I deal with all the point-of-sale material for Majestic Wine Warehouses. Having spent yesterday frantically putting through all the price decreases on spirits, I was appalled to see the cartoon accompanying your Budget coverage “Clarke fails to pass the confidence test (MW December 1). The cartoon states “Whisky +27p”. However, much to the relief of […]
Biscuit-maker Jacob’s Bakery is closing its Reading headquarters as part of a cost-cutting restructure. Jacob’s, which also has a factory in Leicester, will introduce a category management structure in chocolate-covered bars, cream crackers and sweet biscuits sectors. These will operate as three separate profit centres. David Silcock, director of human resources, says: “In the present […]
Forte is attempting to defend itself from Granada and keep the shareholders sweet by spinning off its separate interests. By George Pitcher. George Pitcher is joint managing director of media consultancy Luther Pendragon
Arc Advertising has picked up Gruner & Jahr’s advertising account for Prima and is believed to have won Best, Focus and a new women’s weekly account, totalling about 5m.
American Express is testing direct banking to tie in its upmarket customer base and stop them deserting to rival companies. But, as Sean Brierley reports, the joint initiative envisaged could put the brand’s status at risk.
Poster company Maiden Outdoor is on the look out for schools to give it space for poster sites in exchange for building a football practice wall. The plan, in conjunction with Footwall UK, will involve an investment of about 5m by Maiden to build 1,000 walls and poster sites. Garry Hartley, Maiden’s development director, denies […]
Food giant Nestlé has confirmed it is dropping the Chambourcy brand, as first revealed in Marketing Week (MW September 29).
The Internet consists of an expanding base of about 65,000 computers around the world. The owners of these machines ensure they run a common communications language (like fax machines) which allows them to “talk” to each other. In total, Internet computers host about 2 million documents. Westerners can access these for the cost of a […]
Scottish Courage aims to rejuvenate the wheat beer sector with tests of its own draught version, Razorback. The brand will take on Whitbread’s wheat beer Hoegaarden White Beer, launched earlier this year. But Scottish Courage believes Razorback can out sell other draught wheat beers as it is clear, rather than cloudy. The brewer believes that […]
Lever Brothers’ laundry detergent brand sales have been hammered in groceries with Persil’s sales plummeting by a fifth in a year. According to Nielsen figures, sales of Persil between September 1994 and August 1995 total 185.5m, a drop of 19.4 per cent on the previous year. Three years ago, Persil was the UK’s number one […]
Staff at Associated Newspapers are bracing themselves for further changes, following the departure of Evening Standard City Editor Ian Griffiths last week and ahead of Max Hastings’ arrival as editor. The Standard’s fashion editor Alison Veness is known to be leaving the title at the end of the year and a number of sections face […]
After a disastrous year, many electrical retailers are testing own-label, but not all are satisfied it will help recovery.
National radio stations have apparently lost millions of listeners, thanks to the radio industry’s new audience research methodology. The BBC is believed to be threatening to issue a statement saying it doesn’t recognise the new methodology and a number of commercial stations are close to joining it. At a stormy meeting at the IPA this […]
The UK ad industry’s publication of a pitching charter is a hopeful sign, for it is the agencies which collaborate with their clients that are most likely to sustain long relationships, says John Shannon. John Shannon is President of Grey Inte
Close monitoring of shoppers’ choices of products and stores can best be exploited if retailers and manufacturers work together. By Lynn Driver. Lynn Driver is sales manager for consumer services at Nielsen.