News Corp. Forms New Marketing Division

News Corp.--which owns 20th Century Fox film and television production, Fox Broadcasting and TV Guide magazine, among other things--has formed a division to coordinate marketing and promotional deals across its properties. Like such units at Universal Studios and Warner Bros., the newly anointed News Corp. One is overseen by an ex-advertising executive. Kayne Lanahan, senior vice president of News Corp. One, most recently was media director at Omnicom Group’s Merkley, Newman, Harty ad agency. Before that, she spent five years as director of North America media at Coca-Cola. “We’re definitely reacting to, and hopefully leading, the trend toward integrated marketing,” Lanahan said. Also working with Lanahan are Fox Broadcasting promotions head Mark Stroman, and former NBC and PepsiCo marketing executive Kevin McAuliffe. Lanahan said though several major deals are in the works, News Corp. isn’t yet ready to unveil them. News Corp. is already in business in a variety of ways with Lanahan’s and McAuliffe’s former soft-drink employers: Pepsi has a long-term deal with Lucasfilm on the “Star Wars” films, released by 20th Century Fox, and Coke is the soft drink of Dodger Stadium.