That’s somewhat ironic, because you have to figure Yahoo shareholders are feeling pretty frosty toward Yahoo’s management now that its stock price is wallowing around $13 , near five-year lows, amid a weakening display advertising outlook.

The road not taken? Microsoft’s offer of $33 a share for Yahoo. That deal died in the summer, before the global banking crisis had reared its ugly head. What was once a $47 billion deal would be worth significantly less today. 

Yahoo’s premium display business is getting roughed up by a slow-down by advertisers such as financial companies and automakers, and caution among online advertising customers.

But don’t assume that since Microsoft didnt marry Yahoo, that the software maker doesnt find the online search giant, you know, attractive. American Technology Research analyst Rob Sanderson says Microsoft may make a new offer “as Yahoo shares decline and Microsoft struggles in its online services business.”

Reuters

Keep an eye on:

• Wachovia Securities cut its outlook for advertising spending and said the worsening outlook would mean lower-than-expected earnings and revenue for Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Omnicom Group Inc, and MDC Partners (Reuters)
• Google is making an aggressive play in the online gaming world, as the search giant announced it will expand its AdSense product to various Web-based gaming sites and platforms (Hollywood Reporter)

Stuart Elliott of the New York Times looks at how tough it can be to craft an advertising campaign in this climate, particularly if your client is in financial services.

He points to a new campaign by Washington Mutual, which was sold to JP Morgan Chase amid all the upheaval. What do you say to consumers? The creatives working on the campaign went for humor, Elliot writes, deciding on a headline reading “We love Chase,” followed by “And not just because they have a trillion dollars.”

The same challenge is playing out in the marketing department of virtually every financial institution. As the stock market swoons, investors are watching their paper losses mount and their retirement accounts dwindle. As the most trusted names in banking and brokerage have fallen like dominoes - despite reassurances from top executives that nothing was wrong - what message or slogan could possibly reassure a jittery public?

If Madison Ave figures out what the slogan or message should be, they may want to share it with governments around the world.

Keep an eye on:

• Screen Actors Guild leaders said they are confident union members will support authorizing a strike against major Hollywood studios if the issue is put to a vote, despite a faltering U.S. economy (Reuters)
• Spending on global advertising is expected to grow 4.3 percent in 2008, less than initially forecast, with developed markets such as North America the hardest hit (Reuters)
• CBS, Fox and the CW are off to the best starts in the new fall TV season, a new report from research agency Magna says (AdAge)

(Photo: Reuters)

You would think — given all the doom and gloom — that corporations would have sharply cut back on spending in the second quarter. Indeed, just about every expert out there has cut spending forecasts.

Yet Interpublic, home of DraftFCB and McCann-Erickson, posted revenue that raced right past expectations and said it was well on the way to achieving its goals for the year.

And the economy? They said they’re watching it and keeping an eye on costs.

“While the growth that we posted during the first half demonstrates that we have yet to see retrenchment on the part of clients, we will continue to monitor the broader economic situation closely,” CEO Michael Roth said in a statement.

French advertising group Publicis also seemed to weather the storm in the second quarter, increasing organic sales in all areas, including the United States. It did say, however, that it expected marketing investments to fall in some areas, citing the automotive and financial sectors, because of the credit crisis and rising commodity and food prices.

Of course, solid spending by clients in the second quarter may not tell us much. Many see advertising spending as a trailing economic indicator, meaning that we could very well see clients cutting budgets for the second half of the year.

“We are not immune to the macroeconomic environment. We will certainly see some client areas affected,” IPG’s Roth said on a conference call. But so far clients see the downturn as an opportunity to build brand, he added.

“We haven’t seen a major pullback.”

On the other hand, clearly everything isn’t sunshine in the advertising world. Just check out Meredith, whose earnings fell because of lower advertising revenue at its magazines. Or take a look at Viacom Inc, whose earnings showed weakness in retail and automotive advertising crimped hurt sales for its cable TV networks.

Keep an eye on:

• Dell is testing a digital music player that could go on sale as early as September in a challenge to Apple (WSJ.com)
• Social networking site MySpace announced a series of new senior executives (paidContent.org)
• Billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens has sold all his Yahoo shares in frustration over Yahoo’s failure to reach a deal with Microsoft (San Francisco Chronicle)
• ESPN will unveil a new online network that will encompass a cluster of Internet sites aimed at action sports (LA Times)

(Photo: Reuters)

We’re once again wondering who will blink first in Hollywood.

The Screen Actors Guild and the major firm and television studios are having another pow-wow today, and the subject is an ominous sounding “final offer” that management has presented to the union.

As we have seen, the talks so far haven’t gotten around the same sticky issues that prompted a strike this winter by the Writers Guild of America strike. So a take-it-or-leave-it offer by the studios doesn’t sound too promising if the entertainment biz is to avoid another strike.

But wait! SAG executive director and chief negotiator, Doug Allen, suggested on the eve of his union’s formal response that the door to further deal-making remained open. He had this to say in an interview with Reuters:

“I don’t know that those categorical statements are always to be taken at face value,” he told Reuters. “In fact, somebody from the WGA told me they got a total of 10 final offers from the AMPTP (during their talks). So we’ll see.”

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the studios may be looking at a slight change in strategy. It reports:

“The studios, fearing SAG leadership might drag negotiations on through the union’s elections in September, are considering adopting a more aggressive strategy. The producers have discussed the possibility of publicly asking SAG leadership to allow its members to vote on the current deal or declaring an impasse in the talks, which would allow them to implement parts of the current offer.”

Keep an eye on:

• In a CNBC television interview, Sumner Redstone says his daughter is no longer the company’s heir apparent and that she will leave the Viacom board as part of an agreement he had reached with her (NY Times)
• Financial news and data company Bloomberg LP is creating several new units as part of a reorganization that includes a shuffling of top management (Reuters)
• Interpublic Group, the advertising services company, named Matt Seiler as global chief executive of its Universal McCann media buying agency as part of a broader shake-up (Reuters)
• Yahoo will let customers, academics and even rivals build customized Web search services on top of its own technology, introducing a resale model into a major Internet market where it ranks a distant No. 2 to Google (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

Thing is, the chief executives of the big ad holding companies so far have given very much the same answer during conference calls and interviews: everyone is worried, nobody is cutting spending.

Interpublic CEO Michael Roth is no exception. Here’s what he said on Wednesday about the economy/spending issue during his company’s earnings call:

“Of course, it goes without saying clients remain cautious due to broader economic concerns. To date we are not seeing signs of a pullback. But we continue to monitor the situation closely so as to be able to response quickly should the need arise.”

Here’s Publicis Groupe’s Maurice Levy:

“Not one single client has changed its plans. We continue to work with our clients according to plans.”

And Omnicom’s John Wren:

“Like most of our clients, we remain cautious about the economy, but to date, as I said, we have not seen any significant reduction in client spending.”

Havas’s Herve Philippe had this to say:

“Today we do not see any impact on our numbers from the international environment.”

So everyone seems to agree that nothing is happening — yet.

What’s that mean? It could be the industry is painting the brightest picture possible, which isn’t unheard of in advertising. Or it could mean companies aren’t yet feeling the full effects of the slowdown, and don’t need to take scissors to ad budgets. Or perhaps the thinking in the corporate world has shifted, and executives believe marketing is too important to cut. Or maybe the big cuts are just working their way through the system and will show up next quarter.

Give us your best guess. We’re interested.

(Photo: Reuters)

Here’s what ad industry types are saying:

“Advertising and the economy seem to go hand in hand. Really, the fact that the economy is weakening is going to have an impact on the industry in the short term.” Bob Liodice, President, Association of National Advertisers

“An actors’ strike would be incredibly devastating, particularly to the television business. The industry paid a large price for the last work stoppage. I don’t think either the (local) economy or the business would be able survive something like that.” Jeff Zucker, Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal

“Speed is the new big.” Chuck Brymer, Chief Executive Officer, DDB Worldwide

“We’d love to be able to be able to put all that we do together… Unfortunately, our industry is just not doing a very good job of integration.” Michael Roth, Chief Executive Officer, Interpublic Group

“Measurement is fundamentally the biggest challenge we as an industry face.” Elizabeth Ross, President, Tribal DDB

“What we’re going to see is a shift in advertising. Companies want to make sure they get the best ROI during these tough times. But they won’t stop spending, and I think they really should spend more.” Wally Snyder, President, American Advertising Federation

“Right now they (18-26 year olds) are spending more time on the Internet than they do a combination of TV and radio. About 15 hours per week.” Kevin Johnson, President, Platform and Services Division, Microsoft

“We’ve stopped using the term ‘consumer.’ If you think about it, it’s somewhat derogatory. Makes people sound like eaters.” Tom Bernardin, Chief Executive Officer, Leo Burnett

“The business model in which the agency’s sole function is to create advertising and buy media on behalf of clients is no longer viable. Indeed, we need a new model. The agencies of the 21st century need to develop relationships with clients where both parties share risks and rewards equally in true partnership.” Tateo Mataki, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu