IBM’s head of consumer business has left the company, two months after it set up the new consumer division. IBM consumer business manager Graham MacPhee says in a statement that he has “decided to pursue a career outside IBM”. He adds that his reason for leaving is “personal”. It is not known if MacPhee has […]
Post Office Counters is reviewing its 3.7m account, held by GGT for the past five years. Head of communications strategy Phillipa Dennell confirms that the Post Office is shortlisting four agencies, including GGT, and expects to appoint one of them by the end of the year. Dennell says the reason for the review “is not […]
Amstrad has been rocked by two senior departures from Amstrad Direct, a key sales operation which also handles its new beauty care brand Ultima (MW last week). Amstrad Direct managing director Lindsay McEwan quit the company last week. McEwan’s departure was quickly followed by the division’s commercial director, Phil Samson. No reason was given for […]
Talk Radio UK has attracted an ideal sponsor for its real-life “weepie slot”, Our Tune, on the new Simon Bates radio show. Kleenex Tissues has signed a six-figure deal to sponsor the programme for one year. Our Tune consists of listeners’ tales of tragedy and heart break, read out on-air and followed by a sentimental […]
Despite its largely unnoticed arrival, digital radio could revolutionise listening habits and advertising
Rocked by a spate of top-level marketing departures and bad press, Eurotunnel has struggled in its first year. But the underlying problem is the massive debt from construction. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel, or is the only answe
It was only when George Bull, chief executive of GrandMet, put down the man from Coopers & Lybrand that he really scored with his audience. What had this hapless individual done to deserve such summary reproof at the third Marketing Forum’s opening address? He, or rather his consultancy, had dared suggest the marketing department’s days […]
The general feeling which emerged from last week’s Marketing Forum was that the industry is facing a ‘mid-life crisis’. Yet the present climate of change offers marketers prepared to take risks for the sake of innovation an unparalleled opport
Sainsbury’s Economy range heralds a shift away from quality, towards Tesco’s old ‘pile it high, sell it cheap philosophy’, reckons Stephan Buck
Hello! magazine this month launches a standalone fashion magazine to compete with Vogue and Elle’s coverage of the spring and autumn collections. The title, Hello! Haute Couture Fashion Special, follows the format of Spanish parent Hola!, which publishes four fashion specials a year. It will consist of in-depth coverage of the seasonal catwalk collections from […]
In reference to your article “CU gets hot response to ITV branding” (MW September 22), it’s good to see some recognition of the contribution that TV sponsorship can make when properly exploited. I must correct you, however, for stating that this is the first time a response number has been included on-air as part of […]
High jinks and low cunning aboard the Canberra. The Diary hears that while G-Force exhibitor Julie Hart was away from her stand at the Marketing Forum, rivals at HP:ICM began rewriting the rules of competitive advantage. The HP:ICM boys were seemingly engaged in a touch of industrial espionage before being caught red-handed over Hart’s notebook […]
British marketers can successfully innovate but too often their company culture means “they’ve never bloody well been asked”, according to Andrew Seth, former chief executive of Lever Brothers speaking at the Marketing Forum aboard the Canberra last week. Seth said consumer marketing and long-term brand viability are accorded a low priority. He claimed brand strategy […]
Simons Palmer Denton Clemmow & Johnson has confirmed that differences between the agency and two of its founders – creative directors Chris Palmer and Mark Denton – have been resolved.
The Diary is often asked how he manages his glamorous lifestyle: the six-hour lunches; the Bolly; the exotic cruises. The answer is simple. He supplements his Marketing Week income with a little blackmail cash. Take this as a purely hypothetical scenario. Say The Diary had been on a cruise – aboard the Canberra, for example. […]