Highlights of the August 8, 2005 Issue of FORTUNE
See attached release for more information about "Inside Hank Greenberg's Big Fall," FORTUNE's in-depth look at the fall of former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg.
COVER STORIES: THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING
- Birth of a Salesman, by Daniel Gross, page 40
The Internet is finally reaching its potential as a selling machine. And Advertising will never be the same. From the moment consumer-products companies started placing ads in mid-19th-century newspapers, mass-media advertising has been about making connections. But while the modern world knits itself ever more closely together, advertising is becoming increasingly disconnected—from its historical base, its business models, and its audiences. In this special package, FORTUNE looks at how new technologies—primarily the Internet—are causing advertising to go through its first true paradigm shift since the advent of television half a century ago.
- Yahoo's Brilliant Solution, by Fred Vogelstein, page 42
By figuring out how to make brand advertising work online, Terry Semel is on the verge of creating the 21st century's first media giant. Google effectively reinvented online advertising with the targeted, classified-like text links that users see everywhere. But while the old guard is keeping a watchful eye on Google, the company it really fears—and one that major advertisers are coming to love—is Yahoo. Today, Yahoo arguably offers the online world's broadest array of information and entertainment for users, married to the web's most sophisticated collection of offerings for advertisers. And CEO Terry Semel has a bold master plan, says Fred Vogelstein: to transform Yahoo into the 21st century's first media giant.
- How the Web Will Save the Commercial, by Stephanie Mehta, page 58
Can Google's targeted advertising model save TV? Thanks to a new technology called IPTV it just might. IPTV, which marries television to the Internet by transforming video content—movies, sitcoms, commercials—into digital files, making TV a two-way experience that lets viewers chat on their screens or use their phones to program their DVRs remotely. The technology can also deliver to consumers just the video content they want, when they want it, rather than broadcasting every program to millions of homes. And to advertisers' delight, IPTV has the Internet-like capability to serve up targeted advertisements based on users' preferences and viewing habits.
- The Scramble on Madison Avenue, by Daniel Gross, page 63
When they follow clients to the Net, something happens to agencies — they get more creative. It's well known that a malaise has afflicted Madison Avenue for almost a generation, as ad agencies have been forced to give up their fat commissions on the commercials and print ads they place on behalf of clients, instead charging fixed fees or hourly rates for their work. The story of how agencies are responding hasn't been well told. FORTUNE looks at how Madison Avenue is responding to brutal cost pressures that are hitting agencies just as unconventional media—such as the Internet—emerge as the main source of growth in the $279-billion-a-year advertising universe. Daniel Gross looks at how advertising visionaries are cooking up new ways to grab their share of the pie—which may mean not just reinventing the 30-second TV ad, but remaking the agencies themselves.
Drug Testing Goes Offshore, by Abrahm Lustgarten, page 66
From Azerbaijan to Nigeria, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly shifting clinical trials to emerging markets—as much as 40% of all drug trials this year, according to several pharmaceutical executives, up from about 10% in 1999. They are doing it by outsourcing many of those trials to contract research organizations, which in turn subcontract the work of finding patients. And while the vast majority of the trials are conducted without problems, there have been enough instances of ethical abuse and breakdown in the scientific process to cause concern.
DEPARTMENTS
In FIRST: The Great Real Estate Debate Housing is definitely headed for a crash. Or is it? FORTUNE's in-house experts battle it out. The Preacher Who's Raising Hell for Merck Plaintiffs lawyer (and evangelist) Mark Lanier gives a spellbinding performance at the first Vioxx trial. New Frontiers in Labor Relations A sex-and-embezzlement scandal at VW has ramifications for its chairman, labor leaders—and even the German Chancellor. Blockbuster's Hidden Hitmaker While the video rental giant is stumbling, its little-known in-house movie studio is enjoying a star turn. Question Authority Hewlett-Packard's hatchet man takes a first swing. In COLUMNISTS: Brainstorming With Chauncey Starr Meet the Super Grid. Value Driven You bet, if the GOP wants to help CEOs solve their biggest problems. Street Life Are oil prices headed for a super spike? Value Driven The other victims of Bernie Ebbers' fraud. In INVESTING: Making a Market in (Almost) Anything Intrade, a fledgling website with some big-name backers, lets people invest—not bet—on the current events they know best. Take the Plunge: It's Time to Buy the Knot The wedding specialist is registering big gains in online-ad sales. How the Fastest-Growing Companies Have Fared. In BUSINESS LIFE: Business Life Fighting fat on the road.Bangkok—the destination for high-altitude tippling.And more. Gadgets What's cool for school? Careers Helping employees stay healthy.
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For further information please contact:
Susan Brown Williams
212-522-0133
susan_williams@timeinc.com
Amy Mahfouz
212-522-2134
amy_mahfouz@timeinc.com
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