Eddie Bauer Taps Carat Fusion as Agency of Record

Eddie Bauer, the 85-year-old retail, catalog, and online brand, has signed Carat Fusion - formerly known as Carat Interactive - to conduct interactive media planning and buying, and data intelligence via its Citadel product, DM News reports.

The cataloger is still recovering from a rocky road thanks to its former parent, Spiegel. Carat Fusion will use Citadel to aggregate data from all sources to offer an integrated view of the Eddie Bauer consumer, from first touch to the most recent transaction.

Unilever Sees 34% Lift from Water Cooler Ads

Advertisers hoping to reach shoppers at pharmacies can try “coolertising,” the practice of placing a mini-billboard on a water cooler and its cup dispenser, Media Life writes. Water coolers with ads are available from AquaCell Media, in Rite Aid and Duane Reade pharmacies. CBS recently tied the pharmacy environment to its new comedy, Out of Practice, buying every cooler available in Los Angeles and New York.

Unilever has also advertised on coolers, choosing the busiest stores across markets. In a 2005 study of sales of the Dove product Cool Moisture, comparing the outcome at stores that had AquaCell advertising and those that didn’t, Unilever found a 34 percent lift at sites with the ads.

Reader’s Digest Courts Younger Demo

Reader’s Digest Association is reaching for a younger demographic with a new magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, a bi-monthly named after the Food Network star - who is also the magazine’s editor in chief - and targeting women ages 20-30, Mediaweek reports. The magazine will be “very different for Reader’s Digest,” said Laura McEwen, vp, publishing director for RDA. Content will focus on travel, product picks, entertaining, and recipes, with eye-popping photography, vibrant colors, and Rachael Ray’s hallmark spunky personality.

U.K. Internet Ad Spending Up 62%, Tops Outdoor

Internet advertising in the U.K. rose 62 percent to $861 million in the first half and is now worth more than outdoor advertising, Bloomberg reports.

The Internet had 5.8 percent of the U.K. advertising market in the first six months of 2005, more than outdoor’s 5.1, and well ahead of radio’s 3.6.

Search Growth, Google Lead Increase in August

U.S. online users conducted more than 5 billion searches in August - an increase of 4.8 percent from July’s 4.8 billion - and 1.4 million more people used search engines in August (132.4 million) than in July (131 million), according to new data from comScore, reports MediaPost (via MarketingVOX). The searches came on top of search increases in July over June.

Marketers May Face ‘Buzz Disclosure’ Oxymoron

Ad industry attorneys have come to view buzz marketing as a likely area of regulatory involvement and the enforcement of disclosure requirements, especially if people are compensated to participate in buzz programs by marketers and agencies, reports AdAge (via MarketingVOX). It writes that BzzAgent, one of the better-known buzz marketing agencies, changed its policies to comply with advertising regulations and now requires its consumer brand agents to identify themselves as working for marketers.

Experian Releases Commercial Fraud Tool

Experian has launched Commercial Fraud Insight, an authentication tool that helps companies prevent business-to-business fraud. The new commercial tool analyzes application information on a business and its business principal or guarantor, allowing clients to screen multiple data sources for potential fraud indicators.

P & G’s Pantene Plans Preemptive Strike Against Sunsilk

P & G plans to boost its U.S. Hispanic lineup in February with a number of new hair-care products. The company is increasing the line in part because Hispanics, the fastest-growing ethnic group, use more hair-care products proportionally than other demographics, according to AdAge, but also to keep Unilever from bringing its Sunsilk Anti-Sponge products north from Mexico.

Nissin: Cup Noodles Even Eaten in Space

Nissin Food Products will film a commercial on the International Space Station for Cup Noodle, starring a hungry Russian cosmonaut, Yahoo News reports. Space Films, a business that specializes in space images, will send a high-definition camera to the space station aboard a Russian rocket launch, and the ad will air in Japan in November as part of Nissin’s Cup Noodle No Border campaign.

The project makes up part of Japan’s drive to develop commercial spin-offs to its space program.

Yahoo Makes Library Databases Searchable

Yahoo has set out to make the archives of various libraries searchable by search engine via a partnership with the Internet Archive, Adobe Systems Inc., HP Labs, and the University of California, Mediapost reports. The project, run by the newly formed Open Content Alliance, will begin with texts in the public domain, but plans to move on to copyrighted texts.