Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Tue, Aug 11 1992 Date: Tue, 11 Aug 92 04:32:26 EDT Message-ID: 08-11 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Aug. 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network `HEART', `PURE' USES DROP: New brand names rise and fall with all the speed of newspaper headlines. The latest American Demographics magazine reports applications for food and beverage trademarks containing the word "heart" dropped almost 40% between 1990 and 1991. "Pure" dropped 23%, and "fresh" dropped 18%. Increased regulations regarding content claims put the damper on these applications. MORE PEOPLE LOOK FOR `QUALITY': New applications for "light":"lite" and "nature":"natural" increased 25% from 1990 to 1991, reports August's American Demographics. Environmental trademarks continued to be popular, with "envi-" and "eco-" prefixes increasing 21% and 10%, respectively. "Quality" and "value" seemed to sell last year - they increased by 17% and 12%, respectively. NBC EARNS SOME MEDALS: The Olympic ideal of sport for sport's sake rather than financial gain appears dead on the playing fields of the world. Not at NBC. In Barcelona, NBC produced one of the most watchable Olympic Games in memory, using its six- to nine-hour time advantage to pare away the tedious and give viewers the most compelling competition and human stories. (For more, see special Olympics package below.) DAN, DAVE GET DUMPED: Reebok has dropped its ad campaign with decathletes Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson, neither of whom achieved the gold medal the company - and they - had hoped for when Reebok signed up the pair last year. There won't even be a farewell ad. The pair will make appearances for Reebok, and may turn up separately in future ads. Both contracts included bonuses for winning Olympic medals. ANHEUSER BUSCH RESTRAINED: A federal judge in New York granted Coors Brewing Co. a temporary restraining order Monday barring rival Anheuser Busch Co. Inc. from airing a controversial commercial for its Natural Light beer, Bloomberg Business News reports. Coors Brewing, seeking a permanent injunction and damages of as much as $30 million, claims A-B disparages the quality of the water used in Coors Light beer. LOOK FOR THE U2 LABEL: U2, which starts the stadium leg of its Zoo TV tour Wednesday in New York, is considering expanding its inventory of merchandise. Designer condoms were the hot item on the spring tour. Guitarist the Edge has dreamed up Zoo TV logo labels that can be put on shirts, shoes and jeans. No word on when the labels might materialize. FOX NEGOTIATING WITH LETTERMAN: Fox said Monday that it is talking to NBC's David Letterman about doing a late-night talk show - but that nothing has been signed. The New York Post's Cindy Adams reported Monday that a deal was in the works, with a Letterman show planned for 11 p.m., followed by Chevy Chase's new show at midnight. But Fox spokeswoman Betsy Wagner downplayed the report. `TODAY' ADDS CUT-AWAYS: No. 2 rated NBC's "Today" increases the number of local news cut-aways from one to two Sept. 21. Last week, several CBS affiliates threatened to drop third-place "CBS This Morning" and produce their own morning shows unless it does more cut-aways. No decision there. No. 1-rated ABC's "Good Morning America," which devotes 11 1:2 minutes per show to cut-aways, may increase them. 34 NBC AFFILIATES TO AIR SEC: ESPN's Bob Carpenter and former TBS broadcaster Tim Foley will be Jefferson-Pilot's team for Southeastern Conference games, says vice president Jim Rayburn. He said 34 NBC affiliates will take SEC or Atlantic Coast Conference games instead of Notre Dame telecasts. CULVER'S PRESCRIPTION WORKING: Alberto Culver's prescription of increased ad expenditures to cure its sickly personal products market is proving to be good news for its two Chicago agencies - BBDO and Lois:USA. The firm will continue to boost its ad budget, from $150 to $170 million, as part of a five-year strategy to double its marketing budget and continue a strong advertising program. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON OLYMPICS: WITH WINS CAME GE LOSSES: NBC caught that flaming arrow that ignited the Olympic flame and began the Games that right in the wallet. The network that came through for viewers and advertisers flopped for shareholders of parent company General Electric: Losses from the network broadcast and NBC's Triplecast pay-per-view experiment on cable TV are expected to hit $100 million and could go higher. MILLIONS WERE ALREADY LOST: With or without Triplecast, however, NBC would have lost millions in Barcelona. When bidding took place in 1988, NBC's $401 million bid topped that of rival CBS by an astounding $51 million. NBC's 209 affiliate stations agreed to help the network, allowing it to raise $30 million in three years by selling commercials during air time normally reserved for the local stations. ADVERTISERS WERE ALIENATED: NBC alienated its affiliates and advertisers with Triplecast. The affiliates were furious when the network used its Barcelona broadcasts to promote the Triplecast, then allowed cable viewers to sample the Triplecast free for two days on CNBC. Advertisers wondered aloud why they shelled out up to $335,000 for a 30-second prime-time ad only to have NBC tout its commercial-free coverage. AD SALES SAVED NETWORK: The network received a heroic effort by its advertising sales team. NBC generated an estimated $500 million in ad revenue, leaving it with about $425 million after paying sales commissions. During prime time, NBC guaranteed advertisers a 16 rating, equal to 14.7 million households. Ratings, especially the first week of the Games, comfortably exceeded the guarantee. (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM