Digitally Lagging Agency Dropped by Nike— (WSJ) Wieden + Kennedy has lost the Nike account it shepherded since 1982. Sad, but “what really unnerved Madison Avenue was that one of the main reasons for Nike’s move was dissatisfaction with the agency’s digital expertise, according to people close to the account.” CIQ: We feel that the brightest digital minds are probably not attracted to working in big agencies because, overall, agencies have not valued what they do.

Is the NBC-News Corp Venture a Serious Threat to YouTube?–(Fortune) Not if you read between the lines, according to this news analysis. The inititative doesn’t have a name or a CEO or a definitive start date. Also, it took the 5 companies involve (including AOL, MSN and Yahoo) 15 months to sort out the terms that would get them to this nameless, captain-less, launch-date-less point. CIQ: We agree. Sounds like big-media-tries-to-immitate-nimble-startup syndrome to us.

The Death of the Album–(NYT) The sales of traditional record albums continue to slide. Labels are signing artists for a couple of songs. Consumers are moving to iPod playlists. CIQ: For years consumers have bought full albums and found only a few good songs. We wonder about artists teaming up to release a “playlist” with the best work from each, a theme, and a discount at iTunes for buying the package.

Even Covering the News Biz is Not Profitable–(Forbes.com) Saying they are “tired of producing painful forecasts” independent newspaper analyst John Morton and media economist Miles Groves, are calling it quits, ceasing the production of their well-respected Morton-Groves Newspaper Newsletter. CIQ:The writing on the wall is now taking up most of the wall.

Message to Agencies is Get Digital–(Media Post) Several speakers at this week’s OMMA conference in Hollywood reinforced the point: In order to survive, traditional agencies must change. CIQ: We think the division between branding and direct marketing will need to be erased.

Self-Made YouTube Star in Deal with Hersheys–(Brandweek) Lonelygirl15, the psuedo video diary, offers friends a piece of IceBreaker gum. CIQ: We aren’t sure that product placement, even one as innovative as this, is the answer for advertisers struggling to find more effective vehicles.

“The internet should be a supplement to reading the newspaper,” Dan Rather said on Monday night on Real Time with Bill Maher. ABC correspondent Martha Radatz agreed. Newspapers are a primary resource, online second.

I have a confession: The internet is my primary source for news. I scan headlines in dozens of newsletters. I go to several news websites a day. TV is my secondary source. Newspaper third. I only read it on Sunday. Also, I have a masters in Journalism, several journalism awards, and have worked at ABC News. With all these sources for news at my finger tips, I feel much better informed than I did when I just had newspapers and newsmagazines.

With all the real and digital ink these days about dying newspapers, dying movie industry, dying record industry, one has to wonder about key stakeholders such these two who so clearly don’t get it. In fact, in one point during the interview Martha Radatz noted that during the day, the front page of the New York Times online edition changes. This she clearly portrayed as a negative. Because the “top story,” which used to be so static, so controlled, is no longer.

Yep. And guess what? Newsies like me check in with the New York Times several times a day to see what is currently leading the news as opposed to buying it once and throwing it away. That’s good for the paper, and its advertisers. The goal must be to get ad rates to reflect this value.

 

 

NBC and News Corp. Announce Plans to Tackle YouTube–(NYT) The two media giants announced a joint venture that as yet has no name but may go live as early as this summer. The online video site would be both ad-supported and allow users to pay for content. CIQ: AOL, Yahoo, MSN and MySpace are distribution partners, so this startup is in a good position to compete with YouTube’s audience.

CD Sales Down 20% in Q1–(WSJ) It’s a huge plunge. The worse news, online downloads do not make up for the drop in CD sales. Why? Because of piracy. 800 music retails stores have closed. According to one executive, “Sales are so down and so off that, as a manager, I look at a CD as part of the marketing of an artist, more than as an income stream.” CIQ: The producers of video content (see news item above) are making attempts to coopt the digital download trend. And success for them is by no means guaranteed. One wonders if it is simply too late for the music industry. An aggressive ad-supported push is necessary.

Condensing Takes Place at Readers Digest–(NY Post) Three top execs are fired, including publisher, associate publisher and group publisher. CIQ: The Post article quotes people calling Mary Berner’s house cleaning as the “Conde Nastie” way. And yet, here is another print publication in danger of becoming irrelevant in the digital age. With the right strategy, a strong brand like RD could compete online with iVillage.

Headlines are a little sparse this week, as the CIQ staff suffers with the flu. We have been very smugly healthy this year. And we have gotten our come-uppance.