The revelation by BSkyB that Sky Digital has already signed up 350,000 homes – and its new target is a million by October – poses some intriguing questions: How soon will digital viewing be measured for ratings purposes? And how will it be measured…full stop? Not only does digital TV bring more channels, many of […]
Tights manufacturer Pretty Polly is launching its first range of bras backed by two of the key figures who made such a phenomenal success of Playtex’s Wonderbra. Trevor Beattie, creative director of TBWA GGT Simons Palmer, who was credited with dreaming up Wonderbra’s “Hello Boys” campaign that made a star of Eva Herzigova, is behind […]
I read with interest your editorial about the ethical dilemmas facing multinationals and the reference in particular to Shell’s recent public relations disasters. You say that “Shell has apparently learned its lesson”. I beg to differ. My claim against Shell UK in respect of the Smart loyalty scheme is set down for a three week […]
The four major radio owners have joined forces to sell group sport sponsorship packages for programming across their networks. The Capital Radio Group, EMAP Radio, GWR Group, and Scottish Radio Holdings, will sell sponsorships for their coverage of the Cricket World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, and the Formula One season. Together, these four groups […]
Outdoor contractor the More Group has won a 1m contract for an advertising campaign using only bus shelter posters for money transfer company Western Union. More Group won the account after a competitive pitch to Western Union media agency MediaVest and poster specialist PPL. The poster company was given an advertising brief to produce a […]
Earlier this month five of the world’s major record labels – BMG, EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music – committed to a test which will allow US consumers with broadband cable modem access to download 60-minute albums in less than ten minutes. The Madison Project, backed by IBM, will make more than 2,500 […]
Turner Entertainment Networks (TEN) has promoted Mick Buckley to the new role of UK managing director. Buckley will be in charge of three channels: CNN, the rolling news channel; the Cartoon Network; and TNT, the classic movies channel. He will report to Andy Bird, who is managing director of the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the […]
ITV is considering rolling out the advertising effectiveness study TV-Span, run by saleshouse TSMS for the Meridian region, to the whole ITV network. For the past three years, TSMS and its chief executive Jerry Hill have championed the TVSpan study, which analyses the relationship between watching commercials and buying products. Industry observers argue that once […]
With a track record in failed relationships which includes a marriage to former Rolling Stones member Bill Wyman, Mandy Smith may have been thinking You Can’t Always Get What You Want. But the 28-year-old is hoping to Start It Up with Nick Candy. For those who don’t know Candy, Hello! magazine (February 20) describes him […]
The imminence of the TV Barcelona conference is reason enough to dust down a number of recently neglected media topics, prime among them the obsolescent BARB measurement system. But in BARB’s case, grist has been added to the mill by a more pressing agenda: the runaway success of Sky Digital Television. Already 350,000 homes have […]
Hardly a week goes by without some announcement in the marketing press that Bank X or Insurance Company Y is to invest more in its brand. While we must applaud their pluck, the truth is that developing financial services brands is very difficult and few have succeeded. This makes the fate of poor “Access” all […]
Judging by the quality of programmes currently broadcast, one can be forgiven for thinking TV producers have inadvertently based their programme selections on feline viewing data. Sat on my viewing couch over the past few months I too have found myself shrieking, hissing and arching my back before fleeing the room, much to the disgust […]
Associated New Media launches its personal finance site This is Money.com (www.thisismoney.com) this week, with a commitment to avoiding exclusive e-commerce tie-ins which may threaten the perceived editorial independence of the site. Paul Zwillenberg, managing director of Associated New Media , says no e-commerce deals are yet in place, but the site will seek to […]
As an expert on health scares – it was here you read the population of the UK is clinically obese in its entirety and enormity, and the problem is getting worse, and that smoking causes all diseases, physical, social and moral, including those as yet unknown and unsuffered – I have been asked to give […]
Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe is understood to be the front runner in a pitch to launch the new individual savings accounts (ISAs) on April 6. The official line from the COI is that a final decision has not yet been made, but sources say Rainey Kelly’s is the only work to have gone into research. […]