AdJab http://www.adjab.com AdJab http://www.adjab.com/media/feedlogo.gif AdJab http://www.adjab.com en-us Copyright 2012 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/101 Dumbest Moments in Businesshttp://www.adjab.com/2007/01/24/101-dumbest-moments-in-business/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/24/101-dumbest-moments-in-business/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/24/101-dumbest-moments-in-business/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So many dumb moments in business, so little time. But Business 2.0 mag has their picks for the 101 dumbest of 2006.

Wal-Mart is #1, for hiring a big firm to create their "Candidate Wal-Mart" campaign. #2 is Northwest Airlines, for giving their employees a "How To Save Money" booklet after laying them off. #3 is the contest McDonald's held in Japan, with the winners getting free mp3 players with a virus on them. The rest of the top 10 are GM, Kazakhstan, Steve Wynn, The New York Times, Spirit Air, Porter County, and Comcast.

There are 101 in all, so grab a hot beverage and get comfortable. You can't see the entire list on one page, which is a little annoying, but there is a handy scroll function at the bottom.

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]]>bad advertisingbusiness 2.0Business2.0comcastgeneral motorsmcdonald'snew york timesporter countyspirit airwal-martBob Sassone2007-01-24T11:00:00+00:00AdAge In 60 Secondshttp://www.adjab.com/2007/01/19/adage-in-60-seconds/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/19/adage-in-60-seconds/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/19/adage-in-60-seconds/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

  • The potential merger that's been floated between XM and Sirius has, unsurprisingly, been given a thumbs-down by FCC chairman Kevin Martin. I can't imagine why he would think that the only two companies in a particular marketplace merging would create a monopoly. Oh, that's right, because it does.
  • Online video is very cool and there's some awesome content being created for it. But it's still running into problems as an advertising medium because marketers don't quite get it yet and also because of some unintentional contextual missteps.
  • Mary Minnick is leaving Coca-Cola just a month after being passed over for the number two position within the company. Minnick has been with Coke for 23 years and will leave at the end of February.
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]]>coca-colacokefcckevin martinsiriusxmChris Thilk2007-01-19T09:30:00+00:00Kelloggs wants you to put the snack food downhttp://www.adjab.com/2007/01/17/kelloggs-wants-you-to-put-the-snack-food-down/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/17/kelloggs-wants-you-to-put-the-snack-food-down/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/17/kelloggs-wants-you-to-put-the-snack-food-down/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Food giant Kellogs has just launched a campaign that seeks to get people's attention by addressing their urge to snack during peak snacking hours. In addition to that, the ads are created to reference the exact time it's running so that it sounds even more like you're mother who's always nagging you to put down that bite of chocolately goodness because you really could stand to lose a few pounds because you'll never get a man if you look like that and that means she'll never have the grandchildren she's always wanted and which your sister certainly isn't going to give her after announcing her new lifestyle.

I may have wandered off-topic.

Starcom, the agency behind the campaign, created about 30 TV spots and a mess of radio ads as well as web ads, which after pestering you about your snacking then offer a more healthy (and Kelloggs created) alternative). The agency then specified to the media running the ads the time they were to run since that's obviously an important part of the campaign.
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]]>kelloggsstarcomChris Thilk2007-01-17T13:00:00+00:00AdAge In 60 Secondshttp://www.adjab.com/2007/01/12/adage-in-60-seconds/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/12/adage-in-60-seconds/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/12/adage-in-60-seconds/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

  • Deutsch has landed the media planning duties for Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol brand. Deutsch currently handles creative duties for Tylenol and had previously done the planning work before briefly, you know, not.
  • If it's Friday it must be time for a new round of speculation regarding the potential merger between Sirius and XM. While it might be good for shareholders, am I the only one who thinks that a merger of the only two players in a particular market might raise some anti-trust concerns? It's not like they're lowering the number of competitors - they're eliminating competition outright.
  • The New York City Commission on Human Rights has published the minority hiring goals submitted by the agencies to try and make up for the inequality they've been accused of.
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]]>deutschtylenolChris Thilk2007-01-12T09:00:00+00:00Cingular rebrand a waste of equity (and money)http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/11/cingular-rebrand-a-waste-of-equity-and-money/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/11/cingular-rebrand-a-waste-of-equity-and-money/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/11/cingular-rebrand-a-waste-of-equity-and-money/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,

Ball and JackFor some time now, we've been hearing rumors that "the new at&t" would be changing the name of its wireless carrier, which is currently Cingular, but contains part of the old debacle AT&T Wireless, to at&t. Whether or not they are going to make it lower case or not isn't the issue here, it's the fact that they're changing Cingular's name at all. The amount of money that was spent to not only build the infrastructure and the customer base that it currently has, and have it be a "new" company (I've been a customer almost a decade, from when it was Cellular One in New Jersey) rather than an old world one that just happens to have bought its way into the future has to be staggering, but they for some reason feel the need to, now that the megaconglomerate with a lot less employees than it had before the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the divestiture of Ma Bell has sort of reformed itself.

I'm not really sure what the point of it is, unless you really think that people are going to harken back to the olden days of yore (ten plus years ago) when good old AT&T was providing them with phone service at home, or maybe back to the 70s and 80s when you had a nice rotary phone that weighed a ton and you rented from the phone company. What, rented a phone? Wow, and we think that today's terms and conditions are out of control.

On Wednesday, Engadget's Ryan Block mentioned that the company was looking to have the rebranding in place by the time that the Apple iPhone was released, so we're talking June-time here. Aside from the fact that a rebrand may leave Jeff Burton's #31 Chevrolet without a sponsor, potentially, why are they just flipping the switch over to a name that isn't relevant to the younger generation in this company, except for when they are reading about technology? Kids these days don't have at&t products, unless they're (now) Cingular customers or happen to have DSL at home that's brought together by them. The only reason that the next generation is going to "know" at&t is because they bought their way into their lives and changed the names (back and forth) from a ton of companies that they sort of owned in the first place, but willingly changed the names of when the companies split up. I understand the value of speaking in "one voice" to your customers, and maybe that works with bringing in new ones, but what about your existing ones who actually like what Cingular is about, think the jack is a cool logo, like the orange and black colors, and so on and so forth? If investments such as that are waste-able (which is what is going on here) then why bother being creative at all? Why don't we just go back and call everything what it originally was, just so we can make a connection with people who aren't going to be your core customers for the next two decades? I think if A&P will change it's name back to The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, I'd definitely shop there more often. Not. Bell Atlantic changing its name to Verizon (say what you want about the name) actually made sense because the company wasn't just Bell Atlantic anymore. Cingular changing its name "back" to at&t is pure vanity.

Jacks, anyone?
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]]>attcellularcingularrebrandingwirelessTom Biro2007-01-11T11:30:00+00:00UPS wraps new campaign in bubble wrap and prepares to ship outhttp://www.adjab.com/2007/01/06/ups-wraps-new-campaign-in-bubble-wrap-and-prepares-to-ship-out/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/06/ups-wraps-new-campaign-in-bubble-wrap-and-prepares-to-ship-out/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/06/ups-wraps-new-campaign-in-bubble-wrap-and-prepares-to-ship-out/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Package delivery company UPS is launching a new campaign, its biggest since 2002 when it released the "What can Brown do for you?" campaign. This is not tied, though, to the company's centennial anniversary which is this year, this is strictly a business play. The campaign launches today with TV, online and print executions and is titled "Whiteboard" and is still an extension of the "Brown" campaign. It shows a guy at a whiteboard showing how UPS can perform as an integrated business partner for a company. The budget for the campaign is pegged at about $35 million, or the price of sending 5,347,268 lamps to your Aunt Mabel who's retired to the Virgin Islands.
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]]>upswhat can brown do for youChris Thilk2007-01-06T10:00:00+00:00No word, though, on whether AMEX likes big-bottomed girlshttp://www.adjab.com/2007/01/02/no-word-though-on-whether-amex-likes-big-bottomed-girls/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/02/no-word-though-on-whether-amex-likes-big-bottomed-girls/http://www.adjab.com/2007/01/02/no-word-though-on-whether-amex-likes-big-bottomed-girls/#commentsFiled under: , ,

It wasn't until about the second time that I heard the radio spot for American Express' "One" small business card that I was able to place the music they were using. It is, as Matthew Simantov points out, the song "Gimme Some Money" from This is Spinal Tap. The campaign has been running on both TV and radio. Using a Tap song in an ad, much less one of the ones from the band's early career, might violate several of my religious doctrines, but that's for theologians to discuss. Here's the video, thanks to Simantov, of the full song from the movie.
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]]>american expressAmericanExpressonespinal tapChris Thilk2007-01-02T15:00:00+00:00Google in second place to SoftWavehttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/28/google-in-second-place-to-softwave/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/28/google-in-second-place-to-softwave/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/28/google-in-second-place-to-softwave/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While Google makes headlines with every move, either real or imagined, a company called SoftWave Media Exchange is making money selling radio and TV time via an online sales platform. The company did about three-quarters of a million dollars in business transactions in the third quarter of 2006, three times what it did in the first quarter of the year. Right now the selling of cable TV time is still in the testing phase but radio sales are solid enough and the company seems to have the infrastructure in place to make this work.
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]]>googlesoftwave media exchangeSoftwaveMediaExchangeChris Thilk2006-12-28T11:00:00+00:00Google Audio Ads might be delayedhttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/19/google-audio-ads-might-be-delayed/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/19/google-audio-ads-might-be-delayed/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/19/google-audio-ads-might-be-delayed/#commentsFiled under:

Seems Google could hit a significant snag in their plan to sell radio commercial air time: Inventory. The company, according to reports, simply doesn't have enough time for the program to have any real revenue impact or to allow for a thorough trial by advertisers. That's at least part of the reason it is reported to be pursuing a business relationship with CBS that would give it access to the network's radio inventory. That would allow Google to pretty much set its own terms. Without the CBS deal, or another similar one with a large networker, coming to fruition Google is not expected to see any real profits from their Audio Ads program until the middle of 2007. Google sales reps have apparently begun selling advertisers on the idea of integrated radio/online campaigns.
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]]>Chris Thilk2006-12-19T17:00:00+00:00Radio keeps data to itselfhttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/19/radio-keeps-data-to-itself/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/19/radio-keeps-data-to-itself/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/19/radio-keeps-data-to-itself/#commentsFiled under:

Shorter version of the announcement that the Radio Advertising Bureau would now only release ad sales quarterly instead of monthly:

"NO DATA FOR YOU! You come back three months!"
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]]>Chris Thilk2006-12-19T16:00:00+00:00AdAge In 60 Secondshttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/12/adage-in-60-seconds/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/12/adage-in-60-seconds/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/12/adage-in-60-seconds/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

  • Peter Hershberg and Joshua Stylman lay out for marketers exactly what changes are coming from Yahoo! as the search giant builds toward the roll-out of its revamped search advertising platform, dubbed Panama. The overall redesign will bring it much closer to the functionality campaign managers now have through Google and other such platforms.
  • Clear Channel is launching two new niche-appeal radio stations, one targeting NASCAR fans and the other members of the gay and lesbian community. I'm not going to touch the 7,846 jokes that could be made about the intersection of those two groups. I'm just not.
  • The FTC has decided it will not investigate how some marketers are engaging in word-of-mouth practices, a decision that could result in some previously hesitant marketers jumping into the field. The call for such an investigation had come from watchdog group Commercial Alert.
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]]>clear channelcommercial alertftcgooglepanamayahooChris Thilk2006-12-12T12:30:00+00:00Google goes radio and helps small businesseshttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/10/google-goes-radio-and-helps-small-businesses/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/10/google-goes-radio-and-helps-small-businesses/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/10/google-goes-radio-and-helps-small-businesses/#commentsFiled under: ,

Two important stories from the world of Google.

The first is a relatively minor thing, unless of course you're an AdWords advertiser without a web presence of your own. Google will now let AdWords partners create what they're calling Hosted Business Pages. It's not much, just sort of a simple landing page that allows a small business that might not have invested in their own site to have somewhere online to point those ads. Advertisers can build a page with some basic business information such as hours and location.

The second is kind of huge and has been circulating online for a while. Google Audio Ads, their long-awaited radio advertising product, has officially launched in beta. Right now the ads are being produced for just a handful of radio stations and include only a select group of advertisers but it's a start. The launch comes as Google has finally fully integrated DMarc Broadcasting's platform into their own, allowing for the creation of an audio campaign from within the AdWords framework. This kind of system could allow for radio stations to significantly increase their inventory. There's not even a speculative date as to when Audio Ads will become available to more advertisers but I'm guessing it's not going to be too long. Probably as soon as a critical mass of broadcasters open up to it.
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]]>adsenseaudio adsgoogleChris Thilk2006-12-10T06:26:00+00:00I'm getting very confused as to radio's futurehttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/08/im-getting-very-confused-as-to-radios-future/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/08/im-getting-very-confused-as-to-radios-future/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/08/im-getting-very-confused-as-to-radios-future/#commentsFiled under:

Like the title says, I'm confused. I keep hearing a mix of stories that alternately say the radio industry is doing just fine in attracting ad revenue followed by stories like this one that are predicting doom. While radio still gets a higher percentage of dollars than online, online is growing at a far greater rate than radio. The study also says that the print industry is doomed. Oh, and so is TV. So basically everyone is screwed except online.
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]]>Chris Thilk2006-12-08T17:30:00+00:00Radio could be in line to get ad dollars from newspapershttp://www.adjab.com/2006/12/02/radio-could-be-in-line-to-get-ad-dollars-from-newspapers/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/02/radio-could-be-in-line-to-get-ad-dollars-from-newspapers/http://www.adjab.com/2006/12/02/radio-could-be-in-line-to-get-ad-dollars-from-newspapers/#commentsFiled under:

Here's an interesting take a situation. As newspapers rely more on their websites - which don't necessarily have as local an audience as the print editions - for ad revenue, they're more likely to accept nationally-targeted ads. That leaves less inventory available for local advertisers. So what media is positioned to pick up some of those dollars? Radio. Even if this isn't shift isn't being driven by the advertisers, it's an interesting hook for radio time sellers to use when approaching local clients.
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]]>Chris Thilk2006-12-02T15:42:00+00:00Old media not selling new media efficientlyhttp://www.adjab.com/2006/11/30/old-media-not-selling-new-media-efficiently/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/30/old-media-not-selling-new-media-efficiently/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/30/old-media-not-selling-new-media-efficiently/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Here's a revolutionary thought for owners of TV and radio stations. Sell your online assets in a similar manner as you do your core platform. There's a lot of good stuff in this article, which is based on a report from GroupM but it comes down to each media, whether it be TV, radio or newspapers, leveraging their strengths in order to be successful in online ad sales. That means playing up - not ignoring - the local base that makes up a good portion of the audience. It also means selling more package deals and figuring out how to use blogs, podcasts and other new media thingamajigs to their advantage when it comes to getting advertisers interested.
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]]>groupmChris Thilk2006-11-30T12:00:00+00:00Illinois residents told to support utility rate increases or elsehttp://www.adjab.com/2006/11/28/illinois-residents-told-to-support-utility-rate-increases-or-els/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/28/illinois-residents-told-to-support-utility-rate-increases-or-els/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/28/illinois-residents-told-to-support-utility-rate-increases-or-els/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Electricity rates here in Illinois have been frozen for a while now but there's a planned increase coming in January. The two major suppliers, Ameren Corp. and ComEd, are worried that watchdog groups will put the kibosh on those plans, though. That's why they're running a series of ads in the state warning consumers that unless they get their rate hike Illinois residents will face rolling blackouts like those that happen in California and, you know, Iraq. The main push back on the rate increase is that consumer energy bills could go up anywhere from 20 to 50 percent and that has some lawmakers nervous. The ads are designed to scare people into supporting the increase and are part of an estimated $15 million worth of ads throughout TV, radio, print and other media.
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]]>ameren corpAmerenCorpcomedillinoisChris Thilk2006-11-28T13:00:00+00:00Are you going shopping today?http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/24/are-you-going-shopping-today/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/24/are-you-going-shopping-today/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/24/are-you-going-shopping-today/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Best Buy flyerThe "After Thanksgiving Sales!" start today. In fact, the ads for them started days ago, with TV commercials telling us nonstop that there would be deals the day after Turkey Day. And the newspapers for the past day or two have been absolutely jam-packed with advertisements and fliers for the sales.

It's Black Friday, the busiest (and craziest) shopping day of the year. Not only are stores opening earlier than usual, some stores actually opened up at midnight last night! People actually lined up to get into the stores, when they were probably feeling all stuffed and tired from eating too much pie and mashed potatoes. Personally, I don't get it. The mall is the last place I want to be today.

How about you? Are you shopping today?

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]]>after thanksgiving saleAfterThanksgivingSaleblack fridaychristmas shoppingretailersstore flyersstores opening earlyBob Sassone2006-11-24T12:10:00+00:00New ad rules for Florida lawyershttp://www.adjab.com/2006/11/06/new-ad-rules-for-florida-lawyers/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/06/new-ad-rules-for-florida-lawyers/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/06/new-ad-rules-for-florida-lawyers/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that New York area lawyers were fighting proposed restrictions that they felt would stop all advertising, not just the deceptive ads the rules were meant to address. Now Florida lawyers are dealing with a new set of rules themselves. Lawyers now have to submit all their TV and radio advertising to the Florida BAr association for approval. The Bar has listed crocodiles, wolves and other nasty animals as those that are inappropriate for use in ads while eagles, the Statue of Liberty and state flags are just fine. Online and print ads, too, must be approved before being run. Current research shows 70 of direct-mail and about half of print and broadcast ads currently running would violate the new guidelines. So it sounds like Florida lawyers have some work to do to get their ads up to snuff.
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]]>Chris Thilk2006-11-06T14:00:00+00:00Chrysler launched new Nitro campaignhttp://www.adjab.com/2006/11/06/chrysler-launched-new-nitro-campaign/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/06/chrysler-launched-new-nitro-campaign/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/06/chrysler-launched-new-nitro-campaign/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Chrysler is going all out for their 2007 Dodge Nitro. The auto maker is planning on launching a multi-platform campaign for the car that will include TV, print and online elements designed to appeal to men and women alike. The first TV spot in the push debuted during the recently concluded World Series and the next installment breaks this weekend during NFL coverage on CBS and Fox and NASCAR on NBC. Next week print gets added to the mix, with ads set to run in titles like Entertainment Weekly, People and Sports Illustrated. There will even be Nitro placement in the upcoming "NHL 2K7" videogame title.

The spot that debuts this weekend is titled "Planet" and shows a Nitro dropping from a crane and then breaking through the entirety of the Earth until it pops out in China without any damage. So it's really designed to show what the car can do for you and your family.
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]]>chryslerentertainment weeklynitropeoplesports illustratedChris Thilk2006-11-06T11:00:00+00:00Should Google partner with Clear Channel for radio ads?http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/03/should-google-partner-with-clear-channel-for-radio-ads/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/03/should-google-partner-with-clear-channel-for-radio-ads/http://www.adjab.com/2006/11/03/should-google-partner-with-clear-channel-for-radio-ads/#commentsFiled under:

We've known for a while now that Google has been testing out a radio ad network that would enable them to sell commercial time over the air. Now one analyst thinks that the best option for the company as it goes ahead with that would be to take a financial stake in Clear Channel Communications. Doing so, it's argued, would allow Google to add a huge chunk of ad inventory quickly, which would help them move this out of a small number of markets in a more timely manner. Google has been adding radio sales staff in a number of markets but so far has had little actual commercial time for them to sell.

[via SearchEngineWatch]
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]]>googleradio commercialsChris Thilk2006-11-03T14:00:00+00:00