Month: March 2000

Interbrew plan to shut UK office raises doubts about Stella Artois

Marketing Week

Belgian brewing giant Interbrew is to close its UK office, prompting speculation about the future direction of its market-leading Stella Artois brand. Industry sources claim Whitbread, which brews Stella, Labatts and Rolling Rock under licence for Interbrew and is responsible for marketing the brands in the UK, is unhappy about the move. The brewer has […]

All about Eve

Marketing Week

Eve Pollard has made her career editing other people’s newspapers and magazines, including titles such as the Sunday Express and Elle US. Now Pollard has her own publishing outfit and is preparing for her second magazine launch. Amanda Wilkinson asks her what it is like on the other side of the desk Eve Pollard, media […]

An end to pie in the sky Dome ideas

Marketing Week

After the Millennium Dome’s woeful first two months, pie maker Pukka Pies has cooked up a tasty solution for the venue’s long-suffering bosses. The Leicestershire cads – well-known for their witty chip shop posters – want to balance a massive pie on the landmark’s roof and rebrand it the Millenni-Yum Dome. For the Dome’s struggling […]

Agencies net £3m garden Web venture

Marketing Week

Crocus.co.uk, the Internet gardening site set up by BMP DDB ex-deputy managing director Peter Clay, has appointed agencies to its £3m advertising account in the lead-up to a May launch. The site, which will sell plants and gardening equipment online, is to spend £3m of its £5m marketing budget on above- and below-the-line ads, including […]

Branson relying on PPP intuition

Marketing Week

We’ve heard a lot about PPP recently, and it’s had little to do with healthcare. Public/private partnership, as it is euphemistically known, has most memorably been centre-stage in the continuing spat between Ken Livingstone and Downing Street. The sub-text of Livingstone’s position is that PPP cannot be trusted: not when it involves the likes of […]

Dealers push dot-com cars for Vauxhall

Marketing Week

Vauxhall has set up computer terminals at two of its dealerships, to sell customers its dot-com branded cars. These cost up to £1,000 less than cars normally sold through dealers. Reg Vardy and another unnamed dealership have been given the go-ahead by the manufacturer to take customers through the process of buying online. The move […]

NS pledges £3m regional press project

Marketing Week

The Newspaper Society (NS) has pledged to address seven key areas of concern raised by marketers and advertising agencies in an effort to increase the regional press’ share of national advertising spend. Production, planning, buying, cost, administration, product information and marketing have all been identified as issues that need to be addressed, following an industry-wide […]

Thomas Cook revamp features online booking

Marketing Week

Travel agent and tour operator Thomas Cook has taken the plunge into e-commerce with the latest relaunch of its UK Website, www.thomascook.co.uk. Created by design consultancy Fitch and computer company ICL, the site will include more content, with information provided by the Rough Guide series and the company’s own travel guides. A webzine, called Suitcase, […]

Ex-Pizza Hut boss to lead CGU Net mortgage drive

Marketing Week

Finance group CGU has named David Lundholm as marketing director of its new £10m Internet mortgage venture. Former Pizza Hut marketing director Lundholm will oversee the spring launch of the service, which has the working title “Project Seattle”. Lundholm was marketing director of Pizza Hut in the UK for 18 months, before quitting in January […]

Sales promotion has new kudos

Marketing Week

Ian Hughes asks the fundamental question: “What use sales promotion?” (Letters, MW February 10) but misses what sales promotion nowadays means in practice. We have seen some radical changes to promotions over the past year. First, and rather ironically, every day low prices mean we are moving away from a discount mentality and brands now […]

Playtent for Friskies’ feline friends

Marketing Week

The battle to become petfood market leader has given marketers at Friskies paws for thought. A loyalty scheme for regular customers of Go-Cat Complete, or rather their cats, offers a cat Playtent. Nestlé-owned Friskies hopes the miniature tent with claw scraper, toy ball and mouse will prevent competitors from clawing their way towards the number-one […]

Outdoor Maps

Marketing Week

Geographical information systems are revolutionising the way outdoor targets consumers, the only barrier being contractors’ reluctance to release their stock into a free market.

Lottery Commission in hunt for agency to assess marketing plans

Marketing Week

The National Lottery Commission (NLC) is to appoint an agency to assess the marketing proposals of the bids for the next lottery licence. The NLC is using a number of consultancies to assess different aspects of the bids from Camelot, Richard Branson’s People’s Lottery and an unnamed charity consortium. Accountancy firms Lazards and Neville Russell […]