When Littlewoods head of media services Tim Rogers drafted the advertising agency brief for his company’s retail division last week, he did so an exhausted man. Rogers, a would-be record-breaker, is attempting to run seven marathons on seven different continents including Antarctica in the fastest time. The record stands at 168 days. Rogers flew to […]
AOL UK, formerly the UK’s most popular online service provider, is to slash its subscription charges for unlimited online access from 16.95 to 9.99 a month from June, in response to growing competition from free Internet service providers. AOL UK president and managing director David Phillips conceded that the 16.95 price point for unlimited online […]
Remember that a few years ago, everyone was banging on about how crucial innovation was for growth? New research from Information Resources, the consumer goods research company, puts these theories in an intriguing, and rather worrying light. Comparing the new product introductions in the UK three years ago to last year, the trends don’t look […]
Martin Sorrell and others like him have every cause to be concerned about media inflation. Chief executive of WPP Group, his clients include some of the UK’s biggest TV advertisers, among them Ford, Unilever, IBM, Kimberly-Clark, Kodak, Nestlé and Warner Lambert. This week WPP’s media operation MindShare attempts to take the high ground in the […]
Prudential Retail has appointed former Royal & Sun Alliance strategic marketer Stephanie Campbell as head of brands, a new position created after a radical restructure of its marketing department.
Seagram Spirits & Wine is mooting a global ad agency for its tequilas and may review existing global accounts for its Martell cognacs and Chivas Regal whiskies.
US credit card company Bank One International has appointed an American marketing guru to spearhead its drive into the European market. The company, which set up its European headquarters in Cardiff at the end of last year, has appointed James Corcoran from New York bank Citigroup as its first chief executive officer. Corcoran is responsible […]
The Independent Television Commission has upheld a complaint against The Observer by the agents for actor Ewan McGregor. The complaint concerns an advertisement created by Ogilvy & Mather for the The Observer’s film and TV section, Screen. The ad, promoting a forthcoming edition on “the politics of casting”, depicted a youth ripping down posters for […]
ONdigital, ITV, Cable & Wireless Communications and BSkyB all had complaints upheld against their ads in the latest monthly report from the Advertising Standards Authority.
The growing trend towards mega mergers brings with it a need to communicate the values and direction of the new organisation. The act of merger gives those companies a chance to take the best and discard the worst aspects of previous organisations. But unless this is effectively communicated to staff, the opportunity is lost. This […]
Janet Hull, former Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) advertising effectiveness director, is on the verge of leaving the advertising agency she joined only six weeks ago (MW February 11). Hull, who joined integrated agency The Square at the beginning of April as managing director, is currently in New York in crisis talks over her […]
I agree with Philip Buxton’s article Net Payers (MW May 6) that football clubs must look for alternative revenue streams to sustain financial growth. However, I do believe he has missed an important sector to enhance growth: the database. Recently, Chelsea FC and The Daily Telegraph set up a lifestyle questionnaire that was sent out […]
Sunday Business is targeting upmarket readers interested in business and finance, in the second phase of a direct response campaign. The first phase targeted managing directors with an offer to sample the newspaper at a cut price. More than 500,000 direct response leaflets are being inserted in the business and consumer press, offering readers the […]
Remember that a few years ago, everyone was banging on about how crucial innovation was for growth? New research from Information Resources, the consumer goods research company, puts these theories in an intriguing, and rather worrying light. Comparing the new product introductions in the UK three years ago to last year, the trends don’t look […]
In the space of two months Japanese car brand Mitsubishi has lost every key figure associated with its UK marketing operation. The rout began in March when Stephen Dixon, former managing director of the Colt Car Company (which handles Mitsubishi’s UK concession), left after allegedly being unable to settle terms for a new contract. Two […]