| In The News |
Roehm Confirms Wal-Mart Departure
Julie Roehm, svp-marketing communications for Wal-Mart (left), and Sean Womack, vp-communications
architecture, have abruptly left the company, Wal-Mart and Roehm confirmed today. MORE ?
Experts: Taco Bell E.coli Outbreak Will Sicken
Brand
The Taco Bell E.coli outbreak in the Northeast will sicken sales, but how deep the damage will
run depends on the Yum! Brands-owned restaurant chain?s response to the crisis, per experts. MORE ?
Pontiac Harmonizes With Virgin Megastores
Pontiac is broadening its tie with Virgin Megastores to put co-branded, 8-foot tall displays in
all of Virgin?s 13 megastores nationwide. The display towers, created by Pontiac agency Leo Burnett and Virgin, will hold Pontiac branded
merchandise, as well as LCD TV screens offering footage of bands that have performed on Pontiac?s Times Square stage?the ?Pontiac Garage??and CDs
that are exclusively available at the display. MORE
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Inroads: Colleges To Offer Hispanic Marketing
Degrees
DePaul University will be one of at least two universities offering an undergraduate major in
Hispanic marketing beginning next fall. MORE
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ValueClick Enters Web Video Market
While Web video has been dominated by big sites like YouTube, ValueClick is betting 2007 will be
the year that more small sites add streaming content. MORE
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| Short Takes |
DON?T FORGET THE ICE: BJ?s Wholesale Club might be the destination for a lot of folks wanting to stock up on party supplies this time of year, but
it?s their online outlet, BJs.com, that?s going to ring up The Big Sale. The discounter wants everyone to know that it?s gotten into selling jewelry
online in a huge way by offering a 41-carat (total weight) diamond necklace for a hefty $249,999.00. Why anyone would want to make such a
purchase from an online purveyor is beyond our mere comprehension, but apparently BJ?s has high hopes. A quick visit to the site shows a number of pricey baubles up for grabs, including a
diamond ring at 14 grand, a tennis bracelet for 15 grand, and a diamond tennis necklace for a mere eighteen thousand dollars. And to think we
used to go there for the big jugs of mayo.
GOTTA HAND IT TO BUD LIGHT? It looks like another championship season is on tap for Bud Light, which just announced it will once again sponsor the
Bud Light/USARPS nationwide Rock Paper Scissors tournament. The game, which is played just like it was when you were a little kid, will start off in
325 markets with preliminary tourneys, whittling down the finalists until the showdown in Las Vegas May 12-13. Laugh all you want: last year?s event
drew 10,000 competitors, and Bud Light was there with its signage all the way. Full details are at the Rock Paper Scissors Web site, where you can also sign their petition asking that the
Super Bowl do away with the traditional coin toss, and have opposing quarterbacks do a best-of-three Rock Paper Scissors showdown instead. (Yes,
really.) By the way, first prize in the RPS tournament is $50,000! Not laughing now, are ya?
THAT?S ONE EXPENSIVE PHONE CALL: Jumping on the Christmas bandwagon, Walt Disney World is offering a special treat to anyone quick enough (and, to
be honest, rich enough) to book a Disney family vacation by Dec. 23. Any guest who signs up can have Mickey Mouse call their home on Christmas
morning and announce the trip to everyone there. It?s not a bad marketing ploy, as some frazzled parents will surely buy into the deal; full details
are at a special site. But we wonder about the poor schmoe who
has to sit in a call center on the morning of Dec. 25, making call after call after call in that falsetto voice. Man, that?s gotta get old
real fast.
HEY, ISN?T THAT?? Trying to sustain interest in the franchise until Spider-Man 3 opens in 2007, Sony Pictures has teamed with PixFusion to
help produce a photo-personalized Spider-Man video, ?I Am the Amazing Spider-Man.? Interested parents can send in a child?s color photo, which is
then transformed into a 25-minute video starring the child as the web-slinger himself, utilizing PixFusion?s patented process. While any child-fan
will probably be thrilled with the results, we think that sending in an adult friend?s photo might produce some hilarious (Read: embarrassing)
results. For a mere $39.95, we just might. (Yes, fellow Brandweek staffers, we?re glancing in YOUR direction) Details are at PixFusion?s Kideo
brand Web site.
Thanks to all who posted comments on the Short Takes blog
Monday; it made the boss?s day. Feedback is always welcomed, either there or by e-mail to rthompson@brandweek.com
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While the Pope was visiting Turkey and President Bush attended a NATO summit in Latvia, Internet Broadcast Corp. was anticipating a banner week with
1 million unique U.S. visitors logging on to IBCtoday.com to watch video news coverage. The Internet TV network last week also signed content sharing
agreements with Fox News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and CTV of Nigeria, raising to 23 its international news organization partners.
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For the first time since NBC Universal bought the brand for about $600 million in March, iVillage will tap NBC's TV properties in a push designed to
boost visitors to the female-skewing online network.
MORE?
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