Argos is to begin selling car and household insurance in its stores for the first time as part of a revamp of its portfolio. The car insurance goes on sale at the beginning of October, and will offer cheaper rates to women drivers in particular. Policy benefits include a “like for like” courtesy car in […]
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the tobacco pressure group, has warned the Government not to exempt pubs and clubs from a law ending smoking in workplaces.
Debenhams is reviewing its £14m advertising account, held by WCRS.
Honda is launching a ground-breaking viewer-participation interactive television (iTV) ad, which allows viewers to record their own comments for later broadcast. It is based on Weiden & Kennedy’s “Hate something, change something” TV ad for Honda Diesel, and will run on the Zip TV advertising channel. Viewers will be able to record their own comments […]
Maiden has reported a 75 per cent increase in first-half pre-tax profits, before amortisation, to £2.1m. Group revenues rose by 11 per cent, to £46m. However, the company still registered a small loss of £200,000, compared with the £1.9m lost in the same period in 2003…
ITV has struck a deal with Warner Bros International Television Distribution for its films with theatrical release dates of 2003, 2004 and 2005 to be broadcast on ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3. These will include the yet-to-be released Ocean’s 12 and Al
Parfums Givenchy has appointed Quita Davis as retail sales director.
Unlike early adopters, ‘leading adopters’ will not buy new products merely to be first to own them. They will only purchase if a new product offers a genuine benefit. This makes them extremely useful to researchers, says Alicia Clegg
NTL has taken full control of Virgin.net, the UK’s fifth-largest internet services provider, after buying Virgin Media Group’s 51 per cent stake. Virgin.net, which was set up by Virgin and NTL as a joint venture in 1996, now has 590,000 UK customers.
Regional press is taking a growing share of advertising as brands wake up to the benefits of talking to local markets. And media consolidation is reinforcing the trend, says Branwell Johnson
Pete & Johnny Smoothies is rebranding with a new logo and a new 500ml bottle.
Celador International is looking for toy, food and stationery manufacturers to produce licensed products for the programme brands Roobarb and Custard and Tales of the River Bank. New series of both shows are being produced.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is close to terminating the high-profile sponsorship deal between NiQuitin, its nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product, and the BMW Williams Formula One racing team. The deal, which was signed 18 months ago, was thought to be worth up to &£10m a year (MW April 17, 2003). GSK and Williams are still in talks […]
New York’s 2012 Olympic bid team has appointed UK-based marketing and sports agency SP Holdings to oversee negotiations with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). SP Holdings’ Swiss subsidiary, TSE Consulting, will work with the New York team. The appointment of a non-US agency reflects the importance of having a support team near to the IOC’s […]
Team Saatchi has created a £2m TV campaign for the Government’s recycling push – the waste and resources action programme (WRAP).