A $1 billion advertising battle

Advertising dollars are becoming closely scrutinized in Hollywood these days (they seem to really mean it this time), which is why Fox's agency review - now down to three contenders - is worth following. It's a $1 billion piece of business that will cover most of Fox's divisions worldwide. The contenders, according to Ad Age, are incumbent WPP Group, Aegis and Publicis Groupe - all global monsters. A decision is expected by the end of the year. The review is being handled by a Santa Monica consulting firm called Select Resources International. The winner faces a changing media environment in which traditional advertising vehicles - namely newspapers - are being reduced in favor of more broadcast and lots more Internet. A study by market research firm MarketCast lays out the terrain:

According to the study, television advertising, trailers and word-of-mouth were the most important sources of "first awareness" of a movie by a potential customer. But in the time between first awareness and a movie ticket purchase, MarketCast found that the Internet plays a crucial role in helping people decide which movie to see.