Sponsor (Jan-Mar 1960)

THE BALL YOU CET BETTER COVERAGE ON WALB-TV the only primary NBC outlet between Atlanta and the Gulf! • Serving over 750,000 people .. . with 316,000 watts power and a 1,000 foot tower! • Grade "B" area includes Albany, Thomasville, Valdosta, Moultrie, Ga., and Tallahassee, Fla. • The only hometown station serving Albany, South Georgia's only Metropolitan market! WALB-TV ALBANY, GA. CHANNEL 10 NIBIC Represented nationally by Vemrd, Rintoul & MeConnell, Inc. In the South by James S. Ayers Co. NEWSMAKER of the week Less than a year after Herbert L. Barnet became chief executive officer of Pepsi-Cola, that company appeared to be changing its affiliation with its agency, Kenyon & Eckhardt. Last week twelve agencies, including the company's present one, were invited to discuss all its advertising The newsmaker: Herbert L. Barnet, president and chief officer of Pepsi-Cola, who joined the company in 1949, and became its president four years ago. In his chief executive post of Pepsi-Cola, Mr. Barnet succeeded Alfred N. Steele, who died last year. Preceding this management transition was Pepsi-Cola's change of advertising strategy from an economy theme to a quality one. Although Pepsi-Cola's new advertising theme, "Be sociable, be smart, keep up to date with Pepsi," was credited to Kenyon & Eckhardt, and corresponded to a period which the company termed "spectacularly expansive growth," it had been reported more than a year ago there were talks which might result in an agency change. Pepsi-Cola's total advertising expenditure has been estimated at $32 million, but almost half of this is spent by individual bottlers. The second largest of these bottlers, The Pepsi-Cola Co. of Los Angeles, has differed from the main company in going to Young & Rubicam. Last week trade observers were making educated guesses on who |i the new agency might be — and if there was to be a new agency at all, or if Kenyon & Eckhardt might be retained. One estimate placed the amount of business at stake at $17 million from Pepsi-Cola, plus any of the bottlers' expenditures that might go along. Mr. Barnet first joined Pepsi-Cola as v.p. in charge of national accounts. Prior to that, as a member of the law firm of Hays, Podell and Schulman, he had handled many of the company's legal affairs. In 1951 he became executive v.p. and a member of the board of directors and in 1955 he rose to the presidency. A native of New York, Mr. Barnet was graduated with high honors from Syracuse University, and holds an LL.B. degree from New York University. He has been active with the New York City Cancer Committee, the Police Athletic League and the Multiple Sclerosis fund. ^ Herbert L. Barnet SPONSOR 12 MARCH 1960