As the dust settles on the customer loyalty hype of the early Nineties, only one thing seems certain: nobody can agree on what the future holds for reward schemes. Of course, the brightest and best practitioners are aware – as they always were – that real loyalty is rarely felt by an individual for a […]
As the economy teeters on the brink of recession, like a blind-folded diver at the end of the board, we always get reports of litigation for unpaid bills. The litigation usually starts at the premium end of the markets, because the rich are most sensitive to downturns and their suppliers most exposed to them. So […]
Safeway and poster contractor Maiden Outdoor are testing a new advertising medium which combines aluminium can recycling with promotional offers. The new product – a 2.2 metre high cylindrical machine which looks like a drinks can – is being tried at six Safeway outlets, including its flagship store at Chalk Farm, north London. When shoppers […]
Coors Brewing International has poached its new European marketing director from Nintendo. Robert Borland, marketing manager with THE Games/Nintendo since 1995, will take over marketing for Coors Extra Gold and any new product development across Europe. His appointment follows that of Bernadette Traynor as UK marketing manager for Coors. Coors Brewing has been setting up […]
On-the-job training in Britain’s largest industries used to involve either developing strong biceps, a tolerance of dark confined spaces or a way with molten steel. But in the Nineties your first step on the learning curve is more likely to be a quick induction in Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) systems, acceptable departures from a call […]
Deluxe, the men’s lifestyle magazine published by Wagadon, is to close in the new year. The last edition will be the January/February issue. Deluxe is aimed at ABC1 men in their 20s and covers fashion, entertainment and general interest, with an emphasis on music. Launched in March, the magazine was designed to bridge the gap […]
Universal McCann has won the 5m media buying account for DIY chain Wickes, after beating incumbent agency Western International Media in a four-way pitch. The appointment, which is a precursor to a major revamp by the 120-strong chain, follows a battle between Universal, MediaVest, Mediapolis and Western, although Universal only joined the pitch after Walker […]
WPP-owned MindShare has lost its grip on Kellogg’s European media buying following a reversal of the cereal maker’s strategy. Eighteen months after Kellogg consolidated its European account into the WPP-owned media buying group known as Kellogg’s Europe Media, Carat has won the business in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. The account is being reviewed […]
Martin Dawes Telecommunications is buying telephone airtime to launch its mobile phone network in one of three new initiatives. The company intends to position the network, called “breathe mobile”, as the UK’s fifth mobile telephone network after Vodafone, Cellnet, One-2-One and Orange. Dawes will buy wholesale airtime from MPCL, the One-2-One brand owner and network […]
Since 1995, Marketing Week and the Direct Mail Information Service (DMIS) have been gathering information on direct mail response rates through a magazine insert. The findings represent one of the key benchmarks within the direct marketing industry for the performance of this core medium. Although the findings are averages for all the campaigns reported, they […]
Sexy Christmas liaisons under the mistletoe have started early this year with two nubile young brands hooking up for the first time. The long, sleek Virgin limousine has finally fallen for the youngest Sunday broadsheet newspaper on the block. Virgin pledged Sunday Business will be the one and only newspaper allowed in the back of […]
If Niamh Fitzpatrick thought the tobacco industry was tough, a whole new world of political stalemate and manoeuvring could be opening up to her when she joins the Dublin-based Irish Tourist Board/Bord Failte (ITB) in the new year as its international marketing director. Within days of the announcement that Fitzpatrick was to join the ITB […]
DMB&B is understood to have beaten fellow COI roster agency St Luke’s to a 3m Government account to promote a national telephone hotline for jobseekers. Under the scheme – which may be called Jobs Direct – people telephone regional Employment service teams who give details of local job opportunities. The aim of the initiative, run […]
Judging by the assorted ranks of blue chip brands such as Tesco, Kellogg, Barclays, Centrica, Lever Bros, Avon Cosmetics and First Direct speaking at Business in the Community’s recent Cause-Related Marketing conference, CRM has now reached the heights of respectability. New research unveiled at the conference shows business embracing CRM as a potentially powerful marketing […]
Despite a decade and a half having passed since the privatisation of British Telecom and the opening up of the UK’s telephone equipment market to other suppliers, a new report says that BT is still in pole position in British households, with four out of five having a BT-supplied phone. But BT’s stranglehold over the […]