Lewis Lazare: We wish there was more to celebrate about the year that has just ended in the Chicago advertising community. We'll get to our best ads of the year next week, but for now it must be said 2008 was an exceedingly difficult one for Chicago's ad industry. And sad to say, it's hard to look in our crystal ball and see much to be hopeful about in 2009.
We held off doing our annual holiday card review until now. And we're glad we did because the best didn't reach our desk until a day or two before Christmas. Given the current economic crisis, it's not surprising that the lot of cards we received was somewhat diminished in both quantity and creativity.
Lewis Lazare: Talent comes. And talent goes in the broadcast news business. But when you're the top-rated TV news operation in town, talent comings and goings take on added significance. Especially when a key talent such as Andy Shaw decides to retire as chief political reporter at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7.
The fall 2008 Arbitron radio ratings book was released Wednesday, and the book, which averages the numbers from October, November and December ratings books, once again showed how the recently introduced portable people meter has helped shake up the local ratings competition. We'll take a closer look at the numbers next week, but for now it's worth noting that three radio stations tied for first place in the 25- to 54-year-old adult demo of primary interest to advertisers: WVAZ-FM (102.7), WDRV-FM (97.1), and WBBM-AM (780), each of which had a 5.3 share.
The year 2008 is not ending on an altogether cheery note for Energy BBDO/Chicago, which had been one of the brighter lights in the shrinking Chicago ad industry the last couple of years. The local arm of the giant BBDO network has long been the flagship agency for chewing gum behemoth Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., and the agency also handles Jim Beam and Canadian Club liquor brands among its clients. But the Chicago shop proved not to be immune from last week's massive layoff of nearly 200 people across BBDO's entire North American network.
Lewis Lazare: It is hard-hitting. And from an aesthetic perspective, it's certainly not a pretty ad campaign breaking during a season when everyone is looking for comforting or uplifting holiday sentiments. But that's pretty much on purpose because what Lou Beres & Associates/Chicago and its client, the Illinois Department of Traffic Safety, are talking about in this ad is an ugly reality in life -- driving under the influence.
Andy Shaw, one of the sharpest political reporters working that beat in local television news, is retiring from ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 at the end of January, bringing to an end a 25-year run at the city's No. 1-rated news outlet.
Lewis Lazare: Of course it's impossible, based on one telephone conversation, to take the full measure of a man and his skills as a television news director. But we'll say this much about Jeff Kiernan -- he does seem to have a vision about what a good local TV newscast should be.
Kevin Lynch, one of the city's most gifted advertising creatives, said Thursday he will exit as creative director at Zig/Chicago in early February 2009. Stephen Leps, a creative in Zig's Toronto headquarters, will replace Lynch in Chicago. Lynch's departure is a huge blow to Chicago advertising and to Zig, which had been struggling to bring in new business recently.
Lewis Lazare: Just about every development in the strange and crazy world of Chicago radio has a backstory. And the backstory pieced together about the sudden move of program director Bob Shomper from WGN-AM (720) to WLS-AM (890) may be one of the strangest and craziest ever. We've never known of a radio general manager who willingly -- even eagerly -- desired to hand over a station's programming director to a competitor, but that apparently was the case with WGN Vice President and General Manager Tom Langmyer.
CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 has a new news director, Jeff Kiernan, a native of Munster, Ind. WBBM President and General Manager Bruno Cohen, plucked Kiernan from the news director post at WBBM sister stations WBZ and WSBK in Boston, Mass., where Kiernan had been news director of both CBS-owned outlets for about 18 months. Kiernan starts his new job in Chicago on Jan. 19.
Call it a joint venture. Or a new way of doing business in the broadcasting industry. But any way you slice it, Mike North, Dan Jiggetts and Comcast SportsNet are taking a big risk in launching "Monsters in the Morning."
Lewis Lazare: It was a feel-good piece of the sort that often comes at the end of ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" each evening. The piece, by ABC's Barbara Pinto on Monday night, focused on Straight No Chaser, an obscure a capella singing group of 10 buddies who met in college years ago. Obscure, that is, 'til they scored a hit on the ultimate platform for overnight fame: YouTube.
Lewis Lazare: It's a good thing Wrigley Field is sold out for the so-called "Winter Classic" hockey match on New Year's Day because the new television commercial from Young & Rubicam/New York intended to spark interest in the game between the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings doesn't spark much of anything except a big ho-hum.
We know many bourbon drinkers take themselves and their liquor quite seriously. But Energy BBDO/Chicago is asking all who love bourbon -- especially Jim Beam -- to lighten up just a little. In a new print ad campaign that broke recently, Energy BBDO has tried to remind Jim Beam drinkers in particular of the liquor's truly American heritage (the brand dates back to 1795) via a bit of humorous ad copy. Jim Beam's ongoing advertising tagline "Here's To the Stuff Inside" remains unchanged.
