New Miller Time Spots Unveiled; MillerCoors Explains the Return

MillerCoors says Miller Lite still tastes great. And it’s still less filling.

But these two attributes are a tougher sell in an age where superlow-calorie beers have stolen some of the less-filling message and craft beers are crowding in on taste. And that, in a nutshell, is why Lite is reviving the Miller Time tagline, which is more about sociability and less about the beer itself.

“Miller Lite really is about real beer and real friends, and we believe that Miller Time captures that whole idea of real friends coming together over real beer,” MillerCoors Exec VP-Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said today in an interview, discussing the new campaign for the first time since Ad Age first reported it earlier this month.

In recent years, the brand has talked mostly about taste with its “Man Up” campaign by DraftFCB, which mocked guys who chose other brands. MillerCoors is changing course in hopes of lifting Lite from a prolonged slump. The TV ads premiering tonight are by Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, which recently took on Lite in addition to other MillerCoors brands such as Miller64 and Miller High Life. (www.adage.com)

Nissan Previews Big Year For Launches

Innovation is all the rage at Nissan, as the Japanese carmaker preps for one of its busiest model launch years ever in the U.S.

Starting with the Altima, the company will bow new versions of five models in the next 15 months. The others are Pathfinder, Sentra, Versa and Rogue.

Initial teaser ads from TBWA\Chiat\Day use the “Innovation for all” theme that Nissan introduced in its 2010 campaign for the Leaf electric car.

The five nameplates represent 80 percent of Nissan’s total U.S. sales each year, so there’s a lot riding on the new push. Also, given the scope of the effort, the company’s 2012 media spending will grow significantly, according to Jon Brancheau, vp of marketing for North America. By one estimate, spending will rise more than 20 percent from last year’s total, which Nielsen put at $580 million.

Ford to Livestream Game Show Tied to NBC Reality Show

The day after NBC’s new road-trip competition Escape Routes hits TVs on March 31, show sponsor Ford will debut a live-streaming online game show on its dedicated site EscapeRoutes.com. The online show—which will let users earn points and prizes by answering show-related trivia questions—will air the day after each of the series’ six episodes and is part of a larger interactive offering developed by Ford, digital agency Rokkan and Team Detroit.

Starting today, once users register an account on EscapeRoutes.com, they are asked to pick one of the show’s teams and complete team-related challenges—such as answering questions, playing games or uploading videos—in order to receive points, badges and prizes such as a 2013 Ford Escape. Users will also be able to interact directly with the show’s teams as they compete.

Rokkan CEO John Noe declined to discuss challenge specifics because they will reveal show details before episodes air, but he said the interactive and social offerings differ from the initiative’s predecessor, last year’s Ford Focus Rally.

“Last year the way to play was if we asked you a question, you went on to the page and entered into the text field and hit submit,” he said. “The thing we’re trying to do this year is allow people to respond and interact through Twitter.” (www.adweek.com)

Pop-Ups Are Taking Over the Kitchen

The owners of Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen started their business with a dream: to bring traditional Jewish foods such as hand-sliced pastrami and house-smoked trout, to San Francisco.

But the economics of opening a location—costs can range between $300,000 and $500,000 for a 1,500-square-foot space with a liquor license in San Francisco—pushed the young restaurateurs to launch with a more temporary approach: the pop-up.

Pop-up restaurants—temporary eateries that set up shop for a few days, weeks or months in spaces such as hotel lobbies or other restaurants that close for the night—are morphing into a multipurpose tool, used by different strata of the restaurant industry to test concepts, market new brands, engage with a younger audience, or prove to landlords, lenders and investors that they are worth the risk.

Since first appearing in London in the mid-2000s, when a handful of restaurateurs began staging culinary “happenings,” pop-ups have become so integral to the high-end restaurant scene that there are now pop-up production companies that help chefs and companies stage events and restaurant spaces that serve as homes to a continually shifting schedule of pop-ups. (www.wsj.com)

As Young Lose Interest in Cars, G.M. Turns to MTV for Help

That is a major shift from the days when the car stood at the center of youth culture and wheels served as the ultimate gateway to freedom and independence. Young drivers proudly parked Impalas at a drive-in movie theater, lusted over cherry red Camaros as the ultimate sign of rebellion or saved up for a Volkswagen Beetle on which to splash bumper stickers and peace signs. Today Facebook, Twitter and text messaging allow teenagers and 20-somethings to connect without wheels. High gas prices and environmental concerns don’t help matters.

“They think of a car as a giant bummer,” said Mr. Martin. “Think about your dashboard. It’s filled with nothing but bad news.”

There is data to support Mr. Martin’s observations. In 2008, 46.3 percent of potential drivers 19 years old and younger had drivers’ licenses, compared with 64.4 percent in 1998, according to the Federal Highway Administration, and drivers ages 21 to 30 drove 12 percent fewer miles in 2009 than they did in 1995.

Forty-six percent of drivers aged 18 to 24 said they would choose Internet access over owning a car, according to the research firm Gartner. (www.nytimes.com)

Nissan Promotes Next New York Taxi as a Sign of Its Innovation

TAXICABS crowd the movies and TV shows about New York just as they crowd the streets of New York, as evidenced by “On the Town,” “Taxi,” “Taxi Driver,” “Night on Earth” and “Cash Cab.” Now comes a campaign that celebrates the city’s taxi fleet, or at least what it is to look like beginning in fall 2013.

The campaign, scheduled to start on Monday, promotes the Nissan NV200 van, which in May won the Taxi of Tomorrow competition sponsored by New York City. The campaign is sponsored, not surprisingly, by the company whose entry won the contest, the Nissan North America division of Nissan Motor.

The campaign, with a budget estimated at $2 million to $3 million, is being produced by TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles, the longtime creative agency for Nissan North America. The campaign includes billboards, events, social media, promotions and signs, many of which will be placed atop existing taxicabs.

“This is the greatest moment for taxis since Danny DeVito played Louie De Palma on ‘Taxi,’ ” said Rob Schwartz, chief creative officer at TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles, which is the Playa del Rey, Calif., office of the TBWA/Chiat/Day unit of TBWA Worldwide, a division of the Omnicom Group. (www.nytimes.com)

Gulf Oil provides the spark at Fenway Park

Major League Baseball (MLB) team Boston Red Sox has announced Gulf Oil as the official electricity supplier to Fenway Park.

Expanding its longstanding relationship with the Red Sox and Fenway Park, Gulf Oil, through its Gulf Electricity division, will power everything at the stadium, including the floodlights, team clubhouses and concession stands.

“We are proud to deepen our relationship with our long time partners, the Boston Red Sox,” said Gulf Oil president Ron Sabia. “As each of our enterprises continues to innovate, it is fitting for Gulf to introduce its new electricity service to Massachusetts consumers first at Fenway.” (www.sportspromedia.com)

Coke To Focus On Events, Loses Faith In 30-Second Spot

Coca-Cola looks to focus its TV ad spending on so-called DVR-proof events, while buttressing them with 360-degree campaigns.

With ad-skipping rampant, the company has lost faith in the effectiveness of traditional ads in comedies and dramas, save for the Super Bowl, “American Idol” and other programming that consumers watch live and talk about the next day around the Coke machine.

“The 30-second spots on television (are) no longer the way to do it,” said CFO Gary Fayard at an industry event. “You still do 30-second spots, but if you’re like me, most of the television you watch, you record and when you then watch it, you skip over all the ads … (but) you will watch certain shows live because you want to be able to talk about them tomorrow when you go to work.”

Still, even as advertising is concentrated in live-oriented events and sports, Coke is planning a major Olympics initiative this summer — a traditional spot can no longer stand alone, Fayard said. Links and integrated campaigns will use social and digital media -– as Coke did with Super Bowl ads this year — and opportunities for consumers to take some ownership of brands and pass along endorsements is crucial. (www.mediapost.com)

Century 21 Allies With National Soccer Team

Century 21 has unveiled its alliance as the “official real estate company” of U.S. Soccer, which includes the Men’s, Women’s and Youth National Teams. The partnership launched during the CONCACAF 2012 Summer Olympics qualifying tournament with a game last night between the U.S. Men’s National Team and the Cuban National Team. (www.mediapost.com)
MasterCard Goes With Palmer, PGA Tour

MasterCard has signed a deal with the PGA Tour and Arnold Palmer to continue and also expand its role as lead sponsor of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard. Financial terms of the four-year deal, which runs through the 2016 tournament, were not revealed. The 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard is being held this week at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club in Orlando. Tiger Woods is attempting to win the event for the seventh time. (www.mediapost.com)
Jaguar And Land Rover Go To China

British maker Jaguar Land Rover is the latest to ink a deal with Chinese partner Chery. But Paul Eisenstein wonders if, with the Chinese market possibly slowing, it isn’t just a bit too little too late.

The deal with China’s Chery Automobile Company will lead to the production of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, as well as powertrains, at a facility there. China has outsold the U.S. for the last several years. Eisenstein points out that the specifics have yet to be announced and will be subject to approval by Chinese regulators, meaning the whole thing could drag on for a while. Fuji Heavy Industries has been waiting since last year for the go-ahead on a deal that would lead to production of its Subaru line in China. Nonetheless, officials at India’s Tata Motors, which owns JLR, expressed optimism. (www.mediapost.com)

Fujifilm’s First Brand Campaign Talks Tech

Despite having the word “film” in its name, Fujifilm Holdings North America is looking to remind consumers and business leaders that the company is about more than an outmoded technology.

In its first-ever brand campaign, the company tells its brand story through innovation developed through various technologies over the decades. The primarily print campaign celebrates the company’s 78-year history in developing core technologies that simply happened to be grounded in the development of photographic products. The campaign showcases how those technologies are being adapted for the 21^st century.

“In the last decade, Fujifilm made many changes and investments to diversify its business. Now, the timing is right for Fujifilm to support those strategic business moves with an overarching brand message,” said Ray Hosoda, president, Fujifilm Holdings America Corporation, in a statement. “This new ad campaign illustrates how Fujifilm has extended it products and services into markets beyond the traditional film and imaging industries for which we are best known, such as digital cameras, and photo imaging and printing equipment.”

The campaign acknowledges consumers’ perception as Fujifilm with the headline “Just when you thought you knew us.” The ads then showcase different technological developments the company has been a part of. The first ad, for instance, features a 3D medical imaging product marketed in the U.S. by Fujifilm Medical Systems. The campaign features the tagline “expect Innovation.” (www.mediapost.com)