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Dow Jones Newswires | Sam Zell’s Equity Group Investments LLC
offered to buy the remaining outstanding shares of Rewards Network Inc.
for $13.50 per share, a 36 percent premium to Tuesday’s closing price.
In a letter to the board, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, Equity Group said it was prepared to “promptly negotiate”
the terms of the deal and would allow Rewards Network a 40-day “go
shop” period to search for better deals.
Sports Business Journal | Though neither Allstate nor ESPN are commenting, the insurance giant is reported to be near extending its sponsorship of the Sugar Bowl. Allstate has sponsored the BCS game since 2007, and the deal would keep the relationship in place through January 2014.
Read the full story: sportsbusinessjournal.com
A manager at a Papa John’s Pizza in Akron, Ohio, preparing dough. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal)
Associated Press | Papa John’s International Inc. leapfrogged two larger rivals to land a deal as the official pizza sponsor of the National Football League and the Super Bowl.
The three-year, multimillion-dollar contract kicks off in the upcoming season and runs through the 2012 season. It’s the largest sponsorship deal in Papa John’s history, but the company would not specify a dollar amount.
By Wailin Wong
| Another Web-based group buying service has launched in Chicago, joining an increasingly crowded field pioneered by local start-up Groupon.
New York-based KGB, the company behind an eponymous text-message answer service, officially launched KGB Deals in Chicago and six other cities on Monday. Like other group buying sites, KGB will offer a daily deal for a local business. The offer is activated when a minimum number of people sign up for it. The inaugural Chicago deal is for $4 tickets to any AMC theater and covers the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
From Crain’s Chicago Business | McDonald’s has become the launch sponsor for Artists & Brands, a music-media agency that aligns up-and-coming artists with campaigns that suit their style. The move is a far cry from the marketer’s earlier practices of shelling out big bucks for jingles on spec. In the new model, artists get exposure, while marketers save on fees and get cool points for introducing people to new music.
Get the full story: chicagobusiness.com.
(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Associated Press | Good news for the news business: Companies are paying newspapers and
magazines up to five times as much to place ads in their iPad
applications as what similar advertising costs on regular websites.
This doesn’t mean Apple’s tablet computer will live up to its hype as a
potential lifeline for the media industry. Online ads still generate a
small fraction of news companies’ advertising revenue, and it’s an open
question whether print ads will return to what they totaled before the
recession.
AP Photo
Reuters | Kellogg Co. has agreed to drop advertising claims that
Rice Krispies will strengthen children’s immune systems, the Federal
Trade Commission said Thursday.
Kellogg had agreed in February 2009 to stop claiming that its Frosted
Mini Wheats were “clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by
nearly 20 percent.”
From left, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts jokes with Cubs players Randy Wells and Marlon Byrd on April 26, 2010, the day the Cubs and White Sox made the Crosstown Cup official. (Michael Tercha/ Chicago Tribune)
By Wailin Wong | The BP oil spill in the Gulf has leaked into the company’s sponsorship
of the BP Crosstown Cup, the six-game series between the Cubs and White Sox that kicks off next week.
The company is still sponsoring the series, but “we’ve scaled back efforts a little bit” as a result of events in the Gulf, said Kevin Saghy, a Cubs spokesman. He said BP has already started some in-store promotions for the Cup, but has cut back on other planned events, as well as advertising and media outreach. The teams are also considering a more subtle presentation of the trophy, Saghy said.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts speaks to the media on May 6, 2010, the day he received approval from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to install a Toyota sign at Wrigley Field. (William DeShazer/ Chicago Tribune)
By Ameet Sachdev
| The Chicago Cubs moved one step closer to erecting a proposed Toyota
advertisement above the bleachers at Wrigley Field.
The buildings committee of the Chicago City Council on Tuesday
unanimously approved a permit for the illuminated, 360-square-foot sign,
said a Cubs official.
The committee’s approval was expected after Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th,
changed his mind about the sign and voiced his support for the sign.
Wrigley Field sits in Tunney ward.
By Wailin Wong
| Google generated $3.2 billion for Illinois businesses in 2009, the
search engine said Tuesday as part of a nationwide announcement about
the company’s impact on state economies.
The publication of the “Google’s Economic Impact” report marks the first
time the company has released this kind of data. Google calculated its
figures by estimating the profits businesses derive from advertising though the
search engine.
Dow Jones Newswires | Dr Pepper Snapple is reformulating its 7UP brand and launching new advertising for the drink in a move that could
help boost volumes and allow it to better compete with rival offerings
from Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo.
In an interview, the company’s chief marketing officer, Jim Trebilcock,
said that the “restaged” 7UP will hit U.S. stores in September and that
the company is using technology to give the drink a “crisper” lemon and
lime taste. Among other things, the company will add new graphics to the
brand’s packaging. Trebilcock said the relaunch could help raise the
brand’s volumes as soon as the fourth quarter.
Associated Press | Federal regulators have approved Google
Inc.’s $750 million acquisition of the mobile ad service AdMob despite
worries that the deal will enable Google to extend its dominance of
Internet marketing into the nascent field of wireless devices.
The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that its antitrust concerns
were overshadowed by Apple Inc.’s push into the $600 million mobile
advertising market in the U.S.
Associated Press | The owners of AMC Theatres say a $20 adult ticket price for an IMAX showing of “Shrek Forever After” at some of its Manhattan theaters was posted online in error. AMC spokesman Justin Scott said Friday that a limited number of its theaters “posted incorrect pricing.” He says customers who bought a $20 ticket would be eligible for a refund.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a keynote address, showing Facebook’s interconnectedness, at a conference in San Francisco in April. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal | Facebook, MySpace and several other social-networking sites have been sending data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers’ names and other personal details, despite promises they don’t share such information without consent.
The practice, which most of the companies defended, sent user names or ID numbers tied to personal profiles being viewed when users clicked on ads. After questions were raised by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook and MySpace moved to make changes. By Thursday morning Facebook had rewritten some of the offending computer code.
