Online shopping remains a minority interest among the UK Internet audience, with no significant increase in the percentage of online users purchasing on the Net during the past few months, according to research by BMRB International. In addition, despite a dramatic increase in the number of retail categories now available to UK online shoppers, there […]
Marks & Spencer yesterday (Tuesday) announced plunging profits for the year to March 31. Profits before tax, exceptional items and accounting charges fell 41 per cent to 656m from 1.11bn last year. Sales fell to 6.6bn
Express Newspapers is targeting gardening enthusiasts with a direct mail campaign which launches days before the Chelsea Flower Show. Created by Evans Hunt Scott, the mailshot offers recipients the chance to win a trip to see Monet’s garden in Giverny, near Paris, by filling in a questionnaire. Recipients can also dial the newspaper’s call centre […]
I’m not the first and nor will I be the last to accuse the supermarket chains of posturing. The most obvious acts of hypocrisy have historically been related to their so-called price wars, in which supposedly cut-throat competition amounts to little more than shifting the esoteric lines. There are also grounds to be suspicious of […]
Standard Life Bank, the savings and mortgage account provider, is planning to offer personal loans and a credit card to make use of its deposit base. The telephone bank was set up 18 months ago by mutual life assurer Standard Life. It offers a high-interest savings account. Since then, it has gained about 4bn in […]
Orangina, the soft drink brand, is to introduce a range of branded clothing using the name ‘Move by Orangina’. The range, which also includes accessories, will first appear in France this winter before being rolled out across Europe next year. Quelle, the German mail order house, has awarded its advertising account to Jung von Matt. […]
Toy manufacturer Hasbro’s European business head Caroline Whitfield is leaving the company to join financial services giant CGU in a new role as director of strategy and innovation. Whitfield had been with Hasbro since 1996. She says: “My role at CGU has to be open ended. However, there are a number of issues facing the […]
Toy manufacturer Hasbro’s European business head Caroline Whitfield is leaving the company to join financial services giant CGU in a new role as director of strategy and innovation. Whitfield had been with Hasbro since 1996. She says: “My role at CGU has to be open ended. However, there are a number of issues facing the […]
BT’s new ad campaign, which features alien film star of yesteryear ET, has been telling us to “stay in touch”. But visitors to poster contractor Maiden Outdoor’s Website posterinfo.com, could be forgiven for believing BT is not taking its own advice. The site gives information about poster campaigns, and the details for BT’s ET ad, […]
Spar UK, the country’s biggest convenience store symbol group, is to pool its advertising into one agency as part of plans to create a nationwide advertising approach for the regionalised chain. Spar UK, which is part of Dutch group Internationale Spar Centrale, the world’s biggest retailer by number of stores, splits its operations into six […]
A new product launch may soon enable a quick stroke of your best Texas CD to release a whiff of Charlene Spiteri’s freshly-washed hair, or a quick rub of your Meatloaf album could spread the scent of, er, meatloaf. CD and DVD manufacturer Sonopress has come up with the “Sniffadisc” scented CD. It is fitted […]
There are several inaccuracies in your recent news story entitled “Tesco unveils permanent travel deal” (MW May 6). Firstly, Tesco Clubcard customers will receive one Clubcard point for every pound they spend on holidays booked through Going Places’ shops and Going Places’ Holiday line. These points will count towards the customer’s Clubcard points total, which […]
The Independent Television Commission has made strong objections to introducing advertising and sponsorship to the BBC in its evidence to the BBC Funding Review Panel. The Newspaper Publishers Association has elected Douglas Flynn, managing director of News International, as its next chairman. He replaces Nicholas Rudd-Jones, who has moved from the managing director’s position at […]
If ITV were a soap powder, the marketing team would lead its entire programme development. There would be no point launching a new series of ITV daytime detergent tablets, for example, unless the marketing director agreed that there was a profitable enough market for them and they proved to be a good fit with ITV […]
How wrong can Nick Manning be? “Buoyant ITV and BBC put competition on edge” (MW May 6) The ITV ABC1 profile is not better than other commercial channels. Just take the standard peak definition for the past four weeks: 38 per cent of ITV’s audience was ABC1, 47 per cent of Channels 4’s audience was […]