Mitch Drew joins BECK Agencies

Kelly Hrudey from Hockey Night in Canada and Mitch Drew at a CBC event this week.



Mitch Drew
mitch@beckbc.com

DENNY'S launches new ethnic TV campaign on Channel M

Tasty Trio commercial created in Cantonese and Mandarin

VANCOUVER - Advertising agency Current Creative has just launched a new TV campaign for their client DENNY'S. Identifying the ever increasing percentage of DENNY'S customers having a mother tongue that is NOT English, agency exec Geoff Yue worked with the Channel M creative team of Mick Harper and Ben Lu to produce commercials in Cantonese and Mandarin. The team used the current US creative and created seamless translated versions that look like they were produced by the original creative shop.

The commercials look great and debut tonight on Channel M Prime Cantonese News at 8:00pm and Mandarin News at 9:00pm.

CLICK the PLAY Button to view the Cantonese 15 second commercial:





Contact Geoff Yue at:
Current Creative
geoff@current.bc.ca

Mitch Drew
MITCH TV

Travelling Billboards on CITY TV Calgary

A Peek at TV Networks' Fall Schedules and Plans

Development Meetings for ABC, Fox, NBC, CW

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- TV ad buyers cruised the Hollywood back lots this week casting an eye over TV's equivalent of spring training. The March development meetings -- which CBS sits out altogether and ABC says it hates doing -- gives ad buyers a sense of who's bringing what come May upfront time.


READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT ADVERTISING AGE

Surprising Development: ABC Unveils New TV Ad Formats, Reminiscent Of Pop-Ups

THE MOST DRAMATIC PART OF ABC's program development meeting in Los Angeles yesterday wasn't a new lineup. What intrigued media buyers was watching real commercials double as part of show content.

Showing how to retain viewers during spots, ABC said it was considering inserting commercials "seamlessly" into program scenes. For example, in "According to Jim," a real commercial would appear in the living room TV of Jim and Cheryl's suburban home. That real commercial would then run full-screen.

To those who attended, ABC used 10 examples--all comedies, such as "Ugly Betty," where commercials would pop up out of media props such as TV, cell phones, and print ads in magazines. It used marketing messages of automotive, beverage, and sinus remedy brands for its sample reel. "It's an interesting idea," said Shari Anne Brill, senior vice president of program analysis for Carat USA, who attended the meeting. It's like a vignette, she said--but wondered "if writers and producers will help them pull this off, and allow [them to change their program content]. I imagine more powerful producers would say, 'no way, Jose.'"

On Tuesday, Mike Shaw, president of advertising sales and marketing for ABC, said the net was working on ad efforts that would keep viewers watching commercials--not tuning out or turning to other networks. Speaking at the Association of National Advertisers' Television Advertising Forum in New York, Shaw didn't reveal any details.

ABC did emphasize, however, that this new commercial approach is a work in progress.

In addition, Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, discussed some development ideas, but showed no video. ABC also brought the new cast for the proposed spinoff of "Grey's Anatomy," starring Kate Walsh and Taye Diggs, to the meeting--but offered few details.

ABC announced yesterday that it was picking up 14 shows for the 2007-2008 season, including "Brothers & Sisters," "Men In Trees," "Ugly Betty," "The Bachelor," "Boston Legal," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Grey's Anatomy," "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "Lost."

These shows were added to the list of three series that were previously announced: "America's Funniest Home Videos," "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap."

An ABC spokeswoman said this was one of the earliest and most extensive pickups of shows for a new season the network has ever made.


Wayne Friedman
MediaDailyNews

Google will buy TV ad company, Blodget predicts

A few months ago, MITCH TV told you about a company called SPOTRUNNER who was offering a transactional method of buying TV advertising online.

Looks like a Blogdet is predicting that Google may pick them up.

I can't wait to see the price tag!

Mitch

___________________________________________


Google will buy TV ad company, Blodget predicts
March 20, 2007 5:24 PM PDT

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--Google should and probably will buy Spot Runner, a company that automates the creation and buying of television commercials, former securities analyst and blogger Henry Blodget predicted Tuesday at the Online Media, Marketing and Advertising conference here.

"I imagine Google will run down here with truckloads of cash to buy Spot Runner because it's right up their alley," he said during a panel presentation. "And if they don't, Microsoft or Yahoo should."
CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY AT CNET

More Advertisers to Increase TV Spend than Online Media

New research shows that TV might be seeing a slight resurgence with advertisers, with more advertisers planning to increase their TV spend than their spend in online media.

According to the just-completed fall Advertiser Perceptions survey of 2,400 decision makers, 31 percent plan to boost their TV ad spending over the next six months, while only 29 percent plan to increase it for online media, writes MediaPost. Twenty-five percent plan to increase their spend on print media.

The survey indicates that TV continues to drive the growth of overall advertising spending, according to the article. TV should contribute 46 percent of the overall increase in ad spending in North America, and 50 percent of worldwide spending, while the internet will contribute 41 percent of growth in North America. Outdoor will be third, at 7 percent.

Hallmark Ford "Slash It Sale" rocks Surrey

MITCH TV visited Hallmark Ford in Surrey Canada on Saturday to meet Dan Ryan of Caliber Promotions and see the SLASH IT SALE event in person. It was raining (unusual for Vancouver) and the crowds started buying cars.

View this clip:

Gannett Training Print Staffers to Shoot Video

Gannett is beginning to focus much of its efforts to increasing its digital presence and revenue. With that in mind, the company is training 500 print news staffers to shoot video that could potentially be used online.

The broadcast team also intends to train its print ad sales team to sell more video ads online.

Gannett Co.'s revenues dropped 4.5 percent in February, due mostly to lower broadcasting profits. Television revenues were down 21.4 percent in February, with broadcasting revenues for the fiscal year ending March 4 down 10.3 percent.

Its newspaper business, though stronger, also saw declines. In February, it was down 3.8 percent, due mostly to suffering classified conditions. Gannett's online unit, similar to many newspaper groups, grew by 13.4 percent over February 2006, based on unique monthly visitors.

Turner's Upfront Pitch: Integrate Your Brand In Every Conceivable Niche

INSERT YOUR BRAND HERE WAS the message a parade of Turner Broadcasting executives delivered Tuesday at an upfront event. Forget any backlash about product placement, the executives repeatedly told advertisers. The company is more than willing to find ways to slip or emphasize a brand in its programming going forward.

"Creating a future together" is how Linda Yaccarino, executive vice president, general manager of Turner Entertainment Sales and Marketing, described it.
"We're on board," added Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. "We see this as a two-way street."

As Koonin cited examples he deemed an "integration success" over the past year--including Match.com linking with comedy "My Boys" and Cheez-It in "10 Items or Less" on TBS--he also noted mobisodes affiliated with "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and brand mentions in new interstitials, known as "bitcoms," as coming ad opportunities.

"Bitcoms" are designed, in part, to build viewer retention going into a commercial pod--particularly relevant as commercial ratings are launched. As a break starts, stand-up comedians deliver a small set leading into the ads. Koonin cited a comic commenting on Oreo Double-Stufs, followed by a spot for the brand, as an example of advertiser integration with the shorts.

In a similar vein, Turner will try to keep viewers on TBS with a plug to stay tuned for a funny commercial. It also plans to continue to highlight ads themselves, via specials on TBS focusing on humorous spots and the Web site veryfunnyads.com. "We have real evidence that people will seek out commercials--very funny commercials," Koonin said.

At TNT, advertisers can take the ongoing opportunity to serve as single sponsors of commercial-free premieres, with Toyota sponsoring the third-season premiere this summer of hit drama "The Closer."

Turner also announced several new shows coming to TBS this summer, including "The Bill Engvall Show," with the eponymous actor serving as a family counselor, whose own family could benefit from guidance, and the Tyler Perry show. The comedy "My Boys" is returning this summer. TBS also is trying to upgrade a late-night franchise with "The Frank Show," starring master impressionist Frank Caliendo.
Meanwhile, at TNT, the summer slate includes "Saving Grace," an hour-long drama with Oscar winner Holly Hunter as a "fast-living" Oklahoma City detective; "Heartland," set in the "high-tension world" of organ donors; and "The Company," a six-hour limited series about CIA activity in the Cold War.

MediaDailyNews
by David Goetzl, Wednesday, Mar 14, 2007 8:00 AM ET

MITCH-TV has comment posted on Trump University BLOG

Last week it was The New York Times BLOG and this week one of my comments has been cleared and posted on Donald Trump's Trump University BLOG.

Mitch


____________________________________________________

You Need to Stop Selling

After you’ve launched your business, the day will come when it is time to start knocking on doors and selling.

When that day comes, your first inclination will probably be to dash out to buy every book you can find about selling. If you can absorb all the powerful advice they contain from their powerful-looking authors, you will be moving your product quickly, right? Well maybe yes. But probably not.

You see, attempting to identify the traits of the perfect salesperson is a waste of time. All you need is to understand your own strengths and perfect them. I’ve been the top salesperson at every company where I’ve ever worked. I’ve won awards, grossed the highest profits and opened a lot of doors. And I did this by being true to myself - by understanding my instinctive talents and strengths and by becoming friends with everyone around me.
Sales is about having a good time and making as many friends as possible. So enjoy what you do. Because when you do, it shows and customers will buy, for a very simple reason: People Want to Do Business with Their Friends
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF POST


Comment posted by member1500449 on 03/08/2007 8:58 AM

As an advertising sales person, I often find myself in a situation were the client is not satisfied with the results of an advertising campaign. This is were the relationship and the ability to 'stay in the positive' is so important. I always remember that customers are people and they will often 'look on the bright side' if they have a friendly relationship with the person they are doing business with. Rapport is a cornerstone to any transaction and it is when things get sticky that this trait will be most useful.

Mitch Drew
Vancouver, Canada
mitch-tv.blogspot.com

Ethnic TV ranks No. 2 on Thursday Night!

Hot thing with Hispanic kids: 'Premio' Univision's music awards special places second

Univision rarely ranks No. 2 for the night among the six major broadcast networks in any demographic, let alone on a Thursday, the most competitive night of the week, and it almost never does so during sweeps.

But the network did just that last Thursday among kids 2-11 thanks to “Premio Lo Nuestro 2007,” a Latin music awards show that boosted Univision above all the networks except “American Idol”-fueled Fox.

“Premio” averaged a 2.2 2-11 rating from 8 to 11 p.m. on Feb. 22, well behind Fox’s 4.1 but 0.4 ahead of second-place CBS.

READ THE ARTICLE AT MEDIALIFE MAGAZINE

Univision Has 'Strong Story to Tell,' Must Convince Advertisers

While Spanish-language network Univision is beating The CW among all adults and viewers in general market ratings, and is outrating one or more of its Big Four rivals in younger demos thanks to its popular telenovela La Fea Mas Bella, the network is still struggling to pull in top advertisers.

On the other hand, spending on Spanish-language advertising is growing at a faster rate than English-language TV, and there has been a growing sense of receptivity toward it, says Marc Goldstein, CEO of GroupM North America, MediaPost writes. Univision, itself, has seen ad spend outgrow spending on English-language networks by between 6 and 8 percent, according to Lee Westerfield, managing director and senior
broadcast research analyst at Harris Nesbitt.

The network, which has "a strong story to tell," will face the challenge of persuading categories such as luxury items, pharmaceuticals and computers to "take the plunge," during the upfront, says Westerfield.

La Fea Mas Bella has seen less of its audience defect to American Idol on Tuesdays than English-language networks, and beats ABC, NBC and Fox on Fridays among adults 18-34. However, advertisers are not clamoring for Univision avails for a number of reasons.

It takes a big commitment to produce commercials in Spanish. And, advertisers must do research to discover how to market to Hispanic audiences, and some brands do not sell as well in the Hispanic marketplace. "You can't just throw a commercial into the rotation like you would on any English-language network," says Goldstein.
Univision has taken the initiative of offering to help clients market creatively to the Hispanic audience.

Univision's NY Newscast Beats WNBC, WCBS and WNYW

Univision's channel 41 in New York pulled its largest audience ever for its 6 p.m. Spanish-language TV news program in the February 2007 sweeps period. The newscast also beat out English-language TV stations WNBC, WCBS-TV and WNYW in the key news audience group, adults 25-54.

Univision 41 finished fifth overall among New York's TV stations in households and total persons, according to Nielsen. This marks the highest rank ever for a NY Spanish-language TV station; the station beat both English-language WPIX Channel 11 and WWOR Channel 9, as well Spanish-language Telemundo's WNJU Channel 47. Univision 41 is up seven percent in households and five percent in total persons.

WWOR's total audience is the lowest ever for a major NY English-language TV station in the history of sweeps (since 1971), according to Univision.