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People On The Move April 30, 2007

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Nike
Crispin Porter & Bogusky
Crispin Porter & Bogusky was awarded creative chores on Nike’s running shoe account as well as Web site work for Nike Plus and Nike ID.
Weight Watchers
McCann Erickson
Weight Watchers awarded McCann Erickson creative chores on its $70 million account. Young & Rubicam previously handled the work.
Barack Obama
GMMB and SS&K
GMMB and SS&K were hired by Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. GMMB will handle media buying and strategic efforts while SS&K will handle non-traditional media chores.
Wrigley
In Review
Wrigley is looking to consolidate its creative ad account and has placed its $200 million global account in review.
Next PLC
Mediaedge:cia
Mediaedge:cia was awarded the $20 million brand communications planning and buying account by UK clothing retailer Next PLC. The campaign includes print, outdoor, online and potentially broadcast and will launch later this year. MediaVest Manchester previously handled the account.
Miller Brewing Company
In Review
Saatchi & Saatchi; Bartle Bogle Hegarty; and Young & Rubicam are in contention for creative duties on two Miller Brewing Company brands: Miller Lite and Miller High Life. The accounts are valued at $175 million.
International Olympic Committee
Voluntary United Group of Creative Agencies
Voluntary United Group of Creative Agencies was tapped to create a marketing campaign for the International Olympic Committee. Also competing for $120 million account were Havas Sport, Leo Burnett and incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi.
A.G. Edwards
In Review
A.G. Edwards placed its $19 million advertising account in review. The company parted ways with Carmichael Lynch.

Greatest Hits: Measuring User Engagement In A New Metrics World April 30, 2007

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Greatest Hits: Measuring User Engagement In A New Metrics World
by Michael Rosen, Monday, Apr 30, 2007 6:00 AM ET
THE ONLINE INDUSTRY HAS COME a long way since we used to measure our traffic with “hits.” Gone are the days when an eyeball was an eyeball, was an eyeball. Yet, the debate continues on the most measured medium in history. Even though we offer far more accountability than any offline medium, publishers must still work to show advertisers that users are engaged with their online ads.

Earlier this month, the IAB challenged Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore to be more transparent in their research methodologies so that publishers can reconcile discrepancies between the two measurement companies and their own server logs.

Assessing a site’s potential to deliver ad impressions by number of page views and the number of unique visitors is beginning to come into question under the weight of the advent of AJAX and the increased use of video.

Many have dropped the page view altogether as an audience metric. To fill the void, vendors are coming up with their own interpretations of engagement.

Viewpoint has something called the Engagement Index for rich media ads, which takes into account things like ad display time, clicks-to-run and interaction rate. E-mail vendor Lyris came up with its own Engagement Index weighing things like opens, CTRs, unsubscribes, forwards, and resulting transactions to come up with its metric.

Meanwhile, comScore recently announced that how often a user returns to the site is a good metric for judging user engagement. This “visits” metric, defined as the number of times a unique person accesses content (with breaks between accesses of at least 30 minutes) is a key component of user engagement, explained comScore.

I think there is something to the loyalty factor when considering comScore’s results in how viewers perceive the use of any one particular site over their competitors.

The introduction of these new metrics based on “visits” provides an alternative for measuring user engagement that tells us how frequently visitors are actually returning to the site to view more content.

While each of the “visits” metrics offers a different measure of frequency, the “average visits per visitor” is the most illustrative of return visits per unique individual during the course of a month.

Used in concert with the “unique visitors” metric, this measure can help give a more comprehensive view of a site’s performance, according to comScore. Additionally, I have found that tracking “daily users” helps to determine the overall loyalty factor, yet another important way to gauge a site’s performance.

If engagement — as defined by how often a user returns to a site — has become the gold standard, then it is incumbent on us as publishers to foster loyalty for ourselves and our advertisers.

With the pending DoubleClick and Google deal, speculation is that Google will increase their activity around display advertising. Consider though that vertical content providers are much better suited to provide loyal users with relevant content.

The challenge and opportunity therefore, for vertical content publishers, is to combine engagement metrics with strong compelling content to those users who are engaged with the site. Another is to offer content to users anytime and anyplace, through the Web and on their mobile device, for instance.

At the end of the day, no matter what metric you use, content is what drives loyalty and engagement.

MindShare Bails On J&J Review April 30, 2007

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MindShare Exits J&J Pitch
April 27, 2007
By Steve McClellan

Other incumbents still participating in the J&J review are Universal McCann, Initiative and OMD.

NEW YORK MindShare today said it has exited Johnson & Johnson’s estimated $3 billion global media review.

A client representative said he could not immediately confirm the shop’s status.

An agency rep said the WPP Group media shop notified J&J this week that it was abandoning its bid because “we are at capacity” in many of the offices within its global network. “If we were to win, we were fearful that we would not be able to staff up and take other steps necessary as quickly as we would need to [in order to] service the account properly.”

MindShare handles overseas planning duties for Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, which J&J acquired late last year.

Other incumbents still participating in the J&J review are Interpublic Group’s Universal McCann and Initiative and Omnicom Group’s OMD, per sources.

Last month, the client confirmed putting its global media in play and inviting its incumbents to defend.

The New Brunswick, N.J., company spends more than $2 billion annually in U.S. measured media and approximately $3 billion globally, per sources.

Sources at agency competitors wondered if MindShare’s work for consumer goods giant Unilever—which competes with J&J to some extent—emerged as an issue.

Other sources familiar with the the shop’s exit, however, strongly denied such suggestions, and said conflicts could have been handled to both clients’ satisfaction. (One source noted MindShare’s work for both American Express and HSBC in the financial services sector.)

MindShare executives also concluded that they would struggle to make a reasonable profit on the account given the resources they would need to devote to it, sources said.

But the agency rep insisted that the capacity issue was the main driver in the decision to exit.

When it confirmed the review last month, J&J said, “The recent acquisition of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare created an opportunity to re-evaluate our media agency relationships and enhance the ability of our brands to effectively communicate and leverage investment across the rapidly changing and increasingly diverse media landscape.”

When J&J acquired Pfizer’s consumer healthcare division, it stripped Aegis Group’s Carat of its planning and buying assignment for the account, splitting them between UM and OMD.

UM also currently handles J&J’s North American media chores, while OMD handles J&J products mainly in the rapidly expanding market of China.

J&J plans to make a decision in the global review by the end of June so that the winner has time to staff up for the client’s new planning season, which starts in January.

UK News from Brand Republic April 30, 2007

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NEWS

Visit Scotland: four shops appointed to below-the-line work

VisitScotland appoints four to below-the-line business

by Daniel Farey-Jones Brand Republic
30-Apr-07, 14:45

LONDON – VisitScotland has appointed The Union, Frame, Blue Chip and Equator to handle its £1m UK and Ireland direct, sales promotion and digital spend.

Royal Mail: offers individually tailored CD-roms

Royal Mail offers digital mailers through Sony partnership

by Daniel Farey-Jones Brand Republic
30-Apr-07, 15:00

LONDON – Royal Mail and Sony have established a partnership offering advertisers the ability to post personalised CD-rom brochures to prospective clients and track their responses.

Muirhoward: 'more flexible and therefore more exciting'

Former JWT directors launch integrated agency

by Charlie McCathie Brand Republic
30-Apr-07, 14:35

LONDON – Two former JWT integrated creative directors, Ken Muir and Ray Howard, have launched a creative agency called Muirhoward, with BeatThatQuote.com confirmed as its first client.

JML: new shopping channels

JML buys two TV shopping channels on Sky

by Jacquie Bowser Brand Republic
30-Apr-07, 15:00

LONDON – Household goods retailer JML has bought two Sky EPG positions, channels 631 and 632, enhancing its place in the section of the Sky platform.

Help the Aged: financial services

Help The Aged to target grey pound with financial services arm

by Alex Donohue Brand Republic
30-Apr-07, 15:10

LONDON – Help The Aged, the charity for the elderly, has unveiled plans to set up a financial services division with insurance firm Liverpool Victoria offering insurance products and services.

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Media Life Web Shorts April 30, 2007

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For sale on eBay: A slightly used, error-prone goalie
Online auction site eBay has long been known as a popular place to flog unwanted junk. Now one avid supporter of Italy’s AC Milan soccer club has taken this to the extreme by trying to sell AC Milan’s goalie on the auction site, according to a report from Reuters. The fan had apparently had enough of the Brazilian goalie’s mistakes after AC Milan lost 3-2 to Manchester United. A few years ago the 33-year-old goalie was revered after Milan won the Champions League final after a shootout in which Dida made three saves. But nowadays, Dida’s form is attracting criticism after a series of goofs. While Milan probably pays Dida a hefty salary, eBay users had only scraped together a bid of $97 for the star before the posting was pulled of the site – it seems people aren’t actually allowed to be sold on eBay.

Vudu: Delivering movies from web to TV, wire-free
Masses of messy TV cords are so yesterday, as users of the newest television technology may think if Vudu, a start-up in Santa Clara, Calif. is able to deliver on a device that will allow users instant access to films from the web. The small internet-ready movie box it is developing connects to the television and allows couch potatoes to rent or buy any of the 5,000 films now in Vudu’s growing collection, without a PC or cable subscription. Unlike some tech companies that have been sued over copyright infringement, Vudu has output deals signed with every major studio except Sony, according to The New York Times. Though Vudu hopes to challenge DVDs, movie theaters and cable on-demand programming, it could be years before such technology is perfected and accepted. It’s set to launch this summer.

‘Idol’ charity event sets record for call-ins and texts
“American Idol” fans aren’t just interested in embarrassing performances and instant stardom. Fans set a record for call-ins and text messages during last week’s two-night charity telecast “Idol Gives Back.” The star-laden event, which received a $100,000 donation from Ellen DeGeneres and one for $50,000 from Seattle Seahawks running back Shawn Alexander, has generated more than $60 million in donations for charities dedicated to fighting poverty in the U.S and Africa. Meanwhile, FOXNews.com said more is still being raised through company partnerships. Fox had promised to donate 10 cents for every call-in vote up to 50 million. That number was exceeded in the April 24 episode alone with 70 million toll-free and AT&T SMS votes cast, translating into $5 million. For a limited time, the audio and video performances of both the contestants and celebrity guests will be available for purchase on iTunes.

Student sues university over MySpace degree denial
If you want to be a teacher, influencing the minds of our nation’s young, it’s probably wise not to post a picture of yourself on the internet engaging in drunken debauchery. So goes the message from Pennsylvania’s Millersville University to student Stacy Snyder, who posted a photograph of herself drinking on her MySpace page. The university has refused to grant her an education degree and the teaching certificate that comes along with it, issuing her an English degree instead. In a lawsuit filed last week, Snyder asks Millersville to issue her education degree and teaching certificate, as well as $75,000 in compensatory damages. Snyder was to graduate last year from Millersville’s School of Education. But days before she was to don her cap and gown, campus officials discovered Snyder’s MySpace page, which featured a photograph of her wearing a pirate hat and sipping from a plastic Mr. Goodbar cup. The caption read, “Drunken Pirate.” Snyder, who is now 27 and works as a nanny, was of legal drinking age when the photo was taken. But Millersville officials called the image unprofessional and accused her of promoting underage drinking.

Sorrell Seeks MySpace Moment April 30, 2007

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Sorrell Seeks MySpace Moment
April 30, 2007
By Brian Morrissey and Noreen O’Leary

Martin Sorrell

NEW YORK Eighteen months ago, Martin Sorrell was among those questioning the wisdom of Rupert Murdoch after he paid $580 million for the company behind MySpace.com.

In 2005, Murdoch had embarked on an Internet shopping spree that the WPP Group CEO described as a “willy-nilly” strategy born of a “considerable degree of panic” that typified the concerns of traditional media owners over the loss of consumer attention and ad revenue. While many thought the News Corp. chief overpaid at the time, it turns out Murdoch got what might be the steal of the century—an RBC Capital Markets analyst reckons MySpace could be worth from $10 billion to $20 billion in a few years.

It now looks like Sorrell is searching for his own MySpace moment. In recent weeks, he has been a vocal critic of Google’s proposed acquisition of Internet ad firm DoubleClick, which he had reportedly shown interest in as well, and he is said to be looking at an investment in 24/7 Real Media, which is also an ad server but not considered to be close in caliber. 24/7 did not return calls and Sorrell declined interview requests. He has, in the past, been front and center identifying early opportunities, taking an early interest in marketing services companies and evolving markets like China. Now, he’s attaching a new urgency to investing in the new marketing technologies that will define emerging digital platforms.

In a recent piece published in WPP’s internal publication, The Wire, Sorrell said: “The digital revolution represents a threat—particularly as the Internet and other new media offer clients ways to reach their customers without going through traditional agencies—but also an enormous opportunity which we have to grasp.”

Historically, Publicis, Omnicom and the Interpublic Group of Companies made their digital investments in agencies and talent. Publicis, for instance, has staked its digital future on its $1.3 billion acquisition of Digitas.

Executives at Omnicom and IPG declined to comment on their future digital plans. Omnicom is said to believe that the technology is changing every day and the real game lies in figuring out how to use the data. Omnicom CEO John Wren, on a conference call last week with investors, remarked on Google’s bid for DoubleClick: “I think, depending on [whether] this deal gets approved or not, it will be very beneficial for a company like Omnicom. …By the time this deal gets approved and then implemented, we will be well ahead of everybody else by acquiring the right talent and building out incremental needs. We will have to be a very important client to them and a very important asset to our clients once the lines of privacy—what can be done and what can’t be done—are better defined.”

For his part, Sorrell appears to be pursuing the automation and technologies that are playing an increasing role in the world of marketing. (In a tongue-in-cheek speech at Cannes last year, Sorrell showed a Rube Goldberg contraption of a “fully-automated creative department” to replace the “painters and decorators” he now employs. He joked that of WPP’s 957 or so companies full of “egomaniacs,” the creative people were the worst, with “no common sense, no commercial sense and most of them can’t even add up.” Getting rid of the creative department would make running an ad agency so much easier, he said, adding that he now thinks that’s possible.)

WPP is Google’s largest individual customer, spending $200 million on Google’s search advertising in 2006, up from $150 million in 2005. If Google is successful in its bid for DoubleClick, the Internet giant effectively becomes a WPP competitor—and one that clearly makes Sorrell nervous. In his public comments, Sorrell has frequently cited Google’s market capitalization, underscoring how much larger it is than WPP, even though the holding company employs far greater numbers of people. “[Investors are] saying something about our business model,” he’s said about the differential. The message Sorrell appears to be taking from that is: Google has a highly automated advertising system while WPP is a less-efficient services business. While WPP’s employees are sleeping at night, Google’s machines are generating cash.

What’s more, Google has proven that automating the creative and media process through ad networks is key to the future of digital media. WPP is said to have been talking to 24/7 on and off for the past year. 24/7, for example, places ads on 1,000 sites, which it is expanding into a mobile network. It also operates an ad server that publishers use to display ads on their sites and report their results to advertisers. By owning technology it could use to serve ads, WPP could potentially have access to reams of consumer behavioral data, yet it would likely be limited in its use.

DoubleClick, for instance, has said that Google would not have access to its data, which belongs to its clients. (Yet some have fudged the distinction. The most prominent example is aQuantive, which operates an agency business, Avenue A/Razorfish; ad server, Atlas and media network, DrivePM. All three parts feed each other.)

In a company like 24/7, WPP could use its technology as a platform to build a robust ad network. Here’s how it would work: The London holding company could develop a WPP.com cookie for clients. It would be placed on consumer computers, and then WPP could use the aggregate user behavior to target ads across the Internet for clients. The purchase met some resistance from WPP Internet media agencies. They are said to have a low opinion of 24/7’s network, which many consider to have low-quality sites, sources added. One source, commenting on the benefits of owning both the ad server and data: “It comes down to increased buying power. You can learn a lot and create a lot of leverage.”

In the meantime, Microsoft, which lost out on DoubleClick, is also interested in 24/7. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment. As one source put it: “There’s no way Microsoft will lose a bidding war again, particularly to WPP.” Sorrell publicly bristled at the multiples paid for MySpace. Similarly the WPP chief—and his industry competitors who have also looked at these ad network companies—have blanched at 24/7’s $600 million price tag, sources said. They suggest Microsoft would be willing to go considerably higher than that.

“There are some seismic shifts we’re seeing in the marketplace. It has big implications,” said a WPP competitor. “[WPP] could be moving to a direction that is less creatively driven and much more systems driven.”

WPP has already shown a particular interest in ad networks, investing in mobile search network JumpTap, online gaming network Wild Tangent, and budding video ad network VideoEgg—investments where the unifying thread is automation. In such businesses, Sorrell has found his Google, where machines replace the human process of placing ads. Spot Runner automates the placement of local TV ads, Wild Tangent automates running videogame spots, VideoEgg automates user-generated ads and Visible World automates changing TV creative.

An executive from a competing holding company conceded Sorrell’s
apparent strategy “sounds good” but cautions that it is a tricky balance: “Clients often dictate which ad server agencies use. WPP would need to prove really added value, and ensure clients they won’t take their data and use it in other ways.”

Sorrell recently expressed those very same concerns about a possible DoubleClick-Google combination. “There’s a question over whether our clients want their data on advertising to be made available to Google. I just think the issue for us is whether we are willing to share our clients’ data on targeted [Internet] advertising with a competitor,” he said.

Mark Read, the chief executive of WPP Digital, couldn’t be reached for comment. However, he was quoted in The Wire as saying: “We’d like to make four to six acquisitions a year—we expect the pace to step up a gear.” He added that WPP is also funding its own digital start-ups, but said, “There are a number currently in the works, but they seem to take a frustratingly long time to come to fruition. If anybody has a fantastic idea for a start-up company, they must come to us.”

Yet agencies have a spotty record developing technology assets on their own, and such capabilities are going to be necessary as digital media evolves. “We’re coming into the next phase of incredibly hyper-targeted addressability and there’s a need for media and technology to work together better than ever before,” said a WPP insider. “You can’t be in the business without having technology. [WPP] needs to move in this direction.”

Rob Norman, CEO of Group M Interaction, said WPP’s digital strategy is consistent with its approach to traditional media: “From the perspective of WPP, technology is closer to the front and center of the delivery systems of the future than in an analog world. WPP is making considerable investment in this area, but this is nothing new. In an analog world we’ve invested in optimizing data and planning. This is just a different box of toys,” he said.

And it’s one that is completely changing the marketing game. “[Internet protocol] will eventually pervade every channel we use and thus change every aspect of marketing and communication strategy,” Norman said.

In 2005, at the time of Murdoch’s Internet buying spree, Sorrell took to task corporate execs who weren’t understanding that quickly enough: “The problem is that most of these companies are run by 50- to 60-year-olds who have difficulty in getting it and really don’t want change on their watch, saying, ‘Well the next generation, my kids, and my grandkids are going to have very different media consumption patterns’ is a little bit of a cop-out. It’s actually happening now.”

And the WPP CEO is determined to get out the message that he is not one of them. Sorrell wants investors to know that he is hip to digital media, like Murdoch was with MySpace. “He wants to tell the Street he has an Internet strategy,” said a source. “He hasn’t stepped up and that’s what’s happening here [with 24/7]. But I don’t think he’s going to get it.”

Submedia Goes Above Ground With Campaign April 30, 2007

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Submedia Goes Above Ground With Campaign

Posted April 30th, 2007 by Amy Corr

We’ve all heard of user-generated content. But here’s an interactive user-generated campaign that comes to life when the user (pedestrian) walks past.

Submedia made a name for itself in 2000 when it first placed 350-foot light box displays in subway tunnels. Here’s how it works: As the subway moves, straphangers see ads in the form of 15-second movies, best described as a flipbook come to life. The light boxes play Jedi mind-tricks on eyeballs via small slits that manipulate the compressed, stationary images into something movable.

The technology has seen the light, having been brought above ground to be used for shorter, four-second movies viewed by passing pedestrians.

Using a set of fifteen 6- by 4-foot light boxes, Submedia launched a campaign this month for Land Rover’s LR2 vehicle in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.

“We’ve been able to retrofit our technology from 350-foot displays to a mere four feet so any OOH execution can be brought to life with only the motion of walking required to [trigger] a four-second movie,” said Peter Corrigan, CEO of Submedia. “This allows marketers to repurpose their television spots in just about any outdoor location. Fashion ads to be turned into a catwalk, consumer products can be demonstrated and movie posters can show an action sequence,” he continued.

Be on the lookout for ads at the American Airlines Arena in Miami and Gramercy Park in New York.

The automotive industry uses the technology heavily, for it gives passersby the illusion that a car is moving. Past and present clients include BMW, Hummer, Nissan, Jeep and Lincoln.

The media buy is just like a normal outdoor buy, and Submedia works with vendors such as Fuel Outdoor and Equity Office for ad buy locations.

Creative is installed in roughly four minutes and usually consists of repurposed screen grabs from existing TV spots, bringing the feeling of the TV medium outdoors.

Data Reveals Heavy Users Of Streamed Video, Audio: Streamies April 30, 2007

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Data Reveals Heavy Users Of Streamed Video, Audio: Streamies
by Joe Mandese, Monday, Apr 30, 2007 8:00 AM ET
TV HAS ITS COUCH POTATOES, and now the Internet has a new name for distinguishing, and tracking heavy users of streamed video and audio content. In new research being unveiled today, Knowledge Networks/SRI has dubbed heavy users of such online content “streamies,” and has found that they spend far more time online than the average Internet user. “Like the adoption of broadband several years ago, we’re seeing this as another watershed moment, where people are morphing over to this medium and are beginning to use in a way that is becoming important for advertisers to understand as they look for new ways to reach consumers,” says Robert DeFelice, vice president at Knowledge Networks/SRI, and author of new study, which was derived from the research firm’s ongoing MultiMedia Mentor studies. The research, which tracks the way average consumers spend their day consuming media, found that the highest percentage of streamies – people who streamed video or audio content online at least once during the past week – are most likely to be younger demos. Forty-three percent of boys ages 12 to 17, and 40% of girls the same age qualify as streamies vs. 36% of men 18 to 34 and 16% of women 18 to 34, and only 21% of men 35 to 64 and 11% of women 35 to 64.

DeFelice calls the findings a “benchmark” for understanding the evolution of streamed media content, and says that among the most important findings is the fact that streamies spend more time online, and that they also appear to spend more time with offline media, as well.

Teen streamies spend 28% more time, young adult streamies spend 41% more time and older adult streamies spend 67% more time online than their non-streamie counterparts, he says.

“One of the more interesting findings is that they are not doing this at the expense of other media like television,” DeFelice notes, adding that they simply are using the Internet to consume more audio and video content at times and in places when they cannot access conventional offline media.

Much of that access is occurring during the day when consumers are away from home and at work or at school. Adult users, for example, may be consuming business related content.

DeFelice says KN/SRI still needs to do research on how the streaming is impacting attention to other media that may be viewed or listened to simultaneously.


Joe Mandese is Editor of MediaPost.

JCPenney Turns Its Sales Around through E-Commerce April 30, 2007

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JCPenney Turns Its Sales Around through E-Commerce

Surprisingly, hundred-year-old brick-and-mortar retailer J.C. Penney is in the company of the top five etailers, drawing 926,000 shoppers in its first quarter, according to Business Week.

Since Penney launched its website in 1994, selling just Power Rangers, the company slowly took pressure off its catalog, with that publication’s revenues peaking in the late 90s. Today, catalog sales account for $1.7 billion in sales, while online counts for $1.3 billion.

The Penney’s online destination is also in-synch with its stores. For starters, the web has become a place to sell its slower-moving items: JCPenney.com sells three times as many items as its stores.

Online shoppers can pick up and return orders at stores, and users can check which clothes are in stock at local stores as well. The JCPenney.com site also attracts a younger demographic, 25 to 35, than stores.

U.S. Agency Revenue Jumps 8.8% to $28.2 Billion April 30, 2007

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U.S. Agency Revenue Jumps 8.8% to $28.2 Billion

Sea Change: Internet Drives Marketing-Services Gains; JWT Top U.S. Agency Brand; Dentsu Leads World Chart

Published: April 30, 2007

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Revenue for U.S. marketing-communications agencies jumped 8.8% to $28.2 billion in 2006, the strongest growth since ad spending began to rebound from recession in 2002.

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The hot growth came from marketing services, fueled by digital. Traditional ad agencies, grappling with a shift from old media, saw tepid growth.

Agency revenue from marketing services rocketed 13.1% to $15.1 billion, the strongest growth since the recession, according to the 63rd annual Advertising Age Agency Report. Agency revenue from traditional advertising and media rose just 4.2% to $13.1 billion, the weakest growth since 2003, the first full year of the advertising recovery.

In 2006, U.S. agencies collectively generated less than half of their revenue — 46.4% — from traditional advertising and media planning/buying, with the rest coming from a range of marketing services including digital/interactive, direct marketing, sales promotion, health care and PR. Marketing services grabbed 53.6% of U.S. marketing-communications agency revenue. That was up from 51.5% in 2005, the first year that marketing services topped advertising/media.

Impact of interactive
What’s behind the change? No surprise: the internet. U.S. interactive-agency revenue rocketed 23.1%, driving the increase in marketing services. But digital is more than interactive shops; it’s an integral part of marketing services from direct to promotion. “Interactive is huge,” says Chris Weil, chairman-CEO of Momentum Worldwide, a promotions agency owned by Interpublic Group of Cos. “If anybody in marketing is not a big part of interactive, they won’t be around much longer.”

Traditional advertising certainly is under pressure. The 4.2% U.S. revenue growth for traditional advertising/media agencies roughly tracks with ad spending: U.S. measured spending on traditional media last year grew a soft 3.2%, according to TNS Media Intelligence data.

Among key points from the Agency Report:

The Big Four last year kept the same worldwide-revenue rankings in place since 2003: Omnicom, WPP, Interpublic and Publicis.

Interpublic was No. 1 as recently as 2000. It fell to second, behind Omnicom, in 2001, and third, behind WPP, in 2003. Interpublic could slump to No. 4 in 2007; Publicis, with its faster organic growth and the Digitas acquisition, is coming up fast. Interpublic’s position will depend in part on how much progress it makes this year in its stated goal to achieve organic revenue growth “comparable to industry peers … by 2008.”

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Contributing: Kenneth Wylie