The Diary was ribbed mercilessly at school on account of the labels sewn into its clothes by Old Ma Diary, who was never convinced her offspring could survive a day without losing a coat, jumper or, worse still, some underwear. But, like mothers the world over, she had a point, and it was neatly illustrated […]
The Diary heard a while ago that something called a football “World Cup” was happening this summer, and apparently it may or again it may not feature a “Rooney”, whatever it may be. Recently the Diary has seen – or heard – little or nothing about this tournament, reportedly taking place in Germany. So it […]
Tough times at The Sportsman, or is the betting daily a truly egalitarian operation? The paper’s chairman, Jeremy Deedes, a former Telegraph chief executive, was spotted flogging copies of his latest project at Windsor racecourse recently.
The “first moment of truth” (MW May 18) has been around for a very long time, the concern is that agencies have historically not treated it with any degree of respect as it has not been a fee-earning vehicle. The fault here does not lie with agencies but with the Marketing At Retail (MAR – […]
I refer to David Wethey’s article “a new moment of truth for the traditional approach” (MW May 18). At first I applauded the piece based on the fact that the industry seems to be waking up to the idea that customers don’t see the distinctions between our so-called channels. Then I realised that David had […]
Alan Mitchell raises some insightful questions in his thought-provoking piece on the evolving television landscape (MW May 4), which encouraged brand managers to “embrace the need for a rethink”. As a media owner, Sky grapples with many of the same questions, like who are the “interactors” and why. How much more TV is being watched […]
The sentencing of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling – almost certainly to life imprisonment – is an awful reminder of what can happen when corporate social responsibility (CSR) is abused. Enron, famous for its high-profile CSR stance during the
What hits you is the monochrome nature of the medium for most of that century. This may be one reason that the winner of the Newsnight poll to find the most memorable front page showed a fireball of vivid red against a bright blue sky and a pl
Oh dear. Where to begin? Let’s start with hope. It was Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, who famously remarked that “in the factory we make lipstick, in our advertising we sell hope”. Instead of selling “Dark Red Nail Polish” like his com
Online DVD rental company LoveFilm is on the hunt for agencies to handle its first television ad campaign (MW last week). It is perhaps a little ironic that a company whose very business might be perceived to be a threat to TV advertising – as
This week it’s Marks & Spencer. Last week it was Sainsbury’s. So it is possible to turn retail businesses around, even for mammoths of this scale, but it is no easy task. Stuart Rose and Justin King deserve the plaudits because this is the equ
Marketing is all about communication. The profession’s soft skills are acquired mainly by doing the job and working with other people, so careful thought needs to go into developing initiatives that facilitate ongoing, collective change – pers
Affiliate marketing can be a cost-effective way for marketers to drive traffic to their websites – but any affiliate programme must be well-managed if it is to deliver results. And marketers must also be aware that poorly managed programmes ca
More thoughts this week on the Muse of Marketing. Does she, as agencies would have their clients believe, bestow her favours on a select few, all of whom, as luck would have it, dwell beneath her dreamy spell in their creative departments, or
Tesco and McDonald’s have soaked up increasingly stinging attacks from anti-corporate campaigners over the years. But last week, both launched surprise counter-offensives to strike back at their critics.