Mountain Dew will sponsor nightly shuttles outfitted with cameras to capture revelers during the Winter X Games in Aspen January 26-30, Adrants reports. The video will be broadcast on Plum TV in Aspen, Vail and on the Mountain Dew MDX Be Nocturnal site.
A new multi-channel media and lifestyle company, Sisterwoman.com, plans to launch its site in March, combining women’s interests with social networking aimed at women age 28-50, according to cofounder and online advertising veteran Allie Savarino, writes MediaPost (via MarketingVOX). Savarino, who helped launch Unicast, is joined in the undertaking by former journalist Sally Rodgers, former E! and MTV executive Joe Shults, and MSN advertising team member Bart Barden. Sisterwoman.com visitors will be able to create closed circles of friends and loved ones, and open circles based on hobby and location. They will be able to exchange text, videos, photos, and social calendars.
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Jumpstart Automotive Media is launching a new service next week that it says will give auto dealers the opportunity, for a flat fee, to have their dealership name and phone number locally targeted and highlighted on in-market car research sites like NADA Guides and Consumer Guide.
Internet Broadcasting had a record 12.94 million online visitors for December 2005, a year-over-year increase of 29 percent. The company says its online local coverage of weather and news events during the period contributed to its second consecutive record traffic month, outpacing major industry competitors. The company co-produces 74 TV station web sites for NBC, Cox Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle, The McGraw Hill Companies, Post-Newsweek, Scripps Howard, and Capitol Broadcasting Company.
Starz Entertainment Group, The Hollywood Reporter and Sandra Carter Global have launched Starz The Hollywood Reporter, a weekly half-hour entertainment news program premiering today at 8:30 p.m. on Starz.
Every Thursday, journalists from The Hollywood Reporter will discuss current films and major entertainment topics. Starz The Hollywood Reporter will talk to actors, directors, producers and industry insiders. The show also will follow trends, changes in the marketplace, domestic and international boxoffice numbers, marketing strategies and executive news.
Saying that it’s better for China’s internet users to be able to access at least some content, Google is planning to launch new search and news sites in China that censor material which the government there finds objectionable, reports CNET (via MarketingVox). Expected to launch today, Google.cn will include notes on results pages disclosing that content has been removed. “Google.cn will comply with local Chinese laws and regulations,” Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel for Google, said in a statement. Because China often blocks websites, internet users there have had trouble accessing Google services.
The Village Voice veteran publisher Judy Mizner has been axed by the new owners, who brought in Michael Cohen, publisher of the Miami New Times, the New York Post reports. Jim Larkin, CEO of Village Voice Media, which merged with New Times in the fall, said of Cohen, “He really understands free circulation. He’s a total newspaperman.”
The Voice has undergone a transformation in top posts, with editor Don Forst resigning last month and the post remaining unfilled. In the meantime, managing editor Doug Simmons has been taking on editorial duties.
Heineken is launching its second nationwide ad campaign on internet jukeboxes via Ecast’s interactive jukebox network, Adrants writes. The campaign will run on 4,400 jukeboxes in bars and taverns throughout the country, featuring a microsite, downloadable collections of music, and a Heineken-branded trivia game.
Ecast’s jukeboxes include features such as high intensity tri-color LEDs mounted behind translucent lexan panels, vast music selections, and the capability to accept credit cards.
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The lingerie brand called Agent Provocateur plans to launch a new viral campaign - an 8-minute film that will appear on a microsite on Feb. 9, Brand Republic reports. Until that date, viewers of a trailer can sign up to receive an alert when the full-length film appears online and can also, of course, forward the link to a friend.
The film, called Tied Up at the Office and directed by Mike Figgis, is shot in black and white and mixes lingerie-clad mannequins with footage of actors.
Real Networks designed and is hosting the microsite, and will promote it across many of its RealGuides entertainment venues.
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Media planners seeking to buy in the 18-34 and minority demographics can plan to see inventory plummet and the market become controlled by one player, as UPN and the WB networks merge to form a new network called the CW. The depth of the fallout cannot yet be fully understood, but it is clear that the merger is just the sort of consolidation buyers dread, Media Life writes. “I’ve never seen a consolidation, no matter how it’s been dressed, look like a real good thing to our clients,” said Publicis Groupe Media CEO Jack Klues.
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The Stop Badware Coalition, consisting of technology firms, academics and consumer advocates, is declaring war against malware with the launch of a website to help protect consumers and take the fight to companies that dupe online users into downloading spyware and unwanted adware, reports the Mercury News (via MarketingVOX). Harvard University’s Berkman Center and Oxford’s Internet Institute, together with Consumer Reports, have put the effort together. Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems are providing funding for the multimillion-dollar project.
Prospectiv has added a new vertical website to help pharmaceutical, health, beauty, and wellness brand marketers reach new prospects, the company has announced. Healthier.com is designed to help consumers search for information, tips, promotions and products that help them achieve a healthier lifestyle.
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McDonald’s had a super-sized fourth quarter, with increased sales in the U.S. and Europe helping create a 53 percent rise in fourth quarter earnings in 2005, Brandweek reports. Pushing growth has been a variety of changes the burger chain has implemented, including new menu offerings, new employee uniforms, later hours at many locations, and credit/debit card capabilities, not to mention a new ad campaign.
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Warner Bros. has confirmed that, for the upcoming upfront market, it will not be selling national advertising time in Access: Hollywood, the syndicated magazine show with big ratings that it co-owns with NBC Universal, Mediapost reports.
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Media buyers are saying that two 30-second spots are more costly than one 60-second unit on Clear Channel stations, which is just what Clear Channel had hoped when it implemented its Less is More initiative. And in addition to prices trending upwards, ratings are, too, with Clear Channel outperforming the average radio station among adults 25-54 in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, according to an analysis of Arbitron ratings by Bear Stearns, Media Life reports.
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