VIACOM LOOKING TO STRENGTEN ITS BRAND NAME?

     Viacom is looking to "strengthen its corporate image by
leveraging Viacom as a brand halo over its high-profile
entertainment and retail properties, a la Disney," according to
this week's AD AGE.  Viacom execs have been "informally
soliticing ideas" from many major ad agencies.  Sources say that
Viacom "has been increasingly slapping its name on majority-owned
subsidiaries like Paramount and merging merchandising and
licensing operations under the Viacom name" (Warneford &
McCarthy, AD AGE, 2/13 issue)....In a piece called "Chips Off The
Block," NEWSWEEK looks at the Viacom/Blockbuster relationship,
adding that Blockbuster is "one of marketing's great success
stories, but competition and some legal woes may tarnish its
otherwise bright future" (Jonnie Roberts, NEWSWEEK, 2/20
issue)....Sunday's CHICAGO TRIBUNE features a profile of Viacom
as a "Media Monopoly in the Making" (Tim Jones, CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
2/12).