Associated Newspapers is launching freesheet London Metro in the next few weeks. But will the new daily succeed? Given that Metro will be distributed free at London Underground stations through an exclusive deal, it will be wholly reliant on advertising revenue. Will it offer an audience and environment that is attractive to marketers? The dummy […]
BT has handed its 5m youth advertising account to St Luke’s. The appointment marks the first occasion the telecoms giant has appointed an agency to target young people. St Luke’s beat Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO – which recently retained BT’s main consumer advertising account – Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters, HHCL & Partners and Wieden & Kennedy. […]
Brian Cardy, managing director of St Ivel UK’s chilled foods unit covering brands such as Gold, Utterly Butterly, Shape and Golden Churn, has suddenly left the company. It is not known whether Cardy, who had been a managing director of the chilled unit within St Ivel UK since 1993 and took responsibility for marketing, is […]
As they watched the genetically modified foods fiasco unfold, how many business leaders looked up at Monsanto and thought, ‘There but for the grace of God go I’? And how many risk ending up in a similar position in the future? Quite a few, perhaps, unless they recognise that this affair is a symptom of […]
BSkyB has promoted Matthew Imi to head its joint ventures station division, Sky Ventures. He replaces James Ackerman, who took over as chief executive of digital TV home shopping channel Open, formerly British Interactive Broadcasting, last August. Ackerman replaced David Hilton, who only lasted nine months as Open’s chief executive. Open is jointly owned by […]
Yo! Sushi, the “fast-food” Japanese fish restaurant, is expanding outside London for the first time with its fifth outlet planned for the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. Yo! Sushi managing director and founder Simon Woodroffe is expected to sign a deal with Bluewater developer Lend Lease this week, confirming the first of seven new outlets […]
Last week I was present at the invention of a new word. “Zopping, vbl. sb. 1999 [f. Zapping vbl. sb. and Stop v.]. The action of using a remote control to interact with a television commercial in such a way as to miss the remaining commercials in the break and the start of the next […]
ITV has secured its first broadcast sponsorship in the 10pm slot previously filled by News at Ten after signing up Scottish Amicable for its new “thirtysomething” drama series, “Wonderful You”. The first episode will be aired on Tuesday March 9 in the first week of the new-look peaktime schedule when one news bulletin will run […]
The deals are done. The Formula One factories are quiet. But this Sunday at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, the flag will be raised on the 1999 Grand Prix season, and the engines, and the action, will fire again. There are nearly 250 businesses spending, at a conservative estimate, 300m sponsoring 11 Grand Prix teams, on […]
Brand copycatting has always been big business. Imitation has often proved a safe way for newcomers to join major players in a market and to benefit by association from some values already invested in existing brands. However, it is often hard to make a distinction between what is copying and what is simply generic brand […]
Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide chief executive Kevin Roberts is at the centre of a political storm in New Zealand, following allegations that he peddled influence with prime minister Jenny Shipley to secure more money for a global tourism marketi
Some VW managers are seriously concerned. Their dynamic and controversial group chief executive Ferdinand Piech has decreed that the marque should head upmarket. Why should that be a cause for anxiety? Any responsible steward seeks to enhance his brand’s prestige. And a more expensive car is a better car: better by far on margin. That’s […]
Advertising in the budget airline sector is not exactly renowned for subtle understatement. A butcher chopping meat, a print ad that shouts “Expensive Ba****ds!” or posters featuring the destination and the price alone are recent examples of the marketing tactics employed by budget operators easyJet and Ryanair. The new TV campaign by British Airways-backed discount […]
Classic FM, the GWR-owned commercial radio station, may make its advertising debut on television, after appointing the station’s first dedicated brand marketer. Giles Pearman, who formerly worked for Unilever, has been given the task of building consumer awareness of the station as the age of digital radio approaches. He will report to Classic FM managing […]
MindShare has poached Leo Burnett broadcast director Andy Zonfrillo as its new TV buying director to oversee billings of more than 250m. The appointment by MindShare managing director Simon Rees comes hot on the heels of another major signing. Two weeks ago it emerged Edward Lloyd-Barnes, a former director at The Negotiation Centre, would join […]