Agency News

NEW YORK WPP Group in London has recently acquired Diagnostic Research International, a Los Angeles-based advertising research firm, on behalf of WPP subsidiary Millward Brown. DRI, which has offices in New York, Dallas and Minneapolis, will operate as a division of Millward Brown but will remain a separate brand. AG's recruitment campaign for the New York Police Department appears to have met its initial goals. The NYPD received about 15,200 applications, 1,000 more than last time. There were increases in the proportion of applications from Hispanics (30 percent, up from 25 percent), African Americans (26 percent, up from 21 percent) and city residents (67 percent, up from 64 percent). Women made up one in every three applicants. The NYPD had been criticized for not making efforts to recruit minorities to the force, which is 68 percent white, even though whites make up only about 35 percent of the city's population. Amster Yard and production company The Attik, both in New York, created two TV spots for Sol beer. In "Disco," a beer can rotates center stage like a disco ball, emitting flashing lights. Ads are tagged, "Cambia-esquemas" or "Change the rules." The ads rolled out in Mexico at the end of August. DraftWorldwide, New York, launched a $3 million campaign for The CIT Group. Radio spots for the client, a Livingston, N.J.-based commercial and consumer finance organization, will be extended through next year and eventually supported with a print component. The media buy includes Imus in the Morning, The Wall Street Journal Report and The Dow Jones Report. Grybauskas Beatrice, New York, has developed a campaign for Herman Survivors boots, which is tagged, "Hard to kill." The campaign, consisting of print, TV and point-of-sale materials, broke this month. In one print ad, a man ice fishes through a shoe-shaped hole he has stamped in the ice. In another, a motorcyclist has stopped his bike by "putting his foot down" while wearing Herman boots. Print ads appear in Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and North American Hunter. TV spots run during prime-time, sports and late-night programming. The GFS/Levinson Group, New York, has developed two print ads for Artistic Tile. One shows a faucet set on a wall of blue and green tiles; copy reads, "Farrah's faucet." The second ad shows a bowl used as a sink against Roman bath-style tiles; copy reads, "The super bowl." Ads will appear in such publications as Architectural Digest, Interior Design, New York and The New York Times. Doremus, New York, has created software called D-Link that allows clients to view ads as they are created, giving them the opportunity to suggest changes during the creative process. LaPlaca Cohen, New York, has been named the agency for OnView.com, a company selling fine art online. Billings are $1-2 million. The site is scheduled to launch this fall. Ellenson Group, New York, has recently been named the advertising agency for AdForum.com, an online advertising community and resource for clients conducting agency searches. The shop beat out three undisclosed agencies. Billings are $1-2 million. Omnicom Group will donate $1 million over three years to establish the Laboratory for New Media Strategy and Design at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The lab will team students, faculty and industry professionals on curricular projects and research designed to prepare students better for careers in the digital age. The program's top students will intern at Omnicom Group companies, such as BBDO Worldwide. Cline, Davis & Mann, New York, has launched a print-and-TV campaign for Pfizer's antifungal product Diflucan. Print work appears in September issues of Mademoiselle, Glamour and Cosmopolitan. The 60-second national TV spots broke last week. The tagline: "Hate the yeast infection Love the treatment." CDM also won seven new accounts, including four new product assignments: Parke-Davis tapped the agency to advertise its hormone-replacement drug FemHRT; Avanir hired the agency to promote its oral-facial herpes cream Docosanol; Janssen Pharmaceutica tapped the shop to produce sales CD-ROMs; Pfizer hired CDM to advertise its five-day antibiotic Zithromax and migraine treatment Relpax, and to manage its Web site, WomensHealth.com. In addition, Norvasc retained the agency to update its Web site. AGA Catalog Marketing & Design, New York, was hired by GreatFood.com to develop a catalog distribution channel. BannerDirect in New York has won the marketing and advertising account of HouseHoldDirect.com. The New York American Marketing Association will host its first Networking Series event of the 1999/2000 season. "How to Network" will be held Oct. 21 at Lighthouse International, 111 East 59th Street. At the event, Frank De Raffele Jr., the author of Successful Business Networking, will detail 10 key rules of successful networking to achieve personal and business goals. Eric Mower and Associates in Rochester was awarded public relations duties for the document management company Standard Register, in Dayton, Ohio. Erin/Edwards Communications in Glen Head was tapped by Telephonics, a Long Island-based high-tech firm, to develop its advertising and communications programs. HWH Public Relations, New York, has been retained by Conducent, a Harrisburg-based company that provides advertising delivery systems to personal computer applications. HWH will promote the company's new product, which integrates the functions of the Internet and PC software. TSR Advertising, New York, has won account duties for Stagecast Software, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of simulation software. The shop will provide creative, along with strategic- and media-planning and placement duties. TSR also was tapped by Aegis Capital, a market maker based in Valley Stream, to handle its $7-8 million branding account. Media will include both print and broadcast. Mezzina/Brown, New York, began a print-and-outdoor campaign this month for Real Media, also in New York, targeting senior ad agency professionals, media buyers and Web publishers, among others, via trade magazines. The tagline: "Nothing attracts like Real Media." NEW JERSEY The MWW Group, East Rutherford, was selected by the L.A. City AIDS Coordinator to handle pre-conference media preparations and on-site press relations for the 1999 National Conference on Women and HIV/AIDS. The agency's Los Angeles office will handle the assignment. Gianettino & Meredith, Short Hills, was hired by Carrier Clinic, a non-profit psychiatric- and addiction-treatment center based in Belle Mead, to handle marketing duties. The account had been handled by John Howlett & Co. The budget is expected to be less than $2 million. Koenig & Associates, Shrewsbury, has moved to expanded facilities in Holmdel. The agency's new address is: 53 East Main Street, Holmdel, NJ 07733. The New Jersey Ad Club hosts its 12th annual A Night at the Races event Oct. 21 at The Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford. For more information, visit the organization's Web site at www.NJAdClub.org. Litzky Public Relations, Hoboken, has introduced a Britney Spears doll for client Play Along Toys. The campaign began with an appearance by the teenage singer on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, followed by a series of radio promotions. The effort will culminate with an appearance at New York's FAO Schwarz in December. CramerSweeney in Cherry Hill has expanded into a new office at the Tall Oaks Corporate Center in Maple Shade. The location will house the agency's advertising, public relations, marketing and administrative departments. ObjectSoft Corp., Hackensack, has signed advertising agreements with Universal Home Entertainment, USA Home Entertainment and Playboy Entertainment. The advertisers will place ads on ObjectSoft's FastTake in-store video kiosks; formats include banner ads and preview trailers of new-release video titles. The preview ads will be showcased on the home pages and in each kiosk's Editor's Pics section until the street dates, and in each kiosk's new release section for two months. In addition, HBO Home Video will advertise on FastTake for Babar: King of the Elephants and Bridge of Dragons. PENNSYLVANIA Parachute Creative, Morrisville, developed an advertising campaign launching Holt's Cigar Holdings' national mail-order business. Ads appear in Money, Fortune and Attachƒ, US Airways' in-flight magazine. Kelly Michener, Lancaster, has created a new public-service campaign for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Themed, "Please step away from your vehicle," the newspaper, radio and outdoor campaign encourages drivers to wear seatbelts and urges them not to drink and drive. One poster shows an image of a stern-looking police officer with the copy, "Hunts drunk drivers for a living." A billboard uses a picture of a teenage boy and girl with the words, "Buckle up every time. What do you have to hold on to?" Naviant, a marketing firm in Newtown Square, and the Arlington, Va.-based marketing-services company Claritas have forged a cooperative relationship in order to expand their precision target marketing offerings. Stiegler, Wells & Brunswick, Bethlehem, has been named the advertising agency for Falcon Safety Products in Somerville, N.J. The agency will provide advertising, media, direct marketing, trade-show support, Web site development and public relations services. CONNECTICUT Phase2Media, Norwalk, has signed an agreement with 6FigureJobs.com. The agency will sell all sponsorship, banner and advertising space on the client's Web site. Strategic Design Corp., Southport, has created a capabilities brochure for the law firm Pullman & Comley.

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