- Mark Levin Signs Multi-year Deal with ABC, Expands Show to 3 Hours
- Consumerist.com Adopted by Old-School Consumers Union, Stops Selling Ads
- For Auto Industry, 2009 Holds Even Tighter Ad Budgets
- User-Generated Magazine Publisher 8020 Media Shuts Doors
- Out-of-Home, Fueled by Digital, to Weather Recession Well
- Clear Channel Swaps Cincy Stations for Five in Green Bay
- Consumers Swarm to Discounters for Grocery Items, Don’t Switch Back
- Wikimedia Raises $6.2M to Keep Wikipedia Afloat
- Conde Nast’s Jan. Ad Pages Slip More than Most
- Aegis Faces Possible Sale or Spin-off of Non-core Businesses
- Top US Cities for Charitable Givers, by Category
- Online Fitness, Video Game Spending Outperforms Brick-And-Mortar
- RIM Must Fix Glitches, Boost Satisfaction To Hold Off iPhone
- LCD TV Revenue to Fall YoY for First Time Ever
- Top 10 Broadcast Media Websites - November 2008
- Top 10 Entertainment Online Advertisers by Image-Based Impressions - November 2008
- Top 10 Sports Websites - November 2008
- Eight in 10 Online Holiday Shoppers Read Web Reviews
- Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index: Merry Outlook for Some, but Not Others
- Firefox Share Tops 20% in November
Youth
Consumers Union Picks Up Consumerist.com
Hoping to attract youthful readers, Consumers Union—publisher of Consumer Reports—is purchasing Consumerist.com, a cheeky consumer-advocate blog owned by Gawker Media, MarketingVOX reports.
Unlike Gawker, which is selling a panoply of online properties to hedge its bets against falling ad sales, Consumers Union is little affected by the vagaries of the online ad market.
Non-profit status and a...
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Study: Fast-Food Ad Ban Would Cut Childhood Obesity 18%
A US ban on fast-food advertisements during children’s programming would reduce the number of overweight children (age 3-11) in America by 18%, and would lower the number of overweight adolescents (age 12-18) by 14%, according to a largest-of-its-kind study conducted for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), writes Marketing Charts.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of...
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Campbell’s Soup Partners with ‘Tale of Despereaux’
Campbell Soup Company has entered into its first-ever major movie partnership—with Universal Pictures’ animated adventure ”The Tale of Despereaux” for its condensed soup brands—including an on-pack promotion on 50 million labels of participating Campbell’s Chicken Noodle and Tomato soup cans.
Based on the award-winning book by Philadelphia-born author Kate DiCamillo, “The Tale of Despereaux”...
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Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy Have ‘Best’ Holiday Ads; Emotional Ads Resonate
Asked which retailer has the best holiday TV commercial, consumers ranked Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Macy’s, and Kohl’s as favorites, according to a survey conducted for the NRF’s Retail Advertising and Marketing Association by BIGresearch.
Other retailers on the top 10 list include Sears, Kmart, JCPenney, Old Navy, and Toys “R” Us.
Well-known celebrities, “True Story” campaigns, children’s...
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Toys ‘R’ Us Flagship to Open 24 Hours a Day
The Toys “R” Us Times Square flagship store will be open 24 hours starting 6 AM, Dec. 19, to 8 PM, Dec. 24—or 134 consecutive hours—the company said Tuesday (via Crains New York).
The Toys “R” Us decision comes day after competitor KB Toys filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and began prepping going-out-of-business sales.
“We want to be sure our customers have enough time to select the...
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Malls Cause Frustration, Boredom for Shoppers
More than 80% of shoppers say they had at least one problem during their last visit to a mall, and four-fifths of those problems were related to mall diversity and “excitement,” according to a study by the Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Verde Group, Marketing Charts writes.
Overall, shoppers experienced an average of three problems...
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More Online Shoppers Soon to Pass on Plastic
Traditional credit cards, though not becoming obsolete, are expected to get some competition from other payment methods among online consumers, according to a five-year projection by Javelin Strategy & Research (via Internet Retailer).
Online transactions will still be dominated by credit cards in 2013 (comprising 40% of a forecast $268 billion), but other forms of payment will have higher...
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Kohl’s Gets Exclusive on Mudd
Kohl’s and Iconix Brand Group have signed a multiyear licensing agreement that gives Kohl’s the exclusive retail rights to MUDD apparel, accessories, jewelry, and domestics.
The agreement will be effective July ‘09, when Kohl’s will take over the product design, manufacturing, production, distribution, sales, and marketing of the MUDD collection, excluding footwear.
Kohl’s will expand its...
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No More Bratz after Christmas - Judge to MGA
A US federal court banned MGA Entertainment from making and selling all 40 multi-ethnic dolls in the Bratz line, BBC reports.
The ruling will cause “a humongous chunk” of MGA’s business to disappear, said a Needham & Co analyst. The urban fashion dolls were estimated to be making profits of about $500 million a year for MGA.
Mattel, which makes Barbie dolls and accessories, sued MGA in August,...
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Weak Mall Traffic Impacts Claire’s Bottom Line
Claire’s, a seller of low-priced jewelry and accessories—and a fixture in many US shopping malls—reported (pdf) net sales of $333.0 million for 3Q08, a 6.8% decrease from the same period last year.
Though the average sales per transaction went up 6.2% due to an increase in average ticket prices, average transaction per store fell 11.2%; consolidated same-store sales declined 6.3%...
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