Ark2, the first Christian channel to be produced in the UK, has appointed Team Saatchi to handle the advertising for its October 14 launch. The cable channel, based in HTV in Bristol, plans to run ten hours of programming a day, and it says will “entertain, challenge and engage but not preach”. The station, which […]
Once upon a time Charles and Maurice Saatchi tried to buy Hill Samuels; they had a go at Midland Bank too. Nearly everyone thought they were mad. The City reacted accordingly, and castrated their share price. But were they really so deluded? Leading brands are now falling over themselves to move into UK financial services. […]
Four years after its launch, the RAB finds itself in a peculiar position – with few problems left to solve, what should it do next? By Nick Higham Nick Higham is BBC TV’s media correspondent
National Express has put in place a team to run the privatised Gatwick Express franchise, which it won last month after a pitch against Virgin. It has hired transport consultant Mack Mackintosh as managing director of the service and brought in Derek Brickell, head of marketing at East Midlands Airport, as marketing director. Brickell replaces […]
The age of the non-bank financial service company is upon us as organisations as diverse as British Gas and Volkswagen rush to enter the market. But can they break the banks’ hold on the public’s finances or are they playing a dangerous game?
The BBC is understood to have rejected a plan to pool all its advertising accounts in one agency. At the moment, the BBC uses six main agencies for its 6m ad spend, though this does not include the account for BBC Worldwide. Now sources suggest that the BBC has considered a plan to consolidate all […]
The battle for Allders’ chain of duty free shops pits Swissair against BAA. Many analysts question the sanity of the deal but for BAA – which holds the airport ownership ace – it could open global markets. By David Benady Rising concern over the commercialisation of schools has fuelled new NCC guidelines for the 300m […]
Spar is launching a range of own-label lagers to take on top brands in five different market sectors. The products, which will be priced below leading brands, are being launched into Spar shops this week. They are billed as “drought busters” and will be supported with advertising and in-store promotions. There will also be a […]
George Pitcher is joint managing director of media consultancy Luther Pendragon
Mirror Group chief executive David Montgomery is understood to be trying to scupper the merger of Express Newspapers and The Telegraph advertising sales operations with his own merger proposal. Montgomery is believed to have revived an approach to Express Newspapers for an advertising sales and administration merger. The planned sales merger between The Telegraph and […]
Courtaulds is understood to have appointed Mustoe Merriman Herring & Levy to handle the 5m European launch of its new man-made fibre, Tencel, this autumn.
New PHD has picked up a marketing consultancy role for Channel 5 and is looking for a high-profile broadcast director for its new TV buying department. The news follows confirmation that Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO is to acquire PHD (MW May 17). PHD will be working with C5’s marketing director David Brook and sales director Nick […]
Pepsi’s much vaunted $500m (300m) Project Blue relaunch of its brand last month appears not to have made a significant impact on UK sales. Despite employing everyone from supermodel Claudia Schiffer to Russian cosmonauts to promote the brand, figures obtained by Marketing Week show Pepsi Cola’s volume share of the carbonated soft drinks sector rose […]
The increasing penetration of cable and satellite, plus the news last week that the BBC won a matched share of audience, is seeing ITV beset, particularly as its ad revenue is down. Paul McCann finds out if the channel has any tricks up its sleeve to win back supremacy in an increasingly crowded market You […]
I was astonished to read your report on AKQA’s research into use of the Internet “Poor quality Web sites will trigger mass brand exodus” (MW May 17). It says, on the one hand, marketing departments are failing to recognise the commercial opportunity posed by the Internet and are ignorant of issues such as content requirement, […]