Month: December 1996

Oracle aims to break Microsoft and Intel’s stranglehold on the global PC market with its new stripped down, easy-to-use network computer. Has it got the muscle to mount a successful challenge?

Cadbury Schweppes is unveiling a new international brand identity for its Schweppes soft drinks. The new look, by design consultancy Newell & Sorrell, is being launched in some European countries, as well as in South America, India and Australia. Newell & Sorrell director Jeremy Scholfield says the design is aimed at correcting the “diffusion of […]

Car advertisers demand exclusivity in ad breaks but, as Sean Brierley reports, to stand apart they’d be better off looking for more imaginative creative work

The yuletide sexual habits of the office worker have been revealed by condom company Durex. In its latest survey, it finds almost seven out of ten women regard male managers as prime suspects for seeking casual sex at Christmas parties, and more than half the men agreed. This must be particularly worrying for women in […]

The unwitting stars of two advertisements, footballer Eric Cantona and MP Neil Hamilton, have each had their complaints upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. Cantona has won his battle to ban a beer ad that recreates the moment that he kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace fan. The ASA has upheld complaints from his solicitors that […]

The media spend in the Asia Pacific region will overtake that of Europe in 1998, according to a forecast by Zenith Media. The value of media spend in Asia Pacific will rise to $93bn (56bn) at 1996 prices, compared with a European media spend of $91bn (55bn). The Asia Pacific region will increase to $102bn […]

Exclusive Marketing Week research shows direct mail is still the most effective form of targeted marketing.

I was concerned an article in your New Media section gave the impression that Electronic Telegraph, the Internet edition of The Daily Telegraph, was designed by an agency. ET’s design is the result of the dedication and experience of our new media team. Since its launch in 1994 all design work has been in-house. Danny […]

Press buyers’ fight for a right-hand advertising site in newspapers is less important than they think, according to research by J Walter Thompson. JWT’s Project Cosine has found that, in the tabloid market, left page or right-hand page ads are equally noted by readers. In the broadsheets, right-hand pages increase awareness by 31 per cent. […]

AdHunter, the alliance of major regional newspaper groups set up to pool classified advertising on the Internet, has appointed New Media Marketing & Sales to seek brand advertising support for its services. The consortium, which claims to control 70 per cent of all classified ads placed in British newspapers, is planning to roll out three […]

Goldbrand Development has recruited Clare Stroud, Midland Bank’s manager of card marketing, as its new head of marketing to oversee the Goldfish brand. The previous Goldfish marketing chief was Bruce Rayner, a consultant who left last month (MW Nov-ember 15). Goldbrand is 50 per cent owned by British Gas and 50 per cent owned by […]

BP is understood to be talking to Safeway and Abbey National about accepting the ABC Bonus Card, the dual-purpose Safeway loyalty card and Electron debit card, launching next spring. Safeway and BP have linked to test a combined petrol station and Safeway-branded convenience store in Basildon, and plan to add another four sites next year. […]

No doubt about it, teenage vice is getting marketers into serious trouble. Tobacco advertising is teetering on abolition; brewers have compromised their reputation with the launch of alcopops; and now we discover the Lottery’s contribution to ‘Good Causes’ is being propped up by under-age punters. Of course marketers are by no means blameless, but neither […]

NatWest is to launch a NatWest American Express credit card next year, following a ground-breaking deal between the two companies. Patrick Boylan, managing director for card services at NatWest UK, says: “This new relationship streng-thens our commitment to providing innovative card products.” NatWest says it is too early to disclose the interest rate or annual […]

“It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world” alleges Iain Murray, (MW October 25). Apparently, “society seems caught in the grip of mental syndrome fever”, as more and more bogus – Murray implies – maladies are discovered or invented every day. One of the examples he cites to substantiate his whinge is a new research report […]