The Westgate City Center, an $850 million development on 223 acres near Glendale, Arizona, which has been touted as being second only to Times Square in terms of signage, has signed its second major advertiser. Nissan North America will become the Official Automobile of Westgate City Center. Qwest also inked a category exclusive deal with the city.
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National CineMedia has entered into a network affiliate agreement with Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatres, LLC, the sixth largest movie theater exhibition company in the U.S., for the presentation of pre-show advertising, comprehensive meetings and event services, and in-theater entertainment events.
Digital eco-marketing initiatives devoted to saving the planet - or at least talking about it in ads - has been picking up, ClickZ reports (via Environmental Leader). John Rooks, president of Dwell Creative, an integrated agency that builds campaigns around social awareness and sustainability issues, believes that the appeal of online media to Dwell’s clients and its campaign planners is issue-based segmentation. He likes web advertising for its ability to establish a dialog rather than simply broadcast a message, and he believes it’s that potential for consumer engagement that’s driving a wave of recent consolidation in green market media.
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A class-action lawsuit has been filed by a California law firm against Fidelity National Information Services, accusing the company and Certegy Check Services of negligence, invasion of privacy and breach of implied contract, writes ComputerWorld.
Clear Channel Outdoor is once again adding to its growing list of digital billboard networks with new displays in some of the largest DMA markets, including Chicago and Philadelphia. It is also launching a second phase of its network in Los Angeles.
The FTC’s attempt to block the planned merger of Whole Foods and Wild Oats has been stymied. A federal judge has rejected the attempt, which could mean good news for the proposed XM-Sirius merger.
According to an analyst report from Stifel Nicolaus, the ruling is a “modest positive” for the pending XM-Sirius merger and Google-DoubleClick transactions, both of which are under scrutiny by the Department of Justice/FCC and FTC respectively, writes Radio Ink.
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XM and MySpace have partnered to launch a coast-to-coast online search for “the hottest unsigned hip-hop and R&B music talent.”
Free newspapers have been gaining in popularity in major cities around the world, and some are beginning to make online extensions of their publications a priority. And some of those are doing a good job of harnessing aspects of the web 2.0, letting readers voice opinions, comment on blogs and participate in the news, which has been adding to publishers’ business success, writes MediaShift’s Mark Glaser.
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High School Musical 2’s debut on Disney drew 17.2 million viewers on Friday night, according to preliminary ratings estimates from the channel. If accurate, those numbers would make it the most-watched television program of the week for both cable and network - and the most-watched show of any kind in basic cable history, writes The New York Times.
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ABC's caveman buzz-worthy NBC’s The Bionic Woman and ABC’s Caveman lead the list of fall shows that are receiving pre-season buzz, according to the broadcast networks’ collective tracking study. However, the buzz about the shows so far is only about “awareness,” say network executives, and is not necessarily an indication of what shows will be most watched.
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Hearst tower In order to help drive subscriptions from its magazine websites to its print publications, the Hearst Corporation’s website production and integration division has become intent on testing offers, running as many as 150 offers per title. The team parses the traffic to see which offers are working best, and then optimizes for the most effective one.
According to Chuck Cordray, vice president and general manager of the new division, the likelihood of an individual online visitor to subscribe to the corresponding print magazine has gone up more than 50 percent. Some sites have doubled their propensity for an individual visitor to subscribe, writes MediaShift.
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Facebook surfers are costing Australian companies billions of dollars a year in lost productivity. According to internet security company SurfControl, there are more than 230,000 Australians already signed up on Facebook, and more than 100 new users sign up per hour, writes Reuters.
Despite growing opportunities for mobile advertising, ads on mobile internet and TV services are deemed “irritating” by consumers, according to a new study by Universal McCann (via MarketingVox).
Recent reports also suggest the world’s 2 billion mobile users are turned off by tactics simply imported onto their phones from the desktop and TV. The solution to this problem may lie in offering a different value proposition to users in exchange for perceived “intrusions.”
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There’s a significant disconnect between marketing agencies and their clients’ decision-makers, according to Rainmaker Consulting’s “Intelligent New Business Survey,” which examines how US marketing communications agencies best engage with prospective clients to win new business.
Some 34 percent of consumers say they are much more concerned about environmental issues today than a year ago, but only 22 percent of consumers say they believe they can make a difference regarding the environment, according to Going Green, a new report from Yankelovich, writes Environmental Leader.
“Consumers are not drinking the Kool-Aid when it comes to green,” said J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich. “While they’re highly aware of environmental issues due to the glut of media attention, the simple fact is that ‘going green’ in their everyday life is simply not a big concern or a high priority.”
Yankelovich illustrates the degree to which all consumers - from “Green-less” to “Green-Enthusiasts” - are likely to buy a product based on its green features:
* Green-less (29 percent) Unmoved by environmental issues and alarms
* Green-bits (19 percent) Don’t care but doing a few things
* Green-steps (25 percent) Aware, concerned taking steps
* Green-speaks (15 percent) Talk the talk more than walk the walk
* Green-thusiasts (13 percent) Environment is a passionate concern
Despite this, Smith said, companies can exploit the “green-ness” of their products:
1. Although the environment is not a mainstream consumer concern, it does represent a niche opportunity in the marketplace, with just over 30 million Americans (13 percent of the 234 million people 16+) “strongly concerned” about it.
2. Moreover, if organizations are required to meet strict federal and state environmental regulations - often at huge expense - it makes sense to try and leverage “new and improved” green product to consumers.
