Hotlines

Contenders Make Final Pitches For $115 Mil. Tylenol Account NEW YORK Two of the three finalists in the $115 million Tylenol review met again with client executives on Friday in what sources described as a final round of presentations. IPG's Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston and Deutsch in New York presented to executives at the Fort Washington, Pa., office of the McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals unit of Johnson & Johnson, according to sources. The other finalist, IPG's The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., is set to meet with the client today. The agencies declined comment. The incumbent, Publicis' Saatchi & Saatchi in New York, was eliminated and is expected to lose duties on three remaining McNeil brands: Pepcid, St. Joseph Aspirin and Mylanta. Those brands could shift to IPG's Alchemy in New York, a McNeil roster shop, sources said. Neither Alchemy nor the client could be reached.Cingular Seeks Converts With 500 Rollover MinutesATLANTA Cingular Wireless today breaks a national campaign targeting its competitors' customers, who can now keep their cell phone numbers when they switch service providers, according to a new federal law effective today. In three spots from BBDO in Atlanta and New York tagged, "Keep your number, keep your minutes," Cingular dangles 500 bonus rollover minutes in an effort to persuade consumers to switch. Vance Overbey, executive director of advertising and promotions, called "Portability Day" an event too important to ignore. Overbey would not disclose spending, but said it marked an increase over Cingular's fourth-quarter 2002 budget, which TNS Media Intelligence/CMR put at $100 million. 6 Compete for Fidelity's $75 Mil. Business new york Six shops have advanced in the review for Fidelity's estimated $75 million creative account, sources said. They are Havas' Arnold in Boston and McKinney + Silver in Raleigh, N.C.; Euro RSCG and Omnicom's TBWA\Chiat\Day, DDB and BBDO, all in New York, sources said. Capabilities meetings are set for early December. The client will cut to three or four shops and brief finalists in mid-December. Final presentations are slated for late January, with a decision due in February. Joanne Davis Consulting in New York is overseeing the process. White Wave Soy Milk Meets With 4 Finalists LOS ANGELES Four shops competing for White Wave Silk Soy Milk's business made final presentations last week. The client will choose between WPP's Berlin Cameron/Red Cell in New York; Maxxcom's Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami; Publicis' Fallon in Minneapolis; and independent Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., sources said. The incumbent, Havas' Arnold in Boston, was eliminated earlier in the process, sources said. The client expects to spend more than $30 million on advertising next year, sources said. A decision is due in early December. A client rep declined comment.Dueling Political Ads Center on President Bush WASHINGTON The Republican National Committee launched its first 2004 campaign over the weekend, depicting the president as a strong leader defending the nation against terrorism. Meanwhile, the political advocacy group MoveOn.org Voter Fund unveiled a $10 million campaign with a commercial questioning George W. Bush's economic plan. The 30-second RNC spot shows the president during the State of the Union address as the words "Strong and Principled Leadership" appear. The RNC said it will spend $100,000 to air the spot in five Iowa markets starting Sunday and again for about two weeks during the Democratic debate in New Hampshire. MoveOn.org will spend $175,000 to air its 30-second spot in those two states. The ad features images of presidents going back to Herbert Hoover, claiming that Bush is the first since Hoover to lead an economy that has lost more than 2 million jobs.Doner Breaks $8 Mil. UPS Holiday Campaign NEW YORK The UPS Store will break an $8 million campaign Nov. 30 with two spots from Doner in Southfield, Mich., that will run through Dec. 23. "Shaker," which focuses on secure packaging, features a woman explaining that her family shakes packages before opening them. In "Slider," a line of people is forced to slide packages on the floor as they wait at the post office.

Brand Marketing

Hotlines

David Kaplan

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

David Kaplan