Media and Marketing, for the inside track on international media and advertising

Is there too much doom-mongering about recession?

0.2%

The amount by which global ad spend will shrink in 2009, according to predictions by both ZenithOptimedia and GroupM

French dailies unite to pull in ads

Thirteen French dailies have joined forces to offer a January ad deal, the equivalent of an 80% discount, in an attempt to get a slice of the adspend freed up by the new prime-time TV ad ban.

NEW: SUPER GUIDE

Click here for the online version of the Super Guide to Pan-European TV and Print, a searchable tool for finding in depth profiles, distribution figures and contact details.

December

M&M looks at how advertisers can ride the storm of the downturn; asks whether the Middle East genuinely is a land of opportunity and looks at video advertising and why it has yet to hit the big-time.

PEOPLE

Click here for the latest people moves, profiles and opinions

NEW BUSINESS

Click here for the account moves that are hitting the headlines

Sealing the New Year with a kiss

Nivea wanted to ensure that consumers had an emotional attachment to the range of lip treatments, rather than just viewing it as a functional product. No New Year’s Eve is complete without a kiss, and kissing partners need to ensure that their lips aren’t flaky and dry for that midnight moment. Nivea Lip Care recognised this and wanted to make sure that its range of lip balms was the one that people reached for before puckering up. So on New Year’s Eve, Nivea launched a sampling effort in Times Square in New York. Some 25,000 samples of its new Lip Care line were given away to couples waiting for clock to strike midnight. Consumers were also encouraged to upload their kissing or hugging photos to a microsite to win a starring role in an online Valentine’s ad.