advertising

Food Fight: KFC and Franchisees Disagree on Ad Strategy

A judge in Louisville, Ky., has ruled that KFC must cooperate with franchisees on advertising, but that it can nix campaigns that it believes could hurt the brand. Disagreement over whether KFC should emphasize its fried or grilled chicken sparked the dispute.

ComScore: More Advertising Coming to Online Videos

Research firm ComScore projects that spending on online-video advertising will more than triple between 2010 and 2015. But that doesn't mean you'll necessarily see more commercials per video. Spending will continue to lag behind the huge growth in online videos, according to ComScore.

iPhone vs. Android: Google May Be Winning the War in China

Deutsche Bank's insightful technology analyst Jonathan Goldberg says Android has already pulled away from the pack in China. And not just in smartphones and tablets: Android is finding its way into all sorts of platforms, from laptops to set-top boxes to ATMs.

MTV's Racy Skins Is Just a Symptom of Teen Troubles

MTV's controversial new teen drama Skins won't set any of its young viewers on the road to ruin, and it isn't pornographic. It is in bad taste, and MTV must have known would offend some audiences. Still, with 3.26 million viewers for its debut, Viacom is getting exactly what it wanted from the show -- publicity and viewers.

Do Early Peeks at Super Bowl Ads Pay Off?

It used to be all about surprising game-day viewers with knock-out ads and creating buzz after the final whistle. But lately more advertisers are posting commercials online ahead of the game, trying to build early buzz instead. Which strategy works better? At risk is a tidy sum.

Oprah's OWN Delivers a Strong Debut for Advertisers

Oprah Winfrey's new cable network is commanding some of the highest ad prices on cable, and it justified those rates with its heavily watched debut. Now, OWN will have to prove it can maintain its viewership levels throughout the year.

A Judge Snuffs Out New York City's Gruesome Antismoking Ads

A New York City health code regulation set to go into effect on Jan. 1 would have added some disturbing images to the Big Apple's glittering background of advertising: Hideously accurate ads depicting the results of smoking. But a federal judge this week killed the city's anti-smoking campaign before it could begin.

Nielsen Report: Many DVR Viewers Play the Commercials

Here's a nice surprise for television advertisers: Digital video recorders are actually increasing, not decreasing, the number of viewers who are watching the commercials. Nearly half of the DVR owners in the critical 18- to 49-year-old age group watch the commercials, which boosts ratings, Nielsen says.

Personalized Ads: Not Just for the Web Anymore

Soon, the Internet won't be the only medium to offer advertisers the ability to closely target specific types of customers. Starting in August or September, DirecTV plans to launch a new personalized advertising service for television. Can it bring the scope of TV to highly targeted ads?

Pepsi: Polishing Its Image with Community Grants

Companies donate millions to charities, museums and educational programs, but many struggle to recoup any benefits from their giving. Here's how Pepsi succeeded in building brand loyalty with a new generation of buyers by using a clever strategy for community grants.

Is Twitter Worth $3.7 Billion? Not in the Real World

That's the value a $200 million venture investment led by Kleiner Perkins this week implies. But that means Twitter would have a price-to-sales ratio of 840 compared to Facebook's 26 -- or Google's 8.7. And Twitter's growth may be stalling.