Brandweek’s Obituary Proves Premature (Published 2013)

A FAMILIAR name on Madison Avenue is making a kind of comeback.

In this instance, the returning name does not belong to an agency or an executive but to an industry trade publication: Brandweek, which chronicled the world of consumer product marketing for almost two decades until its final issue in April 2011.

When Brandweek disappeared, so, too, did its sibling, Mediaweek, which reported on media agencies and media companies. They were merged into the third of what had been a trio of trade journals, Adweek, as part of a new strategy by their owner, Prometheus Global Media.

More recently, however, Prometheus has begun to reassess some of the changes that were introduced with the consolidation. For instance, nuts-and-bolts news about advertising agencies like account moves, which Adweek started to play down, was added back into the editorial mix.

And this month, ads began appearing in Adweek that heralded the arrival in February of a new quarterly editorial feature — in print, online at adweek.com and in the iPad edition of Adweek — to be called Brandweek Report.

“Brandweek is ‘back’ in a new way,” the ads begin. “Reimagined for 2013 as Adweek’s Brandweek Report series, it promises to be the must-read, must-share resource for large and small marketers alike.” Plans call for the Brandweek Report to fill most of the so-called feature well, or space for feature articles, in the issues of Adweek in which it will run.

The initial Brandweek Report is scheduled to appear on Feb. 4, presenting what Adweek editors hope will become a new annual franchise: a look at the previous year’s best and worst brand extensions. Adweek is working with Parham Santana, a New York brand consulting agency, to determine the 10 most innovative — and 10 most perplexing — brand extensions of 2012.