The National Magazine Company has bought the UK arm of German publisher Gruner & Jahr (G&J) in a surprise move that launches holding company The Hearst Corporation into the women’s weekly magazine market for the first time. Magazine giant IPC Media was in talks with G&J but, in a last-minute deal hatched over the weekend, […]
Virgin.com has poached BSkyB head of customer loyalty Robert Pepper as its first director of marketing. He will report directly to managing director Alexis Dormandy. Pepper, who was only at BSkyB for 16 months, will oversee the appointment of an advertising agency to handle a &£30m campaign to promote Virgin.com as part of the Virgin […]
Sporting organisations need to prove that sponsorship builds brands if they are to command the highest prices from sponsors.
WPP stock is poised for a revaluation. If it secures better quality US investment, its share price will rocket. UK investors risk being left behind.
Barclays Bank is understood to be pulling the plug on telephone and Internet operation B2 following months of speculation about its future. The bank is thought to have spent more than &£20m on advertising the operation since its launch almost two years ago. Banks Hoggins O’Shea/FCB ran a high-profile launch campaign featuring actor Richard E […]
Your story on the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) ruling against Ribena Tooth Kind (MW July 13) reported matter-of-factly that SmithKline Beecham (SB) is challenging the judgment in the High Court. But it did not analyse the significance of the action to advertising in general. This is no routine “freedom versus regulation” skirmish. SB is challenging […]
Asda Wal-Mart is considering launching George, the supermarket chain’s own-label clothing range, as a standalone high-street retailer. The move follows the launch of the supermarket chain’s first dual-branded superstore in Patchway, Bristol. It contains a shop-in-shop concept selling both its existing George range and a new George Baby range. Sales will be closely monitored with […]
If you happen to be passing Finsbury Square on the evening of September 22 you may be forgiven for thinking the dot-com crash has hit harder than previously thought: the square will be full of IT professionals in their sleeping bags. But rest assured, the techies will be sleeping rough for one night only – […]
WeddingGuideUK.com, which has just picked up a Yell award for its popular bulletin boards, has parted company with its marketing director. Sean Kyne, who has a direct marketing background and joined WeddingGuide at the start of the year, has left the company. He was unavailable for comment as Marketing Week went to press. WeddingGuide commercial […]
Whoops! Just as IPC Media executives were popping the champagne corks in anticipation of their much-feted acquisition of Gruner & Jahr’s UK magazines, along comes NatMags and dashes their flutes to the floor. G&J had looked vulnerable for some time. The raw energy which propelled the Bertelsmann subsidiary to the UK in 1986 evaporated long […]
McCann-Erickson Bristol seems to be suffering from an acute case of sour grapes. Earlier this year, the ad agency created a poster campaign for fruit company Cape, featuring the heads of angelic little children protruding through piles of apples, pears, grapes and plums, with the brand’s sticker stuck to their cheeks – a truly ground-breaking […]
Spirit Advertising is understood to have won the £4m creative account for iTouch, the new media subsidiary of Independent News & Media. The agency is believed to have picked up the business after a pitch against IMP. StarcomMotive recently won the media account. iTouch, which was developed by the group’s South African arm, is bidding […]
A few words from “Plastered of Plaistow”… Michael Barrymore can still party all night with the best of them. Unfortunately, he proved this very publicly by calling Jonathan “Jono” Coleman on Heart 106.2’s breakfast show live last Monday morning to slur a message to his boyfriend, who listens to the show. Barrymore said: “Hi Jono, […]
Manchester United’s £30m record-breaking sponsorship deal with Vodafone, announced in a blaze of publicity last March, has yet to be signed because the football club is still embroiled in a dispute with Kingfisher over wireless application protocol (WAP) and Internet rights. The row first emerged earlier this year when Marketing Week reported that Kingfisher subsidiary […]
BBC director of marketing and communications Matthew Bannister is understood to have confirmed that a number of senior marketing executives will retain their positions in the new-look department. Among them is controller of strategic marketing for television Jane Scott. Scott is expected to retain responsibility for the marketing of TV, including BBC1 and BBC2. She […]