Magazine publisher IPC has introduced autonomous boards for its five publishing divisions in preparation for flotation within the next two to three years. The five divisions have also become limited companies and two division names have been changed; the Women’s Weeklies Group is renamed IPC Connect and the TV Weeklies Group becomes IPC tx. The […]
Financial statements over the past week from two of the world’s leading Internet hub companies suggest that, although online revenues are growing, the path ahead for major sites seeking to develop online ad spend and transactional revenues remains blurred. Last Thursday, leading Web destination Yahoo! unveiled profits of $25m (15.2m) on sales of $86m (52m), […]
M&C Saatchi has appointed Lisa Thomas, currently deputy managing director at M&C’s direct marketing affiliate Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel, as chief executive for its new wholly-owned direct marketing agency. Thomas, who was due to take up the post of managing director at Craik Jones at the end of this year, will be charged with […]
Your McDonald’s Cover Story (MW April 8) is a perfect example of a marketing-focused company with a clear vision of how to maximise profits in the next century (I haven’t used the word millennium as even McDonald’s might have a problem looking that far ahead). For Luke Johnson of the Belgo group to say it […]
PG Tips’ pyramid teabags have forged ahead of Tetley’s round teabags as brand leader, says the Unilever-owned Brooke Bond Tea Company. It is the first time since 1990 that Brooke Bond, part of Van den Bergh Foods, has claimed brand leadership by volume for its PG brand in the standard teabag market. PG pyramid bags […]
Emirates Airline will be the live broadcast sponsor for BSkyB’s coverage of the Cricket World Cup hosted in England this summer. The deal is worth 1m over the course of the five-week tournament, which also includes HP Bulmer cider brand Scrumpy Jack’s sponsorship of the channel’s morning and evening highlights package. The Emirates, the Middle […]
I recall having predicted significant consolidation in the retail industry as early as the first quarter of last year. Admittedly, at the time I thought that equity markets looked a bit inflated and that consequently, merger activity would be driven in part by the desire of retail groups to exploit the value of their paper […]
The two most senior marketers at Marston Thompson & Evershed have retained their positions following a hostile takeover by fellow regional brewer Wolverhampton & Dudley (W&D).
Several years ago, in a previous incarnation, I presented a media proposal to a corporate advertiser that was pretty radical and left the creative director choking on his Perrier. An hour later, as I sat cosseted on a train home, the creative director was on the phone imploring my boss to sack me before I […]
Channel 5 staff had to make a last minute dash up the motorway after its latest offering in late-night entertainment – a male strip contest – was deemed too saucy by Westminster Council. The competition, called “A thong for Europe”, featured eight strapping young men from all over the continent getting their kit off. It […]
Digital TV may have arrived but all I can get are linear telecast programmes – much of the same terrestrial fare – despite subscribing to SkyDigital’s 140-channel package. Having seen the presentation for the OpenTV interactive services (scheduled to launch in the spring but unlikely to be rolled out beyond selective testing before the autumn) […]
The ASA has upheld all our complaints about Nestlé’s anti-boycott ad and we see Mr Blackburn, Nestlé UK chief executive officer, using a new line: “Nestlé does its best to market infant formula ethically and responsibly” (MW February 11 and 15
Cable & Wireless Communications brand director John Aarons is leaving without a job to go to, as speculation mounts that the company is to be disbanded.
Is Paul Simons the right man to bring new lustre to Ogilvy & Mather’s tarnished reputation?
Bates Dorland’s hold on the 20m Safeway account may be in jeopardy following the proposed merger of rival supermarket Asda with Kingfisher, one of the agency’s biggest clients. The merger would create the largest retail group in the UK, combining Asda’s 7.6bn supermarket business with Kingfisher’s 7.4bn sales, through its chains B&Q, Superdrug, Comet and […]