Having just reported a global net loss of $8.7 billion in Q2, Ford cut its $300 million global auto marketing budget down to $100 million. The cut includes advertising and sales promotion, minus incentives, across all Ford brands.
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Second-quarter profit at EW Scripps fell by 48 percent on revenue decline at its newspaper properties and costs related to spinning off its digital businesses; the company warned that third-quarter earnings would fall short of analyst expectations.
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Despite a decline in traditional media spending, Omnicom’s organic growth rose 4.8 percent in the second quarter thanks to growth in below-the-line marketing services. That marks the lowest growth-rate since 2003.
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The drastic cuts happening at Tribune Co. papers are a necessary evil if the papers are to survive to face the future, new owner Sam Zell said in a conference call with Tribune Co. reporters.
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The tourism industry risks being hit with significant declines in leisure travel volume and spending, according to the findings of Destination Analysts’ bi-annual “The State of the American Traveler” survey (pdf) - MarketingCharts reports.
The Chicago Tribune will test dramatic changes in coming weeks, with the front section being devoted to consumer-oriented issues and entertainment features - and with local, national, international and business news relegated to section two.
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Most newspapers publish less national and foreign news than they did three years ago, and carry smaller news staffs, according to a study by the Pew Research Center and Tyler Marshall, former foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest paper to announce major cuts amid the current advertising slump. The paper will cut its workforce by 8 percent, or about 189 jobs.
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Following a slip in U.S. sales of 16 percent this year, General Motors has announced sweeping cost-cutting measures, including a 20 percent reduction in payroll for salaried workers.
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Ann Marie Lipinski, editor of the Chicago Tribune, announced in a memo to staff that she is resigning her post after seven years in the position.
NPR’s Bryant Park Project, a weekday radio show with a strong social element online, is being cancelled, with the last show airing on July 25, due to cost issues.
Magazine advertising revenue was down 3.1 percent in the first half from the same period a year ago, to nearly $11.6 billion, according to new figures from the Publishers Information Bureau.
The Senate Commerce Committee is holding a hearing for online behavioral advertising today.
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Advertisers and agency media buyers are growing increasingly pessimistic about spending in all major media, according to Advertiser Perceptions‘ Media Economy Report, a survey of media-buying executives, reports AdAge (via MarketingCharts).
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Another media forecaster has cut his predictions for media ad spend for 2008. Magna’s Bob Coen predicted in December that overall, U.S. ad increases in 2008 would be 3.7 percent, but he is now saying national ad spend will gain just 2 percent.
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Marcus Brauchli, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal who left under pressure from new management, will become the executive editor of The Washington Post beginning Sept. 8. He succeeds Leonard Downie Jr., who is stepping down after 17 years on the job.
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Pro Publica, the non-profit newspaper venture that plans to sell long-form investigative pieces to magazines and newspapers, has been poaching top talent from newspapers across the country. In its latest move, it has nabbed investigative reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, who won a Pulitzer in 2005, from the Los Angeles Times.
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Procter & Gamble is betting that consumers will continue to buy its products rather than switching to cheaper store brands, even after the consumer goods giant raises prices by as much as 16 percent beginning in September.
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Working at the Los Angeles Times could be seen as a health hazard. Between oft-occurring layoffs, secret changes in editorial staff and planning, too much turnover among top editorial positions in too few years, and occasional public frays between management and owners, the stress level must be unbearable. Now, after the latest round of cuts, there will be significantly fewer employees to endure the anxiety.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News will soon share more than the same owners, presses and website. A team of managers has been appointed to consolidate some functions, like photographers and copy desk, in a bid to cut costs.
