Tesco is hatching plans to sell gas to its 6 million Clubcard customers next year. The supermarket giant is in secret talks with third-party home service suppliers to poach British Gas customers with the lure of cheap rates. Sources close to Tesco say the company has held discussions with suppliers in the South-west where British […]
Ignition Marketing claims to have revolutionised retail promotions with what it calls the first “instant win” that makes use of product barcodes to identify winners. Using a scanning technique called Scan & Win, developed for Spillers Petfoods, the promotion will feature across Spillers’ Winalot dog- food portfolio. It gives consumers the chance to have their […]
Channel 5 does not want the ‘passive’ to tune in. But can it afford to reduce its audience before it even launches?
Vaux Breweries, the Sunderland-based brewer with 950 pubs in the North and Midlands, has appointed former Holsten sales director Doug Trotman as its new sales and marketing director. The role covers marketing across Vaux’s extensive brand portfolio, which includes Ward’s Best Bitter, the Vaux Bitter range, Double Maxim and Samson. Trotman will also oversee marketing […]
Teletext, the on-screen news and information service on ITV and Channel 4, has put its 3.5m media buying and advertising accounts up for review. The accounts are currently with Optimedia and FCB. The two incumbent agencies are pitching against Manning Gottlieb Media with St Luke’s, Zenith with Bates Dorland, and Ogilvy & Mather with The […]
Current City wisdom has it the carnival is nearly over for commercial radio. But, as George Pitcher argues, the market still has potential for growth. George Pitcher is joint managing director of media consultancy Luther Pendragon
Quaker Beverages is axing a substantial number of staff from its troubled “new age” soft drink Snapple and changing the brand’s UK distribution. The company is making four sales staff and four administrative staff redundant as a result of the new system. The UK team for Snapple is small and the job losses will reduce […]
Express Newspapers is to make 85 journalists redundant by reorganising the newspaper as a seven-day operation. As part of the changes, Richard Addis, editor of the Daily Express, becomes editor of both the Sunday and daily titles, while Sue Douglas, former editor of the Sunday paper, is considering whether to accept another role in the […]
As summer’s lease draws, wetly, to a close, how pleasant to turn to the letters page in today’s MW and be greeted with Eva Herzigova’s ample charms…again. Eva and her Wonderbra appear to have become, for your art director at least, a visual shorthand for any story involving advertising standards. This arresting image seemed rather […]
When the PlayStation launched in the UK in 1995, Simons Palmer had to open a gap in an ageing market, dominated by established brands, on a tight budget. Roy Edmondson of Levi’s reviews the strategy
Terry’s Suchard marketing controller Dean Sanders has left the company to join leading European pasta maker Barilla as its European marketing director. Sanders will report to Barilla’s vice president for Europe John Karakadas in the newly created post. He will be responsible for all European countries except Italy, although he will be based at Barilla’s […]
:Retailers’ and manufacturers’ concerns that sales will slump after in-store promotions have little basis in reality. Grenville Wall reports. Grenville Wall is an account director at IRI InfoScan.
WH Smith Retail has appointed Kingfisher Group retail development manager Brent Wilkinson to the newly-created post of commercial director, as it battles to revive its performance. Wilkinson will oversee the activities of four new business units: children and education; organisation and gifts; entertainment, interests and relaxation; and the express unit, which will cover items such […]
Sport First, the UK’s first national sports newspaper, is likely to delay its launch until next year because vital funding has yet to be secured. Publisher Parliamentary Communications says although there is sufficient funding to launch the paper, it is reluctant to go down the same route as Sunday Business. Sport First advertising director Peter […]
In a bizarre about-face, Shell is negotiating a joint venture with one of its bitterest rivals in petrol retailing, Sainsbury’s. It is understood the two will be linked by Shell’s customer loyalty scheme, Shell Smart, which is likely to be extended to Sainsbury’s shoppers. The deal would signal a change in the oil giants’ attitude […]