Catalogue shopping chain Argos is talking to advertising agencies about a secret project. The retailer was bought recently by Great Universal Stores after a fraught 1.9bn takeover. It owns 400 stores in the UK. The company refuses to discuss details of the project, but confirms it is talking to a number of agencies. Argos’ mainstream […]
C&A is the latest chain to reveal the grim picture of high street clothes retailing with the announcement that it is closing nine of its 110 stores with the loss of more than 500 jobs. The latest cuts come on top of news last autumn that the chain was closing six stores and axing 160 […]
Companies seeking information on how target markets experience their brands, products or services are increasingly likely to call in focus groups. Individually unremarkable, the members of these groups come together to form a critical mass apparently invested with folk wisdom and highly prized insights. However, marketers are realising that focus groups suffer the usual problems […]
Osprey has ousted the InterPublic Group to take lead status on the Vauxhall/Opel van business, after winning the 11m account for the pan-European launch of the Movano. Osprey has handled creative work on vans for General Motors’ UK brand Vauxhall for some time, but IPG held the lucrative business for the equivalent Opel brand in […]
EMAP Metro has axed its niche film magazine Neon. The final issue will be in February. The title launched in Spring 1997. The closure swiftly follows the launch of Heat, the division’s weekly entertainment magazine. But Jerry Perkins publishing director of music and entertainment titles denies the new magazine had anything to do with Neon’s […]
If there’s one business which typifies the challenges and opportunities of integrating the Internet into the heart of operating your business, it is Federal Express. Customers worldwide can order parcel collection, make payment, and even track the progress of their package to its destination through the Internet. By allowing customers to view its IT systems, […]
The head of BT’s cable TV services, Patrick Boner, is leaving the division to take up a key post in the BT and AT&T alliance. Boner will be general manager of the “create team” and will report to Ian Morfett, the managing director of new products and solutions. The team is responsible for setting up […]
DaimlerChrysler is expected to retain its existing media arrangements virtually intact after the review of its 1bn media account, according to sources close to the business. CIA Medianetwork and Bozell Worldwide appear to be in line to land an additional slice of business, but the expected consolidation of the media for the Mercedes and Chrysler […]
The resignation of two executives in an Italian company would barely raise an eyebrow in this country under normal circumstances. But the news which has recently hit CIA Italy is creating ripples, and gives a big clue about events behind the scenes at the UK-based media company. Two weeks ago, Giulio Malegori, former director of […]
Marks & Spencer’s recent announcement that it is to recruit a marketing team from outside its closely-guarded walls rang alarm bells with industry observers. The chain’s sudden fall from grace, following its dire trading and a profit warning,
Rivalry between advertising agency groups and management consultancies appears to be moving towards a truce as agencies identify new opportunities to expand and improve their own brand management service. The encroachment of consultancies into agency territory has been well documented. In an attempt to generate additional revenues from outside their core competencies, many consultants sought […]
The recent number of magazine closures suggests the market has seen the last of the boom years, at least for the time being. The only thing publishers can take comfort from is that size does not matter – large or small, every publishing house has had to face some harsh realities. Five years ago, ailing […]
NTL, the UK cable, telecoms and Internet company which has just sold a five per cent stake to Microsoft, has shortlisted four agencies to pitch for its ad account, believed to be worth over 10m. The company, the UK’s third largest cable operator, is understood to have shortlisted McCann-Erickson, J Walter Thompson, Banks Hoggins O’Shea/FCB […]
US brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has promoted its chief UK marketer to a senior management role and rejigged its corporate structure to reflect the growing importance of its European operations. Peter Jackson, vice-president of sales and marketing for the UK, is to become vice-president and regional director of the UK and Ireland. He replaces Bill McNulty, […]
Imperial Tobacco is to launch its hand-rolling tobacco brand Drum in the UK following the resolution of a trademark dispute with rival Gallaher. The row erupted after Gallaher launched a hand-rolling tobacco brand, Richard Lloyd’s Drum, in the UK in an attack on illegal imports of Imperial’s hand-rolling tobacco of the same name (MW July […]