A vintage Benson & Hedge's ad evokes a cheekier (but no less deadly) era of cigarette marketing

Sometimes an ad gets just a little too truthful for its own good.  By the time this 1972 full-pager for Benson & Hedges 100’s ran in Life magazine, smoking was widely understood to be associated with a range of serious diseases. So, sure, let’s equate using our product to jumping out of a plane.  Bought by Philip Morris in 1958, Benson & Hedges is a British brand and still a subsidiary of the American conglomerate Philip Morris International. This ad was part of a larger “favorite cigarette break” campaign that leaned into the fact that Benson & Hedges offered longer cigarettes at the same price point, so people kept accidentally snapping the suckers in two. “Nobody had ever mutilated a cigarette before in American advertising—cigarettes, like automobiles, had always been treated with reverent respect by their manufacturers,” Mad Woman Mary Wells Lawrence wrote in her 2002 memoir “A Big Life (In Advertising).”  “Anything anti-establishment seemed smart in the mid-’60s, so our advertising made Benson & Hedges wildly hip and cool and the cigarette to be seen with.” (Lawrence, the first female CEO listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is still alive at 91. Must not have been a smoker.) But the times? They are a-changin’. Benson & Hedges parent PMI was in the news last week as merger talks between it and Altria Group, another American purveyor of cancer, broke down. Altria itself holds a minority stake in Juul Labs, the embattled e-cigarette maker... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-30 09:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #merger talks #minority stake #recent months #memoir

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Dawson's Meat Market wins the YA Book Prize

Juno Dawson has won the YA Book Prize 2020 with her “gritty and compelling” exposé of the fashion industry, Meat Market (Quercus Children’s Books). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-27 20:01:44 UTC ]
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Team Whistle buys OTT marketing firm Tiny Horse for $30 million

Digital media company Team Whistle has acquired Tiny Horse, a marketing services firm focused on over-the-top streamers, TV networks, producers and advertisers. The companies didn’t disclose terms of the deal, however, sources told Variety the acquisition was mostly in the form of a stock swap... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-05-22 09:54:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #digital media #disclose terms #companies didn #tv networks #$30 million


Marketing to kids in difficult times

Many months ago, when we all sat in our meeting rooms, sipping coffee and bouncing campaign ideas around, I don’t think any one of us marketing folk could have predicted just how much our plans would be forced to change. The effects of the national lockdown on marketing campaigns and the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-20 21:41:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #publishing industry #extra layer #national lockdown #months ago #difficult times #marketing campaigns


‘A tale of two cities’: The coronavirus is creating a barbell effect for publishers’ ad sales

The coronavirus is causing many publishers to experience of bifurcation of their ad sales that’s led to an evaporation of the mid-sized deal. Many large digital publishers are finding the bulk of their deal flow is smaller deals. There are still the big fish to land with wide-ranging campaigns,... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-05-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #digital publishers #big fish #ad sales


Anemic Ad Sales Impact Meredith’s Q3 Earnings

After a few days of delay, Meredith released its Q3 earnings, which closed on March 31. Starting with the bottom line, adjusted EBITDA totaled $151.8 million, a 5.5% decline versus the same period last year. The top line illustrates why. Overall, the company’s revenue fell 6.5% versus 2019.... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-05-14 15:44:55 UTC ]
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Relive Memories of the Queens Night Market

A new cookbook profiles the makers at this popular outdoor food festival, on hold until the pandemic passes. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-05-11 20:38:12 UTC ]
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AD AGE AGENCY REPORT 2020: RANKINGS AND ANALYSIS

Ad Age Agency Report is an annual ranking and analysis of advertising and marketing-services agencies. The report includes rankings based on U.S. and worldwide revenue. We have published Ad Age Agency Report every year since 1945. We published Ad Age Agency Report 2020 on May 11, 2020. A... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2020-05-10 19:50:00 UTC ]
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PRH Ups Digital Efforts in the Covid Era

Publishers are facing a new normal when it comes to their events businesses: digital or bust. At Penguin Random House, the efforts to pivot are manifold. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Do Publishers Only Get Half of Online Ad Spend?

A "groundbreaking" study--a term used by a report's authors--found that publishers receive only a little more than half (51%) of advertisers' spend. The report, published today by ISBA, the UK trade body for brand-side marketers, raises concerns about transparency in the digital media ecosystem,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-05-06 20:21:44 UTC ]
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Yeah, That’s Probably an Ad: The Art of the Pivot

In the best of times, businesses know to diversify their revenue. But during the pandemic, survival has sometimes meant getting into a whole new business. Co-host David Griner talks with new community editor Ko Im about how a bookstore ramped up site visits by turning itself into a travel site.... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-05-04 15:04:07 UTC ]
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8 of This Week’s Most Telling Marketing Stats, From Earnings Calls to a Surge in Fashion Sales

In the midst of all our town halls, Latin dance breaks and golf tournaments on Zoom, April zoomed by at an alarmingly rapid pace. With the calendar turning to May, it's officially Q1 earnings season. Plus, Nielsen dives into what sports fans are watching in the absence of sports. Here are the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-05-01 20:05:11 UTC ]
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Harlequin Introduces Larger Mass Market Paperback

Harlequin is introducing a new size for its mass market paperbacks, the Mass Market Paperback Max. All Max titles will have a larger trim size than standard mass market and premium mass market formats, and will be priced at $9.99. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ilya Kaminsky: ‘Fables Allow You to Break Bread With the Dead’

Published with permission from BAM and the National Book Foundation What is it about courage that astounds our ability to imagine it? Perhaps it’s because, in dire times, we’re told to forget we can—not be courageous, but imagine what that looks like, what it feels like. To imagine others,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-23 08:49:39 UTC ]
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Kensington to Introduce Larger Mass Market Format

This bigger mass market paperback will make “for a more comfortable reading experience," said Kensington CEO Steve Zacharius, who noted that, with sales of the traditional format in steady decline, he believes the larger size could revitalize the format. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad Age 20-Minute Take: Proving out performance

Watch the live broadcast here on April 28 at 3 p.m. EDT. RSVP here—and join the conversation on Facebook, Periscope, LinkedIn and Twitter. Ad Age 20-Minute Takes is a virtual event series tackling how marketers and buyers can, or should, adjust their strategies in the current climate. Leading... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2020-04-22 15:00:00 UTC ]
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This autumn will be 'tough', Bookseller's marketing and publicity webinar hears

The marketing and publicity director of Simon & Schuster UK has advised industry workers to "be patient and realistic, because it's going to be tough in September". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-21 03:04:00 UTC ]
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Meredith Cuts Salaries, Expands Ad Guarantee to Make Up for Revenue Decline

Facing what it called "a significant decline in advertising revenues" as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Meredith Corp. says it's implementing sweeping pay cuts across 60% of its approximately 5,000 employees, suspending quarterly dividends and withdrawing the 2020 fiscal outlook it... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-04-20 17:45:12 UTC ]
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As brands block coronavirus, streaming app Newsy opens an ad slot free from bad news

Digital publisher develops commercial break that avoids pandemic stories, as industry struggles with skittish advertisers. Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2020-04-17 17:36:26 UTC ]
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How a rough Apartheid-era school spawned an award-winning YA novel

Malla Nunn's "When The Ground is Hard," winner of the 2019 Times Book Prize for young-adult literature, revisits South Africa's toughest years. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-17 15:25:14 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood's Dearly cover revealed by Vintage

Vintage has revealed the striking cover for Margaret Atwood's new poetry book, Dearly—the writer's first collection for a decade. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-16 10:47:01 UTC ]
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