Heineken Sales

Heineken USA Sales Fell Nearly 11% in 2009

Heineken USA’s sales dipped nearly 11% last year, a reflection of a difficult economic climate for pricey imports as well as erratic and ineffective marketing on its flagship lager brand.

The No. 2 importer’s total sales declined 10.7%, worse than the 9.8% drop for the total imported beer segment as well as the 6.8% decline posted by its chief rival, Corona marketer Crown Imports.

The biggest culprit: a 10% decline in Heineken Lager, the No. 2 imported brand. (The importer’s other Dutch brands, Heineken Premium Light and Amstel Light, also saw steep declines.)

Those struggles prompted Heineken to change creative agencies last year, as the marketer dumped Wieden & Kennedy for Euro RSCG, which became its fourth creative shop since 2006.

Subaru Gains Traction as Auto Industry Stalls

Carmaker Forgoes Reason for ‘Love’ in Ad Push That Led to 6% Boost in New-Car Sales

DETROIT (AdAge.com) — As the auto industry sputters through its worst sales year since 1993, Subaru of America is clipping along, and it’s doing so without an ad message touting price, performance or gas mileage. Despite offering the lowest incentives in the industry, the niche brand reported the industry’s biggest percentage jump in U.S. new-vehicle sales — 129,298 units through August, according to Automotive News, some 5.8% better than a year ago.

FULL ARTICLE

The Ongoing Elusiveness of Measuring Online Search Panelists at Digital Talk Seemed Flummoxed by Putting Value on Engagement

Advertising Week 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Panelists at Ad Age’s Digital Bites Breakfast on Wednesday at New York’s Paley Center for Media spoke of the elusiveness of measuring the engagement value of online search and of the intricacies of search as part of a broader marketing campaign. But when talk turned to the need to coordinate reach and frequency targets with site engagement, the frustration punctuated the entire discussion.

FULL ARTICLE

Cereal Business Gives Boost to General Mills

Sales Up for Fiscal Quarter as Company Says More Consumers Eating at Home

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — General Mills reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings Wednesday. The company cited particularly strong growth in its cereal business, and said increased marketing investment helped keep its brands top-of-mind.

FULL ARTICLE

Turns Out, We’re Not Such Big Multitaskers MRI Study Finds Most Media Usage Confined to One at a Time

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Marketers have begun to believe that the average consumer is able to surf the web, answer a cellphone, read a newspaper or magazine, listen to an iPod and watch TV all at the same time. Yet a report released by MRI this week found that multitasking is less frequent than might be expected.

FULL ARTICLE

These Boots Were Made for Rocking

Vans Unveils Kiss-Branded Skate Shoes

Songs for Soap

To celebrate that fateful day in 1978 when all four members of the rock band Kiss released solo albums, skatewear brand (and main sponsor of the Warped Tour) Vans is releasing the Vans x Kiss Sk8-Hi commemorative T-shirt and shoe pack sometime in the “late fall” of this year.

FULL ARTICLE

Boosting Fashion Sales With In-store Garment History Stories A 3 Minute Ad Age Video Report

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — A 3-year-old apparel shop in New York’s SoHo district is using history as a primary fashion-marketing tool. Called Operations, the shop is cited by Brand Experience Lab Chairman David Polinchock as one of the better examples of a retailer that has successfully infused both its in-store environment as well as its product lines with a rare and engaging sense of authenticity. The staff at Operations is regularly trained in the historical storylines related to every product.

FULL ARTICLE

SAG, AFTRA Agree to Extend Contracts

Negotiations Buy Time, but Long-Term Outlook for Commercials Still Cloudy

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) — Just in time for Labor Day, a labor cease-fire. Late Wednesday evening, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild announced they had reached an agreement to extend their commercials contracts with the ad industry. That stopgap adds six months to a deal that was set to expire Oct. 29, but does little to quell fears of more labor strife.

FULL ARTICLE

Blockbuster Tie-Ins Power BK’s Summer Sales 3 Minute Ad Age: August 29, 2008

3 Minute Ad Age

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — “The Dark Knight” may have been the king of summer blockbusters, but Burger King ruled the summer kids’ meal tie-ins. The chain promoted “Iron Man,” “Incredible Hulk” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” and credited the partnerships for its impressive same-store sales this summer. McDonald’s, meanwhile, focused on a “Kung Fu Panda” promotion, building on the success of its “Shrek the Third” promotion last summer.

FULL ARTICLE

Creativity: Bogusky to Write Dieting Tome

What Will BK, Dominos Think About This?

Adages

According to Ad Age sibling Creativity, Alex Bogusky — the man whose agency made Burger King a pop-culture icon and is carving out a similar path for pizza giant Dominos — will be rolling out a new book, “The 9-Inch Diet.”

FULL ARTICLE

GM Brings Back Employee-Pricing Strategy Automaker Looks to Discount Tactic to Boost Slumping Vehicle Sales, Clear Inventory

DETROIT (AdAge.com) — With America’s new-car market in the dumps, General Motors Corp. returned to one of its former strategies to try to goose sales. The automaker is bringing back “employee discounts” this week that will continue through Sept. 2, calling the limited-time offer its “100th Anniversary Sales Event” as a prelude to its centennial celebration next month.

FULL ARTICLE

Get Video Now and Generate Ad Sales

Twistage CEO David Wadler on Turning Clips Into Revenue How To The Web video economy is at the tipping point in terms of developing an advertising business model. If you’re sitting on video archives or creating content now, Twistage CEO David Wadler has some simple advice: start wringing revenue from those clips. Here’s how… FULL ARTICLE

Metacafe Forms 12 Partnerships 60 Frames, Aniboom Among Creators News Web-video pioneer Metacafe chugged along as some clip destinations rose and fell. Now the site is gathering content allies. FULL ARTICLE

Slow Sales Growth Projected for Web Video Business to Hit $1 Billion in 2011 News Recent research indicates that the Web-video economy is crystalizing, but won’t nip at the heels of traditional TV advertising for years to come. It’s a pennies versus dollars game. FULL ARTICLE

NBC Chooses Exclusivity for Olympics 2,200 hours of Coverage on NBCOlympics.com Only News Keeping control of Olympics content drives NBC’s decision not to share its live Web coverage of Beijing games with other partners. FULL ARTICLE

IAB Proposes Web Video Ad Tech Standards Group Strives to Regularize Burgeoning Market News The Web video advertising market is a veritable Babel. IAB is trying to get everyone to talk the same language. FULL ARTICLE

FTC Study: Dollars Spent on Marketing to Kids Much Lower Than Thought

Figure Drops from $10 Billion to $1.6 Billion

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — It turns out food and beverage marketers are spending $8.4 billion less to target children than initially thought. But some in Congress say it’s still too much. A Federal Trade Commission report on marketing of food products to kids features the first numbers gleaned from actual company marketing documents. The FTC report says food, fast food and beverage makers spent $1.6 billion marketing to children under 17 in 2006.

FULL ARTICLE

If Automakers Thought June Was Bad No Relief in July as New-Car Sales Continue to Drop; but Prius, Compact SUVs Move Off Lots

DETROIT (AdAge.com) — Only one car company, American Honda Motor Co., is expected to show a rise in new-vehicle sales when otherwise bleak July results are tallied later this week.

FULL ARTICLE

Lazarus to Exit As Ogilvy & Mather’s Global CEO

Asia-Pacific Chairman Miles Young Will Assume Post

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — After more than a decade at the helm of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Chairman-CEO Shelly Lazarus, 60, announced a succession plan that will place Miles Young, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Asia-Pacific, into the global CEO seat effective Jan. 1, 2009, according to executives familiar with the matter. Ms. Lazarus will retain her title as chairman of Ogilvy Group.

FULL ARTICLE

Mini USA Sales Surge 33%

BMW-Owned Brand Ups Production to Meet Demand

DETROIT (AdAge.com) — Mini USA managed a whopping 33% jump in new U.S. car sales in the first half of 2008 vs. a year ago — a major feat in the industry’s worst sales year in at least a decade.

FULL ARTICLE

More Consumers Make the Switch to Macs

Analysts Say Apple’s Disciplined Marketing Is Behind Trend, not Just Vista ‘Debacle’ YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) — Sales figures back up indications that more consumers are saying goodbye to Windows and hello to Macs. Analysts agree that while the Vista operating system’s poor public reception — deserved or not — has done little to spur PC sales, they also caution that it’s not the only factor driving Mac’s increasing market share. FULL ARTICLE

Stimulus Checks Boost Retail Many Stores See a Welcome Bump in June Sales Figures NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — After months of getting hammered by negative same-store sales results, retailers were provided a temporary reprieve in June as consumers spent those stimulus checks. FULL ARTICLE

Execs Admit Competition to Blame for Flat Corona Sales Predicted Summer Surge Never Happened, but No Change in Ads Planned CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — When Corona Extra last year suffered its first sales decline in 16 years, executives at the brand’s U.S. importer said a price increase, not stronger competition, was to blame. If history was any guide, the executives said, sales would surge back to their usual robust pace as soon as the competition’s pricing caught up to Corona’s. That’s not exactly happened this time around. FULL ARTICLE

ConAgra’s Linne: Keeping Iconic Brands From Languishing Senior VP-Advertising Has a Stable of Cupboard Staples That He Wants to Be More Top of Mind CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — ConAgra has already established a stable of iconic brands — but it has also let them languish. Dave Linne, who took over as senior VP-advertising, said his job will be to make them more top of mind, with advertising that reinvigorates the likes of Pam cooking spray, Reddi-Wip, Egg Beaters, Chef Boyardee, Hunt’s tomato products and Orville Redenbacher. FULL ARTICLE

Why SAG, AFTRA Fight Will Spill Over Into Ad Negotiations Nerves Still Frayed Over Actors Unions’ Conflicting Negotiations With Broadcasters LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) — In a joint interview with Advertising Age, Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists National President Roberta Reardon traded barbs and accusations, while nonetheless expressing a desire for “peace” and “joint negotiations.” FULL ARTICLE

Patron’s Death Puts Ruby Tuesday in Hot Seat Restaurant Chain Suggests Allergic Customer Made Bad Choice CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Ruby Tuesday is taking heat over what’s interpreted by some as a mishandled response to a patron’s death. Rodney Hawkins, a rapper in Lovejoy, Ga., with a severe shellfish allergy, died from anaphylactic shock after consuming the restaurant’s Chicken Oscar — a dish that comes topped with crab meat. FULL ARTICLE

Why Unilever Is Quite Unexcited About Using HDTV Ads A 3 Minute Ad Age Video Report NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Although hyping the advertising potential of HDTV is all the rage across the sales side of televisiondom, more than a few big marketers have yet to be convinced. In fact, one of the biggest, Unilever, is quite unexcited about the whole thing. And that’s no small issue, given that the package goods giant buys $2.2 billion worth of U.S. advertising each year. In other news, ABC’s sales chief is not happy with talk about programming commercials according to their performance. And some big rock stars have launched their own lines of coffee, which we put to the taste test. FULL ARTICLE

It’s a Chungle Out There Retire These All-American Business Phrases The Big Tent After six months, I have already logged more than 100,000 miles on one airline. Criss-crossing the country on planes with no internet or cellphone access has been a blessing. I read. I relax. I skip bad airplane food. I write my blog for Ad Age. And I have a chance to meet some of the most interesting people on the planet. Well, not always. FULL ARTICLE