Three of the UK’s biggest computer games retailers have run national press ads hitting back at Tesco’s “misleading” claims that it was selling cheap Sony PlayStation games consoles. Dixons, Comet and Toys R Us have run separate full-page ads in national titles including The Sun, the Mirror and the Express on Friday and Saturday, pointing […]
The men’s magazine sector continues to grab the headlines as FHM, Maxim and Loaded continue their inexorable penetration of the market. The most successful publication by far is FHM which, having increased its circulation from 115,034 in July to December 1995, to 365,341 in the same period of 1996, has jumped by a further 278,000 […]
Just as retailers are continually putting the squeeze on packaged goods manufacturers’ profits – not necessarily to anyone’s advantage – marketers are taking tighter control of their advertising costs and are increasingly ruthless when examining agency invoices. Sales promotion agencies are being dazzled by the glare as the spotlight turns on them. Kevin Twitty, chairman […]
MediaVest has launched its biggest piece of proprietary research, which investigates young people’s media consumption. The findings are depressing for ITV and the national newspapers. The 60,000 research project, called MediaLinx, reveals that newspapers and ITV are increasingly rejected by 16 to 24-year-olds. They classify them as something their parents would choose to read or […]
Chris Smith, the Culture Secretary, is walking a tightrope. In fact, he’s walking several and they are interlinked, like a cat’s cradle. Fall off one, and the chances are he’ll fall off them all – so, as he made clear last week to members of the Broadcasting Press Guild, he is proceeding very cautiously. The […]
The Football Association has closed a loophole which lets sponsors of capped football players use the sportsmen wearing their England kit – even if they were not official FA sponsors. A new clause in the FA’s contract with England players gives the Association the right to vet endorsement deals when the footballers are wearing their […]
Anheuser-Busch is axing its Roscoe’s Red premium bottled red lager. The decision marks what is thought to be its first product failure in the UK market. The US import was introduced in Scotland two years ago with a marketing budget of more than 1m, then rolled out across England last summer. A major promotional campaign […]
There is something slightly bizarre about a travel company, which flies people to package holiday destinations, floating. But the Thomson Travel Group (TTG) will, despite its claim that this is speculation, be floated later this year – possibly as early as May – by its Canadian parent the publishing group Thomson Corporation. Valued at an […]
Last Wednesday Gallaher Tobacco, without any fuss, joined its main UK rival Imperial Tobacco in entering the world of multimedia. It posted a Website on the Internet. The estimated cost for creating such a site is less than 1,000. The equivalent price for one of the press or poster ads, which it may be banned […]
The Sun is to launch its first brand advertising campaign in preparation for extending the country’s biggest daily newspaper title into other products and services. “The Sun will get involved in relevant, appropriate brand extensions primarily to further the brand, but they will be successful businesses in their own right,” says News Group Newspapers marketing […]
Your article “Commercial radio starts to eat itself” (MW February 12) should read local commercial radio starts to eat itself, meanwhile national commercial radio – Talk, Virgin and Classic – gorged themselves on other stations’ listeners, commercial and non commercial. This resulted in a weekly reach increase in excess of one million listeners for the […]
ITV sales house Laser is branching out of traditional broadcast sponsorship to broke its first commercial deal with a national theatre tour – The Rocky Horror Show, starring Jason Donovan. Laser’s Commercial Enterprises division, which is led by executive commercial director Gary Knight, is putting together a marketing package for the tour, including sponsorship deals. […]
The CIA MediaVision study of viewing patterns during major televised sports events (MW February 5) should be warmly welcomed for reopening an issue which is fundamental for marketers looking to use sport as a platform: how to counteract the massive drops in TV audiences during the breaks in match telecasts. However, your article signally failed […]
As the debate about the single currency intensifies, Europe’s marketing community is becoming concerned about the effect of major currency changes on consumer’s perceptions of brand. Nowhere is this concern more apparent than in economically fragile France. Top brand marketing, retail and research professionals have been trying to address the problem of consumer brand disorientation […]
The pressure on privatised railways to increase profits and minimise costs has never been greater. Since its launch 18 months ago, Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), which services 920 miles of route between Inverness and London, has committed 17m to impress the public by refurbishing trains, modernising facilities and improving its passenger charter. Thanks to […]