Hotlines

Chase Manhattan Bank Looks Beyond FCB for New Campaign

NEW YORK Chase Manhattan Bank is soliciting ideas on a brand campaign for its consumer-banking services, sources said. Foote, Cone & Belding handles Chase. FCB parent IPG has offered Chase access to additional but unidentified creative and strategic staff within the network. (Gotham is the only IPG ad agency without a bank conflict.) The search for ideas follows the January arrival of Nick Utton as Chase’s chief marketing officer for retail and middle-market business. Spending for the new work has not been set, one source said. The bank spent about $20 million on media in 2002, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.



Miller to Meet With Shops on Portfolio Brand Strategy

Chicago Miller Brewing Co.’s roster shops meet today to present brand-strategy ideas for the Milwaukee brewer’s entire portfolio, sources said. WPP shops J. Walter Thompson in Chicago and New York, Ogilvy & Mather in New York and Young & Rubicam in Chicago, and independent Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., are scheduled to present before Miller marketing leaders, sources said. Miller spends about $250 million a year advertising its brands, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. Miller declined comment.



Humor Headlines in Heineken’s ‘Clippings’ Campaign

NEW YORK After four and a half years, Heineken is replacing double entendres with satirical news clippings as the crux of its print campaign, which targets 21- to 35-year-old men. The new work, which breaks this week in June issues of Rolling Stone, Maxim and Sports Illustrated, is the first Heineken print campaign from Peter Nicholson, chief creative officer of Publicis in New York, which absorbed the account in January from defunct sibling D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in New York. One ad features a clipping that bears the headline, “Amnesia Patient Drinks Heineken But Can’t Remember Why.” Each news story is set against the perspiring green bottle with the brand’s embossed logo at the bottom. Heineken spent about $50 million in U.S. measured media last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence/ CMR. Also this week, Amstel Light breaks two spots from Publicis that urge consumers to “Make room for the Amstel Light 12-pack.” The executions will air for nearly a month on NBC, VH1, ESPN and TNN, among others. Amstel Light spent $15 million-plus last year on ads, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.



BBDO, Pepsi Break Ads for New Mountain Dew Line

NEW YORK PepsiCo today breaks a 30-second TV spot during the finale of Fox’s Boston Public for its new orange Mountain Dew line extension called LiveWire, the company said. BBDO New York, which handles Mountain Dew and its Code Red extension, created the ad, which is tagged, “The summer will never be the same again,” and will run through August. In it, two friends watch bugs fly into a zapper. “Don’t they see their friends are getting zapped?” one asks. “I don’t know. They must be stupid,” the other says. Seconds later both are mesmerized by a glowing LiveWire display in a store window and walk face first into the glass. “Introducing Mountain Dew LiveWire,” a voiceover says. “Discover what the attraction’s all about.” Spending was undisclosed. PepsiCo spent about $10 million to launch Code Red, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.



Tyco May Choose From 4 or Cut To 2 in Account Review

BOSTON Tyco is mulling whether to make a final cut from four shops to two or award the business to one of the four contenders, sources said. Competing for the estimated $30 million-plus account are WPP’s Young & Rubicam; IPG’s Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos; and Omnicom’s DDB and TBWA\Chiat\Day, all in New York. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based manufacturing conglomerate is also close to choosing between Omnicom’s Futurebrand and IPG’s Interbrand for its corporate-identity business. A decision is expected in the next few weeks.