Month: September 2001

Playing the field

Marketing Week

Many brands rely on through-the-line agencies to conduct field marketing exercises, but there is an alternative: specialist agencies. They have much time and creativity to offer, says Steve Hemsley

McCann clings to Hitachi brief

Marketing Week

Your story on Hitachi (MW September 6) contained some significant errors. McCann-Erickson Windsor is not “one of a number of regional agencies that loses business”. In fact, the exact opposite is true. McCann-Erickson pitched and won the global Hitachi corporate business earlier this year, adding the other regions to the existing European account that McCann […]

I hope you like jammin’ too

Marketing Week

Yes, it’s true; we are headed for a recession. The evidence? Robertson’s absofruitly. When marketers become so worried about the future of their jobs that they activate the Emergency Project (the one they were never convinced would get past the board) we know we’re in trouble. Mid-range jam – marvellous idea. What exactly is different […]

Don’t panic, the dust will settle

Marketing Week

Now that the full impact of last week’s apocalyptic events has begun to sink in, marketers will be urgently seeking a compass to guide their decision making. Are these events and their ramifications simply a blip on the economic chart – albeit a grimly-etched one – or do they signal a profound change in consumer […]

AMV.BBDO IT trial could result in job losses

Marketing Week

Omnicom-owned Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO is testing a new IT system that logs the progress of work and which could result in job cuts. Any job cuts would be contrary to the agency’s stand on the matter of redundancy. During the economic recession of the late Eighties and early Nineties the agency, then independent, held to […]

PoP issues bulk large

Marketing Week

PoP marketing is not limited to retail stores. Brands need to win over shopkeepers and bulk buyers as well, but wholesale PoP is influenced by factors not present in supermarkets

Guardian Newspapers invites six to tender

Marketing Week

Guardian Newspapers has put its direct marketing account up for review, and has asked six agencies to pitch for the business. The agencies are Alphabet, Brann, Claydon Healey, Swordfish, Tequila and the incumbent KLP, which has held the account for the past eight years. The review covers all of the group’s sales promotion and direct […]

From waiting list to mailing list in A&E

Marketing Week

In a damning indictment of the NHS, NWP Communications has announced it is installing Internet kiosks in UK accident and emergency wards. Patients will now be able to while away the hours checking football scores and e-mail while simultaneously trying to restart their own hearts and put their legs in plaster. The Diary can see […]

Is separation the PO’s key?

Marketing Week

Ryman’s deal to operate concessions in Post Offices (MW last week) poses a question as to what either side hopes to achieve. Without putting a large “Ryman” sign on the outside of Post Offices, how are customers to be attracted into the building? And once there, how are they to be persuaded to join the […]

Egg Card performs U-turn and drops ‘no frills’ stance

Marketing Week

Internet financial services company Egg is performing a U-turn on its policy of marketing its credit card as a “no-frills” product, following feedback from customers. The Egg Card has traditionally been positioned as a low-APR (annual percentage rate) alternative to cards offered by high-street banks, and it also offers a one per cent cash-back reward […]

Super 12 Racing seeks sponsor for football-style horseracing league

Marketing Week

Super 12 Racing, the organisation set up to represent the collective commercial rights of the UK’s top dozen race courses, is looking for over £1m for the title sponsorship of the 47-race series. Sports marketing company Sportsworld has been given the task of negotiating sponsorship for Super 12 Racing. The Super 12 Challenges – the […]

Retailers ‘can’t profit from iTV’

Marketing Week

Return on investment for UK retailers experimenting with interactive TV (ITV) is only “a distant prospect” as long as dozens of retailers chase tiny revenues, says a new report from Forrester Research. Focusing on what it calls “tRetail”, the report warns that UK retailers face some difficult decisions. Forrester says that rather than struggle on, […]

Laura Ashley in U-turn on Homebase outlets

Marketing Week

The home furnishings division of Laura Ashley is reversing its previous decision to close concessions in Homebase stores, and is to open 30 outlets over the next few months. The decision is a U-turn for the chain, which announced half yearly interim results this week. Laura Ashley had been reducing its presence in Homebase and […]