Levi's, Progressive lead pack at GLAAD awards honoring pro-gay advertising

By Eleftheria Parpis

Levi's, Progressive Insurance, American Airlines and Wells Fargo were among those honored with this year's GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising, recognizing outstanding images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in ad campaigns.
  Levi's won the outstanding-TV award for a Gay History Month campaign by agency Logo. American Airlines received the corporate-responsibility award for its longstanding public commitment to the LGBT community.
  Outstanding print targeted to the mainstream market went to K-Y for its "America's Top Couple" effort from agency J3. Outstanding print targeted to the LGBT market went to Progressive Insurance for "Works in Progress" from Arnold.
  Outstanding interactive went to Wells Fargo for sponsoring "The Advocate Money Minute," developed by here! Media, on The Advocate's Web site. Outstanding social marketing campaign went to SAGE (Service and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders) for its "SAGECAP: The Caregiver's Caregiver" ads from Arthur Korant & Partners.
  See all the nominees here. See the Progressive and K-Y ads after the jump.

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (115)

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg on the small, daily touches that pay off the big ad campaigns

By Eleftheria Parpis

If there's one piece of advice that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg would give marketers, it's to "let customers become part of the process." Interviewed by the Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington at an Advertising Week event called "Social Media (For Adults)," Sandberg said the Web is becoming all about personalization, and in the next several years, a Web site that isn't customized to the individual will look as antiquated as a site from 15 years ago looks now.
  "Going to a Web site that is totally impersonal will be a thing of the past," Sandberg said. "Once people have experienced something that is personal, that is around their identity and friends, they don't want to go back to something that is targeted at the whole world."
  Personalization tools like Facebook Connect have raised privacy concerns, but Sandberg said all the company's decisions about privacy start with the fact that "every individual controls their own information." The company doesn't sell or share information, she said, and simplified its privacy controls to help users maintain that control. "People will only share information if they feel they are controlling it," she said. "It's core to our ability to grow."

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (119)

Is the glass ceiling a thing of the past?

By Elaine Wong

The glass ceiling is no longer a problem for most women. Or so a panel of leading female media and marketing executives say. That was the general sentiment at "Beyond The Glass Ceiling," an Advertising Week event devoted to the topic. The high-powered panel featured moderator Lori Senecal, president and CEO of ad agency Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners; Kenetta Bailey, svp of marketing at WE tv; Robin Domeniconi, svp and chief brand officer of Elle; Jodi Kahn, evp at iVillage Network; and Susan Malfa, svp of ad sales at Bravo & Oxygen media networks.
  "The glass ceiling is more of a thing of the past," Senecal said in her opening remarks. "It's not something we are experiencing [as much] as we did a few years ago." In some cases, younger females haven't even heard of the term. Senecal recalled a particular case when someone said to her: "A glass ceiling? You mean, [as in] a skylight?" "It has a whole new meaning for the next generation," Senecal said. "There are a lot of signs that it is time to leave this notion of a glass ceiling in the past."

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (112)

VIDEO: Barbara Lippert on the real millennials

Millennials are a big topic this Advertising Week. In this video, Adweek critic Barbara Lippert talks about some misconceptions of the demographic when it comes to the big themes of love, sex, rebellion and television—and what on earth they see in Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. Video after the jump.

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (183)

Why Twitter is not a huge fan of banners

By Brian Morrissey

For all the talk of making display ads bigger and flashier, Twitter plans to go in the opposite direction. The short-message service doesn't see standard display ads, or any rich media not initiated by users, in its future, COO Dick Costolo said in an interview with Adweek.
  "They can only get so big and take up so much of the page," Costolo said of recent efforts to give brands more space on Web pages. Too often, startups rush to adopt existing ad models, he said, a point made earlier in the day by venture capitalist and Twitter backer Fred Wilson. "They maximize short-term revenue at the expense of long-term health of the platform," Costolo said.
  Instead, Twitter is focused on taking cues for its ad products on how people are using the system.

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (104)

VIDEO: Nancy Hill on an industry rejuvenated

Adweek's Barbara Lippert caught up with Nancy Hill, CEO of the 4A's and president of Advertising Week, for this video interview, in which Hill talks about this year's strong turnout and positive vibe, and the feeling of an industry renewed—where collaboration is embraced and there's no limit to where you can take an idea. Video after the jump.

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (62)

Publishers dredge cesspool of Web advertising

By Mike Chapman

What are publishers to do about online advertising?
  They definitely have to do something, judging by the comments from panelists at the Wednesday afternoon Advertising Week session "Digital Publishing in the Age of New Media." The tone was set by Huffington Post vp Andy Wiedlin when he said, "The Web is a cesspool of cheap inventory." The easy availability of low-cost online advertising space was a theme, and a problem, the panel returned to several times at the event, which was moderated by Adweek's Brian Morrissey. The other panelists—Liz Harz, evp of global media at Electronic Arts, Erin Clift, svp of global sales at AOL, and Maria Mandel, vp of marketing and innovation at AT&T—all agreed in various ways that the Web has failed as a venue for brand building.

Click to read more ...

September 30, 2010 | Comments (90)