Advertising Age - MediaWorks

Marketers Claim They Can Wait Until Networks Drop Their Upfront Prices

bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00 EDT

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Marketers love TV -- just not at these prices. And so hopes for a neat wrap to an already stalled upfront marketplace have begun to fizzle as advertisers dig in their heels a while longer.

How Spongebob Became an $8 Billion Franchise

ahampp@adage.com(Andrew Hampp) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00 EDT

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Beyond just TV longevity, SpongeBob SquarePants has grown into a nearly $8 billion-dollar-a-year property at retail for Nickelodeon, with more than 700 license partners worldwide, making it the most widely distributed franchise in MTV Networks history, hands -- or pants, as it were -- down.

Package-Goods Giants Lean on Agencies for Cuts

jneff@adage.com(Jack Neff) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00 EDT

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The deepest recession in a generation is prompting package-goods marketers to pile more pressure on agencies, pushing them for ways to slash marketing-services costs.

Inside the Collapse of CNN's 'The Sarah Palin Power Hour'

sdumenco@adage.com(Simon Dumenco) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00 EDT

WASILLA, ALASKA (Feb. 18, 2010) -- Once again shocking the media establishment, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced that she was leaving her CNN talk show, "The Sarah Palin Power Hour," after just four months on the air and well short of the terms of her two-year contract.

So You're an Obsessive-Compulsive Stats-aholic? There's an App for That

sdumenco@adage.com(Simon Dumenco) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00 EDT

To be a media person these days it to constantly struggle with not only knowing too much but knowing what to do once you know too much -- because there's no putting the genie back in the bottle.

Combating Counterfeit Drugs

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:46 EDT

Counterfeit drugs not only cost drug companies a lot of money each year but also can cause long-term side effects or in some cases death. Drug company Pfizer and its agency, Universal McCann, decided to take the lead in fighting against the availability of counterfeit drugs on the internet and shock people into taking the problem more seriously. For a more in-depth look at this Idea of the Week and other case studies, visit Ad Age and CMDglobal's Inspiration site.

A Life Sentence for Drunken Driving

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:42 EDT

Drunken driving is a problem among young people in Malaysia, who seem to think nothing bad will ever happen to them. How to get through to them? A car that had been wrecked in a drunken-driving accident was converted it into what looked like a wheelchair, as a warning to drivers. For a more in-depth look at this Idea of the Week and other case studies, visit Ad Age and CMDglobal's Inspiration site.