns Jane Norman fashion stores and tea retailer Whittard's. Baugur is also said to be assembling a bid for general retailer Woolworths.

As expected, Unilever sold its Birds Eye and Iglo frozen foods businesses in Europe. The winning bidder was private equity fund Permira with a bid of E1.7bn. Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel's and Finlandia, was the successful bidder in the auction of Mexico's #3 tequila manufacturer Herradura. Share's in Foster's Group, gradually transforming itself from a beer company into the world's biggest wine marketer, also rose on the back of as yet unsubstantiated rumours that the group could be the target of a takeover by InBev or SABMiller.

Meanwhile, Jac Nasser, a former CEO of Ford Motor Company, was reported to be negotiating with his one-time employer to buy out several of the group's luxury marques, including Jaguar and Land Rover. Aston Martin was also officially put up for sale. Ford is keen to offload some of its unprofitable secondary brands in order to focus attention on its struggling North American manufacturing business. At the same time, family scion Bill Ford stepped down as CEO (although he remains executive chairman). Alan Mulally was brought in from Boeing to be president & CEO.

In the news this fortnight: Agencies

Andy Law, the once-controversial founder of UK agency St Luke's, has had a tough time since he was ousted from that agency in a power struggle three years ago. Several subsequent projects failed to make much headway, with the result that the launch of his latest venture The Law Firm was greeted with the sort of lack of interest which would have been unthinkable when Law was regarded as one of the leading gurus of the industry. This time, however, Law could be back in the big time, having secured the support of Brian Watson, the creative force behind FCB Productions, a unit of FCB UK responsible for creating and producing all advertising for the Daily Mail newspaper and sister title Mail On Sunday. (Watson's 25-year relationship with the Mail features in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest and most production partnership between a client and an individual creative director). Last week the Daily Mail followed Watson to Law's new agency, handing it the Ł22m Mail account.

Meanwhile, the process of merging FCB and Draft to form the new Draft FCB Group is well under way. Steve Centrillo, headhunted from Grey in 2005 to run FCB's New York flagship, has followed worldwide chief Steve Blamer out of the combined agency. Peter DeNunzio was announced as the new head of Draft FCB New York.

Over at another Interpublic trouble spot, Amanda Walsh was appointed as the new CEO of Lowe London, finally filling the shoes of Garry Lace, who left several months ago in the wake of an investigation into the loss of the agency's flagship Tesco account. A former founder of indie shop, Walsh Trott Chick Smith, she most recently oversaw the transformation of WPP's former Red Cell network into United.

Havas agreed to acquire - for the second time - independent agency Scher Lafarge. The group previously owned a minority stake in the agency back in the 1990s, but sold those shares in 2001 as part of a restructuring. Havas has reacquired Scher Lafarge in order to tighten its grip on the key Citroen car account, which it shares with the former independent, although it also said that a merger of Scher Lafarge with another separately branded subsidiary, Devarrieux Villaret, was under consideration.

Several big account moves: DDB picked up the Safeway supermarkets account, but lost JC Penney to Saatchi & Saatchi; Deutsch LA picked up both Expedia and GM's new warranty marketing program. In two rare instances of accounts actually moving out of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Unilever's Lever 2000 soap brand and Diageo's Smirnoff Ice both transferred into JWT New York. Palisades Media Group lost indie studio Lions Gate Films to Initiative Media, and MGM/UA to RPA. In the UK, Universal Pictures appointed MediaCom; and Fox called a worldwide review of cinema and home entertainment media, currently split between several different networks, including MindShare and OMD. Dell was also said to be considering a review of its worldwide media, split between OMD, Carat and MPG.

As always, please confirm your subscription to the free Adbrands Weekly Update if you haven't already done so by clicking here or on the link at the foot of this email. Thank you for your assistance!

Regards

Simon Tesler
Publisher, Adbrands

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