| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Kraft Heinz Plans $50M Spending Boost
| | | The merged company's chief operating officer George Zoghbi, on a conference call with analysts Thursday, said plans call for trimming of other costs while increasing media ad spending by $50 million to at least three-quarters of total marketing budget. Campaigns are planned for Heinz Ketchup, Kraft Mac & Cheese and Capri Sun Organic juice, among other plans, according to an Ad Age report.
Why This Matters: Heinz began the year off aggressively with its "Meet the Ketchups" Super Bowl spot and plans to continue marketing key brands throughout the year. Kraft has always been a big ad spender, averaging some $570 million on U.S. media in 2014, but Heinz has been less of a spender in the past, averaging only about $44 million that same year.
A Take: Ad Age
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| | #2 | NBC, Amex Latest to Experiment With Commercials
| | | American Express will run a Leap Day stunt with NBC on Feb. 29, running branded content during commercial breaks between shows. The content spots will run during Today and Late Night With Seth Meyers, along with The Voice and Blindspot in primetime. The content will total about 30 minutes across those shows and replace traditional TV commercials. Amex will promote its Blue Cash Everyday credit card as sponsor of the content spots, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Why This Matters: Turner and Viacom are other TV companies who have been experimenting with the replacement of traditional TV commercial pods, by either running less commercials within each show or running native content spots rather than the usual product specific pitches. Alison Tarrant, executive VP, client partnerships, NBCU, says, "We have to test to learn. We need to be more nimble, we need to be more creative and we need to take more risks."
Three Takes: NYT | B&C | MediaPost
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| | #3 | AMC Targets Broadcast Upfront Ad Dollars
| | | AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan in a fourth-quarter earnings call made a case to Wall Street analysts that the company's primetime program ratings make it a viable alternative for media ad buyers during the upfront buying period, particularly for those seeking younger viewers, according to an Ad Age report. Sapan said last year AMC had seven of the top 10 most upscale dramas on TV and finished third among adults 18-49 buoyed by shows like The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul.
Why This Matters: Turner was the first major cable network to publicly take on the broadcast networks during broadcast upfront week back in 2008. Turner's goal at the time and since has been to try to gain ad pricing parity with the broadcast networks. Turner was not that successful in stealing a large share of dollars away from broadcast but continues to hold its upfront presentation the same week as the broadcasters. "Advertising continues to be a growth area for us," AMC's Sapan said. But it remains to be seen how successful AMC can be in stealing away broadcast dollars on a large scale basis.
A Take: Ad Age |
| #4 Rubio Top Political Ad Spender (MediaPost)
#5 Meredith Shuts Down More Magazine (WSJ)
#6 Friendly's Picks Shafer Condon Carter (Ad Age)
#7 Five Brands With Election Year Tie-Ins (Digiday)
#8 Havas Organic Growth 5.1% in 2015 (Adweek)
#9 Honest Company Focusing on Millennial Moms (eMarketer)
#10 Why Agencies Lose Pitches (MediaPost)
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Percentage of U.S. Internet users who say poor phone communications with a company is the most frustrating type of company customer service, according to a survey by Aspect. Next in order of frustration level is company websites, where 15% of consumers deride the quality of customer service they get going that route.
– Reported by eMarketer |
| | Ratings | 'Idol' Rebounds
By Michael Malone
Fox seized the broadcast ratings crown Thursday, riding an invigorated American Idol to a robust 2.1 rating in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 7 share. CBS was next at 1.9/6, ABC at 1.8/6, NBC at 1.0/3 and The CW at 0.7/2.
American Idol, featuring an emotional performance from Kelly Clarkson and an extraordinarily pumped up crowd, did a 2.1 across two hours, up 5% from last week.
Broadcast was up against yet another GOP debate, this one on CNN.
CBS had The Big Bang Theory at its usual 3.7 while Life in Pieces ticked up 5% to 2.2, then Mom at a flat 1.8 and 2 Broke Girls up 13% to 1.7. Drama Elementary was up a tenth at 1.1.
On ABC, Grey's Anatomy slid 5% to 2.1, and Scandal was a flat 1.7, then How to Get Away With Murder went up 7% to 1.5.
NBC's struggling You, Me & the Apocalypse did a flat 0.6 and The Blacklist a flat 1.3, then Shades of Blue was off 9% at 1.0.
CW had DC's Legends of Tomorrow up 13% to 0.9, and The 100 up 20% at 0.6. For more, click HERE |
| | Fates & Fortunes | • SUMMER ANNE BURTON has been named the first executive creative producer at BuzzFeed. She will mentor creative talent, edit and refine the publisher's native advertising content and work across departments to develop a global, cross-platform ad strategy. Burton has been with Buzzfeed for the past four years and served in assorted editorial roles, including editorial director of BFF, a content creation unit, along with managing editorial director and weekend editor. Now she moves over to the creative and ad side of the company.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
Editorial Team
John Consoli, Contributing Editor
Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
Jon Lafayette, Business Editor, Broadcasting & Cable
Phone: 917-281-4735 | Send Email
Brian Moran, Managing Editor, Broadcasting & Cable
Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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