On July 5 the National Health Service will be 50. In that half century the language of health has been adapted to create new markets for magazines, food, insurance and a whole host of other sectors. “Health” now permeates every aspect of people’s lives. It is not just about how long we will live and […]
Sales of National Lottery Instants have fallen to one of the lowest levels ever in the three weeks since the launch of BBC television show Big Ticket, which was intended to reverse the decline in scratchcard sales. In the week ended April 11, sales fell to just 14m, down 700,000 on sales in the week […]
On July 5 the National Health Service will be 50. In that half century the language of health has been adapted to create new markets for magazines, food, insurance and a whole host of other sectors. “Health” now permeates every aspect of people’s lives. It is not just about how long we will live and […]
The task of the new marketing director at the DTI sponsored Action 2000 – Niki Akhurst – gets harder as panic about the millennium bug spreads. A rumour has come to the attention of the Diary that people are placing their houses on the market to avoid an expected plummet in property prices come the […]
I’m afraid the first thing that ran through my head as I listened to Rupert Murdoch excoriating the BBC in Birmingham last week was: “It’s good to sit down.” It had been a busy morning: three live broadcasts for the the BBC’s new continuous news channel, News 24, since 8.30am, preparations for another live for […]
Pernod Ricard-owned Irish Distillers is aiming to attract younger drinkers to its Black Bush and Bushmills Irish Whiskey brands with the appointment of integrated agency Beeching Dowell Stubbs. The agency will develop an international communication strategy, and is also understood to be planning a TV ad campaign. Former Allied Domecq scotch whisky marketer Martin Riley […]
Bill McGrath, who presided over the collapse of the Pentos book retailing empire, has taken his first permanent job in two years by joining British Gas Energy Centres as managing director. McGrath takes up his position this week, replacing Simon Kirk, who announced he was leaving Energy Centres in January (MW January 15). Kirk had […]
Roger Hall, former UK marketing director of Blockbuster Video, has joined pay-TV movie channel the Digital Broadcasting Company (DBC) as director of marketing. DBC is likely to use the Astra satellite employed by BSkyB. It is expected to show premium movies in a head-to-head battle with Sky film channels Sky Movies, The Movie Channel, Sky […]
Marketing Week’s TV 98 conference has proved something of a Becher’s Brook for the high-flying executives who travelled to Barcelona to talk digital. In the three weeks since the shindig, both Richard Burdett, vice-president of marketing for cable company Flextech, and Saatchi & Saatchi veteran media director Mike Gorman have shared that sinking feeling of […]
Saatchi & Saatchi has scooped the 8m Vision Express account, beating St Luke’s and Ammirati Puris Lintas to the business.
Kimberly-Clark faces trouble, big trouble, in Europe. The spectacular takeover of Scott Paper two years ago, far from shoring up the problems of an oversupplied market, has aggravated them. K-C has plunged from profit to a 64m loss in its European operations, as retailers and own-label production tighten the noose on its margins. A nightmare […]
EURO RSCG Wnek Gosper has won the estimated 5m international Danka fax and photocopying business following a three-way pitch. The media account went to the agency’s affiliate Mediapolis. EURO RSCG beat Grey and Publicis Focus to secure the account, which was initially thought to be worth as much as 10m (MW February 5). The budget […]
Radio Clyde 1FM breakfast pre senter George Bowie had a brush with the law last Thursday and made the fatal mistake of thinking it was a late April Fool’s joke. Stopped by the local police for having his fog lights on when they weren’t needed, Bowie was asked if he knew a Euan McMorrow, the […]
For students of the hidden agenda, a leader in Monday’s Financial Times entitled “Battle for Rolls”, addressing the contested German bids for Rolls-Royce Motors from BMW and Volkswagen, made fascinating reading. It concluded: “Of course, in the wider Europe, the question of national ownership becomes progressively less important. Yet even as Vickers’ shareholders pocket their […]
For only the second time in 40 years Brooke Bond PG Tips has dropped its chimps and invested in a celebrity for its TV advertising campaign. Caroline Aherne, aka Mrs Merton, features in the new campaign as the rude checkout girl she first brought to the screen in BBC’s The Fast Show. The ad was […]