Brands crash Area 51 parties. And AT&T considers offloading DirecTV: Thursday Wake-Up Call

Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. If you're reading this online or in a forwarded email, here's the link to sign up for our daily newsletter. You can also get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Whassup? Now take me to your leader Bud Light is the official sponsor of the Area 51 Celebration happening in Las Vegas tonight, and the brand made extraterrestrial-themed beer cans for the occasion. It also has a fridge of beer stocked just for aliens, should any turn up. But let’s back up, because this requires some explanation. It all started with an internet joke urging a raid on the Area 51 military facility in the Nevada desert; legend has it that alien spacecraft are held there. The joke “quickly grew into a potentially real thing (putting many, including the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration, on edge),” as Ad Age’s Ann-Christine Diaz writes. And now there are a few parties happening in Nevada instead; at one of them, Arby’s will hand out “Frying Objects,” aka fries. To recap: A jokey meme about hunting for extraterrestrials led to plans for a potentially dangerous uprising, which turned into an excuse for parties, which opened up possibilities for corporate sponsorship. 2019 is wild. A murky future for DirecTV On a more serious note, AT&T is considering parting with its DirecTV unit, which it bought in 2015, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Journal... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-19 10:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #nielsen ratings #kamala harris #incredibly powerful #anonymous tip #nielsen

Other Publishing stories related to: ' Brands crash Area 51 parties. And AT&T considers offloading DirecTV: Thursday Wake-Up Call '


Amazon's third party sales 'over 40% of total'

Third party sellers accounted for more than 40% of all items sold on Amazon in 2014, the online retailer has revealed. There are currently more than two million vendors on the online retail site, who sold more than two billion items worldwide last year, including books, clothing and other... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #items sold #products directly #online retailer #including books #mobile devices


Writers join call to legalise assisted dying

Novelists Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes and Deborah Moggach and the former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion are among the signatories to a letter calling on the next government to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #julian barnes #deborah moggach #letter calling


Publishing Sales Execs Consider the Future of Book Pricing

A trio of international publishing sales executives reflect on the different attitudes toward book pricing across the world, wondering what the future holds. The post Publishing Sales Execs Consider the Future of Book Pricing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #future holds


IPA calls on China to release Xu Xiao

The International Publishers Association has called on China's government to release Xu Xiao, a prominent publisher, writer and editor, and 2014 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize nominee. Xu was arrested on 26th November during a crackdown on writers, journalists, publishers and civil society... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ipa calls #prominent publisher #hong kong


Call for indies to fill out Christmas Trading Survey

The Bookseller is running its annual Christmas Trading Survey once again to gauge a picture of the Christmas market for indie booksellers in the UK and Ireland. The survey is now live and probes how sales compared with last year, if deliveries held up and what books proved great Christmas hits... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #christmas market #indie booksellers #hot topics


Petition calls on Foyles to pay the Living Wage

Foyles has defended the wages of its staff after an online petition called on the company to pay booksellers the Living Wage. The petition at Change.org was set up today (11th December) by Lindsay Woods, who is campaigning for the six-store company to pay all its workers “at least the London... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #petition calls #living wage


What Facebook’s search feature means for brands, publishers

Facebook's new search feature will give users a more active role in media discovery, and likely change how brands and publishers use the platform. The post What Facebook’s search feature means for brands, publishers appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers appeared #give users #active role


South African newspaper publisher considering £28m offer

Blackstar investment company wants to obtain full ownership of Times Media Group Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publicity Campaign Calls on Booksellers to End Novel

Booksellers are usually tasked with selling books but, in a twist this holiday season, they’ve been invited to write the ending to one. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #selling books #holiday season


Bay Area Book Fest Launches Indiegogo Campaign

The Bay Area Book Festival, set for June 6-7, is launching an Indiegogo campaign to raise $50,000 to support their first festival in Berkeley. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #indiegogo campaign #raise $50


Russell Brand: 'schools without libraries are a disgrace'

Russell Brand described schools without a library as a "disgrace", and said public libraries closures were driven by a "fundamentalist philosophy of profit", in an entertaining and enthusiastically received Reading Agency Lecture last night (Tuesday 25th November). The comedian and author told... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #russell brand #author told


Vaizey accused of 'offloading responsibility' on libraries

A parliamentary debate on libraries descended into "personal attacks" between libraries minister Ed Vaizey and shadow communities and local government minister Lyn Brown. Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate on public libraries yesterday (19th December), Brown, a Labour MP for West Ham,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #parliamentary debate #labour mp #local councils


Ladybird drops branding books ‘for boys’ or ‘for girls’

Much-loved publisher of books for youngsters says it does not want ‘to be seen to be limiting children in any way’Ladybird, the iconic publisher of children’s books including the classic Peter and Jane reading scheme, has vowed to remove any “boy” or “girl” labels from its books because it... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books including #books campaign #iconic publisher #classic peter


Brands Are Wasting Time And Money On Facebook And Twitter, Report Says

"Stop making Facebook the center of your relationship marketing efforts," says Nate Elliott, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.Today market research firm Forrester published a report for brands titled "Social Relationship Strategies That Work."Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wasting time #principal analyst


Amazon and Hachette call a truce in their ebook pricing war

Well, that was anticlimactic. Online retail titan Amazon and the publisher Hachette have been sniping at each other for months because they couldn't see eye to eye on how much ebooks should cost (and how much revenue Amazon should get off of them).... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publisher hachette


Paul Kingsnorths The Wake: a novel approach to Old English

Prize-winning fiction set in 11th century and using innovative language gains critical success after rejection by mainstream publishersOf the 120 reader reviews on Amazon for Paul Kingsnorths debut novel The Wake, most are either adoring five stars hailing one of the most unexpectedly exciting... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people hate


What Facebook’s new unfollow feature means for brands, publishers

Facebook is making it easier for users to unfollow brand and publisher pages, which will have a polarizing effect on distribution. The post What Facebook’s new unfollow feature means for brands, publishers appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers appeared


Green Party's Bennett to co-judge Bread and Roses Award

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett will join writer Anna Minton and philosophy lecturer Nina Power as guest judges for the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2015. The award, run by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB), celebrates non-fiction that is informed by socialist,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #roses award #green party


Facebook Tool the Obama Camp Called Groundbreaking Is Going Away

After the 2012 election, President Barack Obama's digital campaign director Teddy Goff told Time magazine that a tool allowing Obama for America to access the Facebook friends of its supporters "will wind up being the most groundbreaking piece of technology developed for this campaign." This is... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #election season #facebook friends