The Diary concedes that sexy models are a better advertisement for denim than some frizzy-haired Top Gear presenter who favours a pair of tight jeans coupled with scuffed cowboy boots. But fancy Falmer’s administrators citing the “Jeremy Clarkson effect” as a reason for the jeans maker’s downfall. This was the unkindest cut of all, as […]
The introduction of pre-paid mobile phone packages has had an enormous impact on the market. Over the past year, 2.5 million new subscribers have been added, taking the total number of subscribers to 10.5 million – one in four of the UK population. And of that 2.5 million extra mobile phone users, nearly 1.5 million […]
Tango will turn London’s Regent Street orange this Christmas with a sponsored display of festive lights to be switched on by chart-topping girl band All Saints. When the lights are switched on on November 17, a blizzard of fake orange snow will be blasted from the rooftops. The event, organised in conjunction with the Regent […]
Lloyds Bank is playing down suggestions that it may be introducing a premium charge for its Internet banking service, when it rolls out the scheme in earnest next month. The bank, which launched a pilot Internet banking service in May (MW March 26), has invited a second wave of customers to join the pilot scheme […]
I have a theory that the British retail banks – including the former mutuals – will be marginalised so much over the next couple of years that, by what many pedants call the “real” millennium in 2001, they will no longer account for the majority of what used to be referred to as cheque-book business. […]
Bookpages, the British online bookseller acquired by Seattle-based market leader Amazon.com in April, has relaunched under the Amazon.co.uk brand, promising UK book buyers it will match the price discounting of its American parent. According to Bookpages founder Dr Simon Murdoch: “We will be aiming to quote prices equivalent to those in the US, after delivery […]
I work with probably the most powerful and emotive communications device – music. Everyone loves it, everyone buys it. It reflects our lifestyles, evokes memories and triggers emotions. It has an immediacy and power that words and images cannot compete with. So it is curious how few advertisers talk to their target market through music. […]
The benefits of reading to babies is the subject of a new campaign through Bartle Bogle Hegarty for BBC Education. Each of the three promotional films opens on a parent sharing a book with a baby in a different situation – in a cot; in a baby bouncer; and on a sofa. When the baby […]
International telecoms company Interoute is to hire an advertising agency for the first time. The move follows Tom Frankfort’s appointment as marketing director. The company, formed three years ago by Cable & Wireless executives, operates telecoms networks and retail businesses for residential and corporate clients throughout Europe and North America. Frankfort, former Cable & Wireless […]
General Motors is launching its new Frontera off-road vehicle with an estimated 30m pan-European advertising campaign. The campaign will use the Vauxhall brand in the UK and the Opel brand in up to 21 other countries. Developed by Lowe Howard-Spink, it consists of one 50-second TV ad to launch the car next week, followed by […]
The number of single person households in the UK is rocketing and some industries have woken up to the fact that single people now represent a significant market. But one market which should be in prime position to take advantage of the move to single living seems not to be keeping up with the trend […]
The BBC has put its 1.3m advertising account for Radio 1 out to pitch after parting company with St Luke’s, although it says the agency will remain on its roster. The corporation has shortlisted Fallon McElligott and Circus to pitch for the business. Fallon is a top US agency which set up an office in […]
Online transaction coompany Authority has hiked its charges to online merchants, ending its cut-throat pricing strategy against ricals seeking to offer secure trading and payment collection. The company, which to date has charged only one per cent of toal sales value for handling online transactions, plus a 75 annual fee, has increased tis transaction fee […]
Nestlé is relaunching its Crosse & Blackwell packet sauce range with the sub-brand Creations as part of a multimillion pound renovation of its food division.
Asda is launching a price-cutting attack on the toy market this week, offering leading toy brands – including Barbie, Fisher Price and Lego – at half price. The supermarket chain claims to have 16m worth of stock earmarked for the “toy sale”, which will run for two weeks from tomorrow (Thursday) to kick-start the crucial […]