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SmithKline Beecham has started a review of its 125m media buying across Europe but denies changes are imminent in the UK. A country-by-country review of media buying and planning has started with Italy and will move to other markets in mainland Europe. The impetus for the review is the acquisition of Sterling Healthcare by SB […]
Littlewoods womenswear sub-brand Berketex is being expanded to include menswear and home interior products and will eventually become the chain’s core brand. The retail chain bought the Berketex brand from William Baird, the Edinburgh textiles and engineering group, earlier this year and launched it as part of its 3m advertising campaign over the summer. Littlewoods […]
McVitie’s is understood to be planning to drop its United chocolate biscuit brand early next spring. Sources close to the biscuit manufacturer suggest the brand, with its distinctive blue and white striped packaging, is outdated and has not met expectations. It is anticipated that United will be replaced by a new product now in development. […]
The fifth annual Softworld in Sales & Marketing exhibition takes place on November 14 and 15 at the Ramada Hotel, Heathrow.
United Distillers, the spirits arm of Guinness, is to slash below-the line promotional spending on Gordon’s gin and Bell’s whisky and divert funds into above-the-line advertising. Analysts say UD will hike its 300m-a-year worldwide advertising and promotional budget by up to nine per cent next year, and the bulk of the increase will be in […]
Highland Spring natural mineral water has chosen McCann-Erickson Scotland to handle its 500,000 advertising account. McCann won the business after a review which began in the summer and finished with a three-way pitch between both London and Scottish agencies. The account was formerly with GGK. The decision to move was made following the GGK/Doner merger […]
In his article on telemarketing, “Call or Nothing” (MW October 27), Simon Rines quotes Channel 4’s business development manager, David Stubley: “The kind of people using DRTV do not want automated response systems.” There is no evidence recorded for this statement and Rines allows the assertion to go unchallenged. Yet there is a welter of […]
ITV research compares sponsorship deals with spot ad campaigns. Paul McCann finds it is far from straightforward
Bass Brewers is testing doorstep deliveries of its top beer brands in a bid to bypass retailers and sell directly to the public. The brewer has set up three separate trials in London, Nottingham and Birmingham for the home shopping service, Premium Beer Direct. The tests begin this month and run until the end of […]
Sainsbury’s will save up to 30m from its marketing budget after its decision to withdraw its Saver Card loyalty scheme from 200 stores. The chain has ruled out launching a national loyalty scheme similar to Tesco’s Clubcard, and will pull the Saver Card at the end of December. But the card will be re-introduced in […]
Kelly Weedon Shute has won the UK account for the throat-burning lozenge Fisherman’s Friend from Ogilvy & Mather. Kelly Weedon Shute already handled the pan-European satellite televsion campaign for the sweet and the consolidated account is worth about 2m to the agency. Media for the brand remains unchanged and stays with MBS Media in the […]
The National Magazine Company is making its health and beauty title Zest a monthly in an attempt to develop the women’s magazine market in line with the trend in the US. Zest, which launched as a quarterly brand extension of Cosmopolitan in October 1994, will run as a monthly from April 1996. NatMags believes health […]
Carlsberg-Tetley is launching a cola version of its alcoholic soft drink brand, Lemonheads. The alcoholic lemonade – which the company says is still in research – is expected to be on sale next month and will be followed by a blackcurrant and a cola flavour in the new year provisionally called Blackheads and Colaheads. Other […]
The shift towards digital terrestrial TV has begun and yet no one can agree on how it should be handled. Only one thing is certain, Rupert Murdoch is in a strong position to make the digital revolution happen.