The European Sports Consultants’ Association (ESCA) has accused the UK’s major political parties of lacking a “concrete commitment” to sport. The body, which regulates the sports sponsorship industry, believes New Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are merely paying lip-service to sport in their General Election manifestos. Nigel Curry, director of ESCA, says: “What […]
Dominic Owen, former head of marketing communications at BT, has quit his post as marketing director at business-to-business office supply e-company Grouptrade.com. Owen, who joined the company last year, is understood to have left the business of his own accord. The company has recently laid off 20 per cent of its staff, citing the need […]
The Guardian, The Observer and Guardian Unlimited are to be promoted across London on 28 permanent sites from next month. The campaign marks the first time the newspaper group has used such a strategy. The sites will feature a different ad every month for each of the three brands, starting with a promotion for the […]
John Caudwell, founder of the Phones 4U chain, left school at 16 to work in a tyre factory. Now he’s recruiting graduate trainees on a starting salary of £60,000, and has become one of the UK’s richest people. Amanda Wilkinson met the former c
Capital Radio has appointed Delaney Lund Knox Warren to handle the £5m advertising account for its flagship 95.8 Capital FM brand.
Boltblue, which claims to be the UK’s leading mobile Internet portal, has launched the “first ever mobile phone election” from its website, www.boltblue.com. The Boltblue SMS election, which takes place on June 5, has been set up to “accurately gauge the mood of the UK’s voters and test the propensity of people to use their […]
I have read Marketing Week for many years and have always been impressed by the way it covers marketing news in depth and at speed. Sometimes, however, the subbing goes a bit astray. “Jazz FM hires its first head of marketing” offers a good example. “Jazz FM has appointed Nicola Young as its first head […]
P&G has put Big Brother-style cameras in homes to carry out consumer research, but will it ever replace traditional methods?
I do not believe for a moment that Nigel Mansell (MW last week) could not remember the name of the “Sophie Dahl” fragrance. Amnesia was self-induced for the sake of a good headline, “What was it that naked model was selling again?”, and a good sign-off, “Sophie Dahl has a fantastic figure, but I cannot […]
Charles Schwab Europe’s senior vice-president and head of commercial development Russ Shaw is leaving the company to join NTL in a senior management role. Shaw is understood to have taken voluntary redundancy as a result of cost cutting across Charles Schwab’s divisions, which has resulted in about 160 redundancies since April. As head of commercial […]
The Diary hears that PR agency Red Rooster has been appointed to handle the UK and European launch of a “revolutionary” new product called Ultrabite. However, for the benefit of our undead readership, this is not a product developed for the pan-European vampire population. In fact, as Red Rooster explains, Ultrabite is actually a new […]
The UK’s banks and building societies are world leaders in financial services marketing, according to a survey by marketing consultants I&B Group. The analysis – of 33,000 financial products worldwide – found that UK companies are experts in developing successful financial products and communicating with customers. They also excelled in retail banking, although their European […]
The abolition of retail price maintenance on over-the-counter medicines has spawned numerous predictions of doom and gloom for drug giants and small pharmacists alike. Sonoo Singh investigates their veracity
Anticipating fragmentation of the convenience sector, the smart brands are realigning themselves as carer, adviser, teacher, friend.
If you see a giant rose-pink bra coming your way, don’t panic – it’s not a Labour Party promotion. The brassiere – size 148 JJ – is being towed around the UK to help boost the profile of Marks & Spencer’s bra-fitting service. M&S has installed bra-fitting sensors to ensure that shop assistants don’t make […]