Steve’s breakdown: If I had a boatload of cash, I’d give it to these guys. Maybe you can help out with marketing to help save the world and make some serious coin!
BROOKLYN, NY: Former design engineer Jonathan Cedar thinks he’s figured out a market-based solution to address health and energy needs in developing countries.
[...]
Posts in category News: Future plans
Prediction: BioLite will be the next big thing
Steve’s breakdown: If I had a boatload of cash, I’d give it to these guys. Maybe you can help out with marketing to help save the world and make some serious coin!
BROOKLYN, NY: Former design engineer Jonathan Cedar thinks he’s figured out a market-based solution to address health and energy needs in developing countries.
[...]
OneFineStay expands into USA
Steve’s breakdown: Imaging staying in a private home that’s decked out as a 5 star boutique hotel. That’s what this fast growing company, with no ad agency representation, is doing. They have 500 homes in London and, in just one month, 80 in NYC.
NEW YORK, NY & LONDON, UK: Entrepreneur Evan Frank sees his startup Onefin [...]
New Star Wars business to Pitch
Steve’s breakdown: One of my sweetest account wins was snatching Star Wars: Phantom Menace away from the entire Hasbro agency roster while at Posnick & Kolker. Now with Disney as the future owner, the brand and all the licensing is up in the air.
Oh – and did we mention, they are going to produce NEW movies!!!
SAN FRANCISCO, [...]
Skyscanner.com opening Miami office
Steve’s breakdown: Our headline from December tells us you all knew this was coming – hope. “New Business Opportunity: Cold War looming for travel sites.”
MIAMI, FL: One of Kayak and Expedia’s international rivals in the online-travel business is opening up a Miami office in a bid to capture a larger share of the Nort [...]
Research in Motion changes name to BlackBerry
Steve’s breakdown: In addition to the name change, Alicia Keys has been brought in as creative director. So either way you see this going, marketing is clearly going to change.
WATERLOO, Canada: Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), taking the name of its best-known product, will now be known simply as BlackBerry, part of a comeback plan that [...]
Contact Energy Brands to help with their plan B
Steve’s breakdown: The FDA is closing in on energy drinks so these companies really need to start thinking about new PR, advertising & product development.
The article sites Monster, Redbull, 5-Hour Energy, Rockstar Energy, Jolt Energy and Wired Wyatt brands but don’t forget about Full Throttle, Amp, Nos, Cocaine and Crunk!!!
[...]
Copa Airlines sees soaring growth but where’s the US advertising
Steve’s breakdown: Copa Airlines, a small Panamanian air carrier with a North American base in Miami, has been increasing its fleet, adding destinations and hiring employees at a rapid clip. The featured video is for the Latin America market and we suspect they are going to have to get serious about the USA advertising with all this ex [...]
Can you help The Container Store tackle smaller markets?
Steve’s breakdown: We love it when companies serve up new business leads every January when speaking about the new year. We’ve told you about a number of them already. The plan at the Container Store is to spread into smaller markets and we all know they will need some help with that on the marketing side.
COPPELL, TX: Now that it [...]
Atlantic Club, Atlantic City is on the block
Steve’s breakdown: I still have high hopes for internet gambling in New Jeresy but I don’t think it should matter either way in regards to this proposed purchase. They’ve got millions to spend and you should want your cut to do their branding – - which is awful. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are the buyers other bra [...]
Long John Silver’s new menu campaign has no agency . . .
Steve’s breakdown: This news is a bit confusing but here’s what we know. They are going to launch a digital campaign in two months with the “That’s what I like” theme. Then the article says “Previously, the brand had partnered with Louisville-based agency Creative Alliance to launch its current ‘That [...]
South Park creators to start own studio
Steve’s breakdown: Could you imagine having these guys as your client? The first brand is clearly the “Book of Mormon” movie. So go ring their doorbell!
NEW YORK, NY: The creators of “South Park” are branching out beyond the underpants business.
From left, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Casey Nicholaw and Robert Lopez at the [...]
CES 2013: After Delays, Pebble Wristwatch Will Ship Jan. 23
https://vimeo.com/40128933
Steve’s breakdown: Fresh from CES: The featured video is how they paid for the production of 85,000 Pebble watches via KickStarter.
The news is they have a great product but no proper marketing.
SILICON VALLEY, CA: Pebble, the much-hyped wristwatch designed to connect wirelessly to smartphones to display infor [...]
Krispy Kreme & Jamba Juice look tasty for take overs
Steve’s breakdown: We are way in front of these two. Both would, no doubt, go into an advertising review if they are bought. Keep’em on the radar. Check out the video report on Bloomberg here.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC & EMERYVILLE, CA: Following the biggest surge in takeovers of restaurant and coffee companies since the last recessio [...]
Coinstar is looking for ideas
Steve Breakdown: So many of you heard the CEO of Coinstar bailed last week. To do damage control and to stop the stock from plummeting, the CFO took control and announced that they have “double revenue in the next five years” plan. They are going to need a better marketing plan to do all this in addition to getting back to 2009 me [...]
Consumer Electronics Pre-Show Report
Steve’s breakdown: The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starts tomorrow and there will be lots of new business opportunities to look into. Here’s Consumer’s Reports pre-show take on a few new products & technologies. We’ll have more all week.
CES 2013 video: Hands on with TDK Q35 [...]
Royal Mail seeks PR to go public big time
Steve’s breakdown: The UK mail is going private and they need to tell the people that it’s happening and that it’s OK. Could be a touchy account but one with good future connections, we suspect.
Past posts: “Royal Mail puts multiple projects in review”
LONDON, UK: Royal Mail is inviting the industry’s top City PR [...]
PR Account Prediction: Sasol to put $16 to $20 billion in Louisiana
Steve’s breakdown: This is a monstrous project and we think they are going to need a PR firm to make it happen smoothly. Congrats to Louisiana!
WEST LAKE, LA: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Monday that international energy and chemicals company Sasol Ltd. will invest between $16 billion and $21 billion in a major project in Westl [...]
Coco-Cola to put $1.3 billion in Chile
Steve’s breakdown: A little forecasting here this Monday morning. We suspect a large portion of this $1.3 billion is going to marketing and someone has to take it. You?
ATLANTA, GA: Coca-Cola is looking to further expand its presence in Latin America with plans to invest $1.3bn in Chile over the next five years.
The main focus of the in [...]
The College Football Playoffs & New Business
Steve’s breakdown: Since we are all in a football state-of-mind this Thanksgiving, we thought we’d talk college for a moment.
Now that we know who’s going to be airing the new college playoffs, read below, how are you going to win new business leveraging them. Simple, go local. There’s going to be an entirely different [...]
GoSpotCheck bags ex-Coke CMO as advisor
Steve’s breakdown: There’s only one reason they did this, growth through marketing insight. Keep an eye on these folks because things are going to get interesting.
DENVER, CO: GoSpotCheck, a provider of mobile and web-based software that enables businesses to collect on-the-ground, real-time retail data and intelligence, today ann [...]
Account review prediction: Qualcomm
Steve’s breakdown: Back in August we reported “Qualcomm bags new CMO” and said there will be big changes. Well, that’s been confirmed with this statement from the new CMO.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ:QCOM) new chief marketing officer said the company plans to more heavily advertise its brand, including [...]
Orient-Express Hotels’ new lease on life
Steve’s breakdown: Sometimes we watch a company go through some challegning times and you wonder how they will ever get out of it. You just wish the company could get a new lease on life. Well, that’s just what happened with Orient-Express.
Now with no takeover from Tata and with a new CEO, we suspect there’s a new sence of [...]
Lincoln makeover continues: opens design center
Steve’s breakdown: Both Lincoln & Cadillac are doing makeovers. And both are taking it seriously so look for opportunities here and there.
Quote of the article: ”Our ambition is not to be No. 1,” said Jim Farley, head of global sales and marketing. “We’d rather have a few people love us than everybody like us [...]
South Boston Waterfront development without an agency?
Steve’s breakdown: This is a pretty big deal with high profile elements. Go to the “source” of this news for more details.
BOSTON, MA: Pier 4 is a mixed-use project on the South Boston Waterfront that will include approximately 1 million square feet of hotel, residential, office, retail and civic uses on approximately 9.5 ac [...]
VooDoo BBQ is not frightened of growth: big franchising deal
Steve’s breakdown: We see this brand kicking it into gear with this franchise deal. Their present advertising is okay but not tasty enough so get in there and show’em how it’s done. (225) 926-8780
PRAIRIEVILLE, LA: VooDoo BBQ & Grill is ready to bring a new style of Cajun-Creole barbecue to South Florida.
The fast casu [...]
Account review prediction still on: Quiznos CEO outlines strategies
Steve’s breakdown: This account review prediction is still on as far as The Ratti Report is concerned. Three reasons:
The Better Than Ever campaign is dead
They are going to go more local
Opening more stores is important but not as important as it was in the past
Because we already predicted it
DENVER, CO: Quiznos’ new chief ex [...]
Churchill Downs Interactive gets Chief Strategist
Steve’s breakdown: This new leadership of Twinspires.com, Luckity.com and Bluff Media could means many types of new business opportunities. Either way, Churchill Downs Interactive needs a longterm strategy and I know many of you have the juice to win that project.
LOUISVILLE, KY & MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA: Churchill Downs Inc. named Lexi [...]
MeetMe.com is now integrated, global and growing fast
Steve’s breakdown: We think there could be multiple opportunites here considering their growth plans. If you dig the site, let them know and get involved.
NEW HOPE, PA: MeetMe, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MEET), the public market leader for social discovery, today announced that the transition of Quepasa.com users to the MeetMe platform is complete [...]
UnitedHealth Group to expand into Brazil
Steve’s breakdown: So many of our suscribers want to expand in the growing marketing place of South America. Well, here’s a whoper for ya.
MINNETONKA, MN: UnitedHealth Group Inc. will spend about $4.9 billion to buy a majority stake in Brazilian health benefits and care provider Amil Participacoes SA, as the largest U.S. health i [...]
$500 million is being moved to Microsoft’s YouthSpark
Steve’s breakdown: 1/2 billion dollars is a lot of money to be moving around and we expect there are going to be multiple opportunities to get involved with. And maybe make some money.
REDMOND, WA: Microsoft announced Thursday that it’s undertaking a new global initiative to combat the “opportunity gap” for young people.
Philanthropica [...]
Dish to offer nationwide satellite Internet service
Steve’s breakdown: They are keeping these plans under wraps which is pretty hard when you launch a satellite into space. Either way, no word on who’s handling advertising so it might be a good call to make.
ENGLEWOOD, CO: Dish Network Corp. is preparing to introduce a nationwide broadband-Internet service using a satellite from si [...]
The Goose wants to go digital: Goose Island Beer
Steve’s breakdown: Goose Island Beer is looking to pump up their digital marketing including KPI tracking, CRM, email marketing, mobile marketing, SEO, online advertising, social media and mobile marketing initiatives. So if that’s your bag, jump on it.
How do we know? We mine everything for leads including hiring trends in marke [...]
Paulson bets on 875 acres of Vegas-Area land for homebuilding
Steve’s breakdown: There’s at least one guy who thinks the economy and the real estate market in Vagas will turn around. And that’s not the only reason to pitch this guy; he also has properties in Colorado, Arizona, California, Florida and Hawaii.
NEW YORK, NY: Paulson & Co., the hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulso [...]
Splitsville for Liberty & Starz with more to come
Steve’s breakdown: There’s a lot of movment going on over at Liberty. Between Starz, Encore, Sirius XM and LiveNation, there’s going to be an ad account without an agency somewhere. Be there to catch it.
ENGLEWOOD, CO: Douglas County-based Liberty Media Corp. announced Wednesday its intention to separate Liberty Media and St [...]
Buckhead Atlanta restarts construction: What about marketing?
Steve’s breakdown: The thing about real estate developers is that many of them have projects all over the country. Meaning they are managing many brands at once so if you win one, the next one will be that much easier.
ATLANTA, GA: Developer OliverMcMillan has restarted work on Buckhead Atlanta, the 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use pro [...]
Commercial Real Estate boom in Texas
Steve’s breakdown: A subscriber mentioned they wanted to see more real estate new business news (AKA leads) so here you go.
Seems things are looking good in Austin, TX. There are several possible leads in this article so read to the bottom if you’re in the market.
AUSTIN, TX: With only the concrete slabs remaining where 30 mobile [...]
Lose weight – feel great: Arena Pharmaceuticals
Steve’s breakdown: Who knows what’s going to happen with the weight loss universe but as an ad agency, who cares. Just take their money!
SAN DIEGO, CA: Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARNA) (ARNA)’s weight- loss pill, the first cleared in the U.S. in 13 years, and an expected rival are potential breakthroughs in the treatment of obes [...]
BadAss Beer sobers up to find new bad ass brewer
Steve’s breakdown: The brand is still around but will need a new brewer . . . and probably a new campaign.
WEBBERVILLE, MI: An auction is planned for Wednesday to sell off assets of Michigan Brewing Co., known for making beers including musician Kid Rock’s own Badass Beer.
The Lansing State Journal reports (http://on.lsj.com/Lqy [...]
Rebranding: Dropping the Lutheran from Gundersen Lutheran
Steve’s breakdown: What these folks need is a team of branding experts to solve this thing. So if you’re in the neighborhood, you know what to do. BTW: This is our second Lutheran themed story this month. Earlier we reported Beyond Lutherans: Thrivent Financial looks to expand.
LA CROSSE, WI: Gundersen Lutheran is considering drop [...]
Dot.AnythingYouWant is coming and they will all need advertising
Steve’s breakdown: The cat is about to get out-of-the-bag. The can-of-worms is about to be opened. The genie is about to be let out of the bottle. ICANN tomorrow will reveal who is going after what new domain extensions, paving the way for a very different looking Web. Prepare for dot-madness.
And then dot-opportunities for your agency! [...]
Virgin Mobile & FRiENDi hook-up in Africa & Middle East
Steve’s breakdown: Say what you want about Sir Richard Branson, the guy is truely global so if you get in good graces with his company, an opportunity will come. Here’s another one.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa & DUBAI, UAE: Virgin DGroup and FRiENDi GROUP have announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement for the M [...]
Burger King marches further into Russia
Steve’s breakdown: People say we don’t cover Russia and they’re mostly right, but not today. This expanding account will be huge and could use some grown-up marketing. And the best part is you already know who the client is: BurgerKing Rus!
MIAMI, FL & EVERYWHERE, Russia: Burger King has set its sites on Russia as the n [...]
Sacré bleu! Starbucks to buy then expand La Boulange nationally
Steve’s breakdown: Taking La Boulange nationally is going to take some marketing. They say they are going to do it store-by-store so keep that in mind while pitching.
SEATTLE, WA & SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Starbucks Corp. is looking to offer a more tempting menu, with a $100 million cash deal to buy a small bakery chain.
The Seattle-based [...]
Beyond Lutherans: Thrivent Financial looks to expand
Steve’s breakdown: Here’s an interesting opportunity. A 110 year old faith-based financial services company wants to breakout. Being a Lutheran would probably help to win this account. But you’ll also have to be a staunch capitalist too. Very interesting!!
Looking for growth, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is considering [...]
32 innovations that will change your tomorrow
Steve’s breakdown: Being a new business pro means you’re also a Futurist. Yes – Futurist! Everyday the new business department has to see and go after the money that’s in their future. New York Times Magazine did a nice piece yesterday you should click through to.
EVERYWHERE, USA: The electric light was a failure.
Inve [...]
Nike throws in the towel on Cole Hann & Umbro
Steve’s breakdown: Looks like Cole Haan and Umbro brands are getting cut loose by Nike. It might take a bit to find buyers but that doesn’t mean you can’t start getting cozy which their marketing departments.
SCARBOROUGH, ME & CHEADLE, UK: Nike is kicking its Cole Haan and Umbro brands to the curb.
The world’s largest a [...]
Technicolor gets its mojo back via patents: Marketing next?
Steve’s breakdown: This story is interesting to us because of two reasons. I actually pitched and won this business while at M&C Saatchi and, believe it or not, they do have lots of products that need to be advertised and sell. Two: They have just finished reorganizing and are racking up revenue by going after patent infringers. (is [...]
National Wireless Internet Service: The future ad account
Steve’s breakdown: It’s not a matter of if but when we will all be able to connect to the internet from everywhere USA. It will be a major coup for whomever gets it so you might as well get started on that now.
EVERYWHERE, USA: Five of the nation’s largest cable companies — Comcast Corp., Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Cox Co [...]
Set free by Citi and getting new headquarters: Primerica sees its future
Steve’s breakdown: Headlines like “Primerica sets its own course after Citi split” coupled with the news they are moving over a dozen offices into one makes us take notice and say: Lead Alert!
DULUTH, GA: John Addison is fond of saying “America needs a Primerica.”
It’s self-affirming for the place the insurance and financial [...]
USA EXCLUSIVE: Account Review for Relaunching MySpace
Steve’s breakdown: Exploratory conversations with agencies has begun with an eye towards a formal pitch at the end of the year. Go get your foot in the door.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA: The once-leading social media site MySpace has held talks with agencies as it prepares for a brand relaunch towards the end of the year.
The move follows the pur [...]
Miami Subs Grill growing into South America
Steve’s breakdown: If your agency is looking for an opportunity to move internationally, here a possible road: Follow the Client! Miami Subs Grill has a long term growth plan for South America and it’s via franchisers which means there has to be a marketing plan attached.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Miami Subs Grill is expanding oversea [...]
Chiquita has a new home and is looking to extend its brand
Steve’s breakdown: Here’s the key quote from this CEO interview: “I came into the company with a very important objective: how do we leverage the brand? Because the brand is probably the most well-known in our industry. I would like to have different people come to figure that out.” WOW. Now that’s an invitation [...]
Pizza Ranch rustling up marketing efforts
Steve’s breakdown: The words Pizza and Ranch don’t make much sense together but we’re talking Iowa here. And it looks like an ad account waiting to happen so jump on it.
HULL, IA: Since he started his post as vice president of marketing for Pizza Ranch in January, Cody Pierce has been tasked with scaling up the 160-unit bran [...]
Adino Energy brings in Hired Gun to Refocus Marketing/Communications
Steve’s breakdown: Here’s one of those marketing & PR accounts that focused on their shareholders. These types of accounts tend to go for high production values and pay their bills on time. Will there be a pitch for the business? Hard to say but it’s worth a phone call. Go get’em y’all!
HOUSTON, TX: Adino Ene [...]
U.S. Space Tourism: Your Next Fronteir
Steve’s breakdown: Obviously, the exciting part of this news is the tourism aspect but the more immediate market for the ad industry is marketing suborbital spaceflights to research organizations, educational institutes and businesses that want to conduct experiments and fly payloads in space. There are three lead opportunities mentioned in [...]
Stanford, ME opportunity about to take off: Town to ramp up airport marketing
Steve’s breakdown: This is a small one that’s perfect for a regional player. And people still have the perception that we only report the big accounts . . .
SANFORD, ME: With the right marketing and promotion, Sanford Regional Airport can become a key to the local economy, consultants told town officials during a presentation at N [...]
PR agencies eye up 2020 Olympics as cities are shortlisted
Steve’s breakdown: This is the second most viewed webpage on this site. It doesn’t make any sense but who really cares? Make sure to check out the rest at Ratti-Report.com.
Now back to the news item: The announcement of the cities shortlisted to host the 2020 Olympic Games has kicked off a flurry of activity as PR heavyweights jo [...]
Mercedes Renews Small-Car Push
Steve’s breakdown: Here’s an example of a company that is crying out “we need marketing help!!” And I don’t think these new offerings are going to their AOR so put Mercedes on the hit list. BTW, this story also calls back to a story we reported on about their Smart Car.
MONTVALE, NJ: Thinking small has never been [...]
Can Campbell’s new CEO heat up sales? Maybe with the right advertising
Steve’s breakdown: The key line in this article is “Morrison has indicated that Campbell’s moving to a sharper focus on advertising, rather than promotions and discounting of the company’s food products.” Does that mean a new ad agency? Maybe. And that should be enough to go in there and pitch.
CAMDEN, NJ: : Cam [...]
Glasgow Games 2014 Seeks Digital Media Agency
Steve’s breakdown: Hosting the Olympics is big business even if your
city doesn’t get the nod. Go forth and pitch with gusto!
GLASGOW CITY, UK: The Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014 team is on the hunt for a digital media agency.
Glasgow 2014: wants digital media agency
The successful agency will offer online support to some [...]