» 2007 » December - The Cycle

Coke bulks up its health, wellness messaging with fitness show

Posted December 28, 2007

Coke announced today that it has entered into a two-year sponsorship agreement with on-demand fitness network, Exercise TV. The agreement takes effect on the first of the year.

As part of its agreement with Exercise TV, Coke’s Enviga green tea and brand images will appear on some of the channel’s 200 workout shows. The two will also create original Enviga programming, USA Today reports. Other elements of the agreement include exclusive content for MyCokeRewards.com. Some of the company’s non-cola product lines are Minute Maid, Powerade, Enviga and Dasani.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Coke, like many other companies who get knocked by health and wellness advocates, has been looking to expand its portfolio to include products that will appeal to the health-conscious consumer and did so earlier this year with its purchase of Glaceau, which own Vitaminwater.

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Tags:Coca-Cola

Apple ends the year looking quite ripe

Posted December 28, 2007

After another stellar year you’d think Apple might ease up a bit during the last few days of the year and take some time off from brokering new deals to bask in the glory of selling God only knows how many iPods and iPhones during the holidays. Think again.

During the last week of the year not only did the company’s stock manage to hit a new high of more than $200 a share, but it has also into an agreement with 20th Century Fox for digital movie rentals.

And rumor has it that there will be more than one major movie studio will be on stage with Steve Jobs at at the company’s Macworld Exhibition in mid-January to promote the new Apple movie rental service. Companies like Amazon and Movielink have managed to maintain a dominant position over Apple in the area of digital movie rental service. But it now appears that Apple is poised to make a major move in the space. If Amazon and Movielink want to keep the upper hand they would be wise to follow Apple’s example of not resting.

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Gold leggings and immigration reform

Posted December 28, 2007

American Apparel founder Dov Charney fears not that the liberal persona he’s attaching to his brand and advertising, literally, will hurt sales of the high-wasted leggings, baggy cotton t’s, and trendy accessories. In fact, the buzz, controversy, and liberal message – a recent New York Times ad invoking immigration reform – for the casual and somewhat alternative brand could provoke sales among its relatively young buyers. However, while other viewers and I might speculate on the possible effect of the ad on the business, Charney tells WWD he’s not sure what impact the ad will have in that area. According to his quotes in this WWD story; his past comments that politics don’t sell; and good common sense following a close read of the ad, Charney’s intentions exceeded the financial.

“It’s important that business leaders and celebrities start talking about this issue. From an academic, human and economic point of view, this is good information to put out there on behalf of our corporation.”

However, WWD also reports that Charney wasn’t quite prepared to deal with the resulting attention. “I am thinking it through. I want to see if I can play a role in bringing some intelligence in this issue,” he told the fashion trade, also comparing the act to Levi’s desegregating its factories in San Francisco during the civil rights movement.

“Why did Levi’s do it? Probably because it was the right thing to do at the time. And they became known as a company that represented what America was all about,” said Charney. “What Levi’s was to San Francisco, we aspire to be to Los Angeles.”

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Tags:American Apparel, immigration, WWD

Book of Lists (continued)

Posted December 28, 2007

As previously discussed, this year we introduced a new category to the Book of Lists - Web sites that annoyed (as of December 3). One of our selections was Waggener Edstrom, for their homepage design. They’ve now changed it - and it is much, much better. Waggener Edstrom, yours is no longer a Web site that annoys. We will make sure to keep track of our other entrants to see if they’ve changed up theirs.

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Tags:Waggener Edstrom, Web sites that annoyed

Markets to watch in 2008

Posted December 28, 2007

Video rental - both mail and online

Wal-Mart it is shuttering its online movie download service.

Blockbuster has raised prices for its Total Access service.

News Corp and Apple have entered into a deal to offer Fox movie rentals online.

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Tags:Apple, Blockbuster, News Corp, Video rental, Wal-Mart

When the correction is (almost) larger than the post

Posted December 27, 2007

The NYT’s Virginia Heffernan - - had to issue a major one, on a story about Neo-Nazis and Ron Paul. We’ll wait for the ombudsman to weigh in on this one before making a judgment, but it’s our belief that if you’re doing a story alleging a Presidential candidate is meeting with white supremacists, you might want to check with the candidate’s camp first.

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Tags:New York Times, Ron Paul, Virginia Heffernan

Campaign quicksand

Posted December 27, 2007

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager and media relations team is in a bit of bind this week. The campaign has to address why they won’t release Huckabee’s sermons while he served as a Baptist pastor. Maybe they can’t. Perhaps they don’t exist anymore. But the campaign is faced with the dilemma of how to approach this recent Mother Jones article about its refusual to provide the sermons.

From a communications standpoint, how to proceed is no easy task. If they release the sermons, it opens the former governor up for ridicule on his religious beliefs, a sensitive issue given the role of the evangelical vote in deciding the 2004 presidential election. If they refuse to release the sermons, it opens up Huckabee for ridicule that he has something to hide.

In the end, the campaign will have to decide on its messaging strategy for the presidential hopeful. Will they spin the message that Huckabee is unafraid of exposing who he truly is, and what he believes? Or will the message be that Huckabee is smart enough not to provide his political enemies with more potential ammunition?

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Da Vinci

Posted December 27, 2007

We’ve heard of our first non-WPP professional getting approach for the Da Vinci agency. He/she turned it down. Have you been approached? Do tell… Anonymity guaranteed.

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Lists… oh yeah

Posted December 26, 2007

Since we’re all about lists here this week, and it’s getting play elsewhere, enjoy this link to Pierce Mattie’s 20 publications to watch in 2008. For the record, PRWeek’s list of publications to watch is much smaller: PRWeek.

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Media training 101

Posted December 26, 2007

Will Smith apparently did not get the memo that celebrities should never, never, never try to make a , unless it is to say how the man was evil and reprehensible. No one has ever said, “Wow, Mr. Celebrity, that was an astute comment about Hitler.” It appears that the ADL has accepted his explanation/clarification, but it could have all been avoided if he merely said, “I’m an action movie star and I shouldn’t be discussing weighty matters.”

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Tags:bad ideas, media training, Will Smith

Coke bulks up its health, wellness messaging with fitness show

Apple ends the year looking quite ripe

Gold leggings and immigration reform

Book of Lists (continued)

Markets to watch in 2008

When the correction is (almost) larger than the post

Campaign quicksand

Da Vinci

Lists… oh yeah

Media training 101

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