Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Dennis Franz leaves Nextel Commercials

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2003 23:35:08 -0500

Dennis Franz
Leaves Nextel Commercials
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

The actor Dennis Franz is disappearing from advertising for Nextel
Communications as the company assesses the effectiveness of the
campaigns from its longtime agency, Mullen.

Mr. Franz, the star of "N.Y.P.D. Blue," has appeared in Nextel
commercials for the last year.

He is being replaced by four actors in four spots from Mullen,
which begin running this week. Like the commercials with Mr.
Franz, the new spots are centered on the Direct Connect
walkie-talkie feature of Nextel phones.

"We were very happy" with the Franz commercials, said Mark
Schweitzer, vice president for marketing at Nextel in Reston, Va.
But because the plots were focused on the actor's "resistance to
doing product advertising," he added, after a year "the joke has
been told."

In the new commercials, the Direct Connect feature is demonstrated
through vignettes featuring three sitcom performers - Kristin
Davis of "Sex and the City," George Lopez, who stars in the
program named after him, and Eric McCormack of "Will & Grace" -
and Rob Lowe, who has appeared in the "Austin Powers" films.

"We're very excited about the spots," Mr. Schweitzer said, adding
that the four actors "all have good crossover appeal and high
awareness."

Mr. Schweitzer described the assessment of Nextel's marketing
communications, being conducted by Roth Associates in New York, as
an evaluation rather than a review, adding, "We'll complete it at
some point in January and decide what the next appropriate steps
may or may not be."

Mullen, part of the Partnership division of the Interpublic Group
of Companies, has been the lead agency on the Nextel account, with
billings estimated at $150 million to $200 million, since 1996.
Ann Shannon, a spokeswoman for Mullen in Wenham, Mass., referred
questions about Nextel to Mr. Schweitzer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/06/business/06ADDE.html

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/