Coca-Cola’s wholesome advertising image has been tarnished by its involvement in the shadowy world of flyposting. Embarrassed Coca-Cola officials have ordered a series of illegal flyposters to be torn down within the London area. They advertise Coca-Cola’s Fruitopia brand, which is sold as a pure, “new age” drink. The flyposters are identical to the psychedelic […]
EMAP Metro has confirmed its entry into the sports magazine market with the launch of Total Sport in November, as predicted in Marketing Week (March 31). The glossy men’s magazine will be edited by former Q editor Danny Kelly and will cover the main UK spectator sports. It will start as a bi-monthly, becoming a […]
VideoNet, a new company set up to offer video on demand (VOD) services, this week confirmed that it plans to launch the UK’s second video on demand trial in the new year. Unlike BT’s interactive multimedia trials, which include VOD and which are due to launch in East Anglia next week, VideoNet plans to offer […]
The man responsible for re-organising Reckitt & Colman’s category management across Europe is leaving the company. Christian Ginebre, marketing and development director for Europe, will go in September: “to find a new challenge”.
If there is one area of computing that has been hyped more than any other over the past six months it is the Internet, or the World Wide Web. All forms of media have begun to discuss the growth and applications of the Internet, and so-called experts keep popping up and evangelising about its benefits […]
I remember that we impertinent hacks of the industrial circuit of the late Eighties used to refer to the chairman of United Biscuits (UB), affectionately if not imaginatively, as Sir Hector MacBiscuit. I relay this insight into the sophisticated wit of that period only to illustrate the cosiness with which we approached this important area […]
Tim Hailey has been lured from his position as director of UK marketing at the Scottish Tourist Board to join the Bank of Scotland as director of product development. The newly created job involves overseeing a number of product managers who deal with areas such as savings, loans and mortgages. Hailey, who has been with […]
Benetton is continuing its controversial marketing strategy with more “shock” advertisements, including one showing 1936 German Olympic competitors giving a Nazi salute alongside black-power supporters at the 1968 Olympics. The campaign has 20 executions and includes ads showing Christ’s crucifixion and a crying Madonna. It has already broken in the US, and various executions will […]
The Royal Mail is believed to be putting its 17m media buying account up for a statutory review when the Media Centre’s three-year contract runs out at the end of October. Agencies keen to pitch for the business alongside the Media Centre include the media departments of the full-service agencies which pitched unsuccessfully for the […]
Asda chief executive Archie Norman is like a child with a new toy, now that he has taken on the role of head of marketing following the sudden exit of marketing director Michael Fleming . But some observers doubt he has sufficient time to take on the day-to-day running of the chain’s 17m (Register-MEAL) ad […]
Castlemaine XXXX’s agency Saatchi & Saatchi has produced an “X”-rated commercial featuring a porn actress lewdly caressing a can of its lager.
“When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now… will you still need me, will you still feed me…?” Those who listened to The Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty-Four” track 30 years ago, and expected to draw a state pension by the year 2000, are in for a disappointment – the Government’s answer will […]
Despite denials from Access and a resounding “no comment” from the more involved parties, there is no longer any doubt that the four UK clearing banks are in talks in New York to sell the brand to Mastercard for more than 100m. Lloyds, Midland and NatWest all own a 30 per cent stake in Access. […]
Visa International is planning a stand alone advertising campaign for its UK credit card business if global rival Mastercard buys the Access brand from the banks. Sources say it plans separate ads for Barclaycard – which has combined the two brands as Barclaycard Visa for a number of years . “Visa is worried that it […]
Radio campaigns that win awards for creativity are a reflection of the greater spend advertisers are channelling into airtime on niche stations