Spain’s principal political parties – Partido Popular (PP), PSOE (Socialists), Grupo Mixto, Izquierda Unida (IU) and Convergencia i Uni (CiU) – have united in calling for a new administrative body to be set up which would monitor and regulate advertising. If agreed, the proposal could become law as soon as this month. The country’s advertising […]
Radio ad campaigns are known to be tricky to evaluate. Indeed, some people say that one of the best ways for local advertisers to measure the success of their radio campaigns is to look at their cashflow. If there is no noticeable difference in the tills, the radio campaign should be dropped or changed. While […]
Walkers crisps has joined forces with News International in a huge promotion to deliver free books to schools in support of the National Year of Reading. The scheme backed by David Blunkett Secretary of State for Education and Employment means that schools can collect more than one billion tokens which will appear in News International […]
Calvin Klein Cosmetics has appointed Initiative Media to handle its 60m centralised pan-European media buying account. Initiative previously handled all TV buying across Europe and CIA Medianetwork bought all other media for the Unilever-owned fragrances and cosmetics business. The two incumbent networks competed for the “winner-takes-all” account after a pitch was called in September. Former […]
Mail order giant JD Williams has appointed Media Business North and a new company set up by Media-Vest Manchester to handle its 10m media buying accounts. The Manchester-based clothing mail order company held a three-way pitch for the account after deciding to part company with Carat Manchester (MW November 5). Carat Manchester had worked on […]
For the first time the Department for Education & Employment is to sit down with the National Consumer Council and discuss the role of advertising and sponsorship within schools.
Yorkshire Water has appointed rail company GNER’s marketing manager Malcolm Brown to the new role of head of marketing. Brown, who joins as sales and marketing manager in January, will report to Yorkshire Water director of customer services Tracy Flanders. It is understood Brown will take over some of the responsibilities of Simon Ingham, who […]
The quality Napoleon most prized in his commanders was luck. Advertisers and commercial TV executives may well come to hold the same opinion about the generalship of Richard Eyre. After staking everything on a doomed campaign to achieve 38 per cent peak time ratings, Eyre’s reputation has bounced back with two famous victories. The first, […]
Andy Towne, who is responsible for Adidas advertising, has joined six of his colleagues in quitting the sports giant for outdoor clothing brand Helly Hansen. Towne, Adidas head of communications, takes up his new position as Helly Hansen global vice-president of communications next week. His appointment heralds a global branding campaign next year. Helly Hanson, […]
Customer relationship marketing or true one-to-one marketing is easier for a start-up, as Martha Rogers comments in “Why intimacy is vital to customer relationships” (MW November 12). Her case is already proven by the continuing success of direct banks and insurers. But I disagree with Alan Mitchell’s observation that, apart from retailing giants and start-ups, […]
All things considered, the politicians were remarkably restrained about ITV’s generous treatment by the Independent Television Commission the other day. Yes, I know Gerald Kaufman, chairman of the Culture Select Committee, said it was a new milestone in the dumbing down of Britain. And John Major described it as “a grave mistake” and Paddy Ashdown […]
The millennium may seem like an excuse for the party to end all parties, but it could also be an excellent opportunity to market a destination or a venue. It is the chance for a new beginning, an opportunity to put right what was wrong, and build on what is right. So, while exhibitions and […]
London Transport will be relying on customers’ honesty in a trial which scraps the inspection of travel passes to cut buses’ waiting times and ease traffic congestion. Customers with pre-paid tickets go to the right-hand side of a central barrier as they board the bus and aren’t required to show the driver their passes before […]
Outdoor specialist Portland has been hit by fraud thought to have cost the company’s contractors up to $2m (1.2m) in the Czech Republic. The poster buyer, part-owned by WPP Group, opened an office in Prague called Portland Praha. But the operation suddenly collapsed owing money to poster contractors, including the Czech division of Avenir. Portland […]
David Reed comments that as financial services “remain a considered purchase, rather than an impulse buy, this limits the extent of interaction which customers will have with the literature.” (Branching Out, MW November 26). To promote a service, it is essential to grab consumers’ attention in a “captive” and convenient moment. An in-store TV campaign, […]