Month: August 2006

Mobile ads learn from past mistakes

Marketing Week

This time last year, you probably won’t be happy to recall, the Crazy Frog ringtone was still annoying an awful lot of people. While the tune might have been forgotten, it has left a lingering fear among many people about using their mobile ph

Who’s afraid of the WWW?

Marketing Week

Blinded by technology, marketers have allowed the Web to become a niche area. But it should be a mainstream medium, says Bruce Haines Happy Birthday WWW! It’s 15 years since Sir Tim Berners-Lee launched the worldwide web to keep track of “all the random associations that one comes across”. We’ve come a long way since […]

Reeling in the digital cinema audience

Marketing Week

Digital technology looks set to revolutionise the UK cinema industry. Good news for audiences and marketers alike, says Dominic Dudley. Already one of the largest and fastest growing sectors for online advertising, the film industry could find itself spending even more on the Web, thanks to the advent of digital cinema. Having successfully tested a […]

Self-select is not the best model to emulate

Marketing Week

News that social-networking site Bebo is changing its ad model to let users choose which ads they see inspired me to ask if we have solved Lord Leverhulme’s famed dilemma, with marketers finally able to identify which half of their budget is wasted. On face value, giving “Bebo-ers” the chance to receive advertising only for […]

Respect the users and cash will follow

Marketing Week

Last month eMarketer estimated that ad spending on US online social networks will eclipse $1.8bn (£950m) by 2010, and social media owners are exploring how to commercialise their sites and realise these numbers.

Plotting a French revolution

Marketing Week

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) is repositioning its flagship premium lager Kronenbourg 1664 as a drink to “savour” (MW last week) in an advertising campaign breaking this week.

Under the skin of the undergrad

Marketing Week

The annual rant that A-levels and GCSEs are too easy is once again in full swing. Many critics argue the education system is failing, and CBI director-general Richard Lambert has lambasted the Government over school-leavers’ academic abilities

Pick a perfect PR partner

Marketing Week

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, warned Virgil in the Aeneid. Equally, beware of public relations agencies that promise the earth. When you buy media space, you know what you are getting, but when you buy PR, with the best will in the world, yo

Brand champion

Marketing Week

David Wheldon, Vodafone’s global brand chief, has ridden out the storm that engulfed the company’s boardroom earlier this year and is now setting out his goals for the job ahead.

Sony’s woes smoulder on

Marketing Week

Sony is at the heart of an embarrassing product recall on a grand scale, while the PSP, its much-hyped portable multimedia player, was lambasted at a gaming industry convention at Leipzig earlier this month for failing to woo consumers.

Sense and sensibilities

Marketing Week

Think of the best seaside holiday that you had as a child. What do you remember: sun on your skin, smells of seaweed and suntan oil, shrieks or maybe the light? Vivid memories are rarely monochrome. The same goes for vivid brands.

Lidl trumps rivals with low-cost flights offer

Marketing Week

Budget supermarket chain Lidl has stolen a march on its rivals by launching a scheme to sell low-cost airline flights at its checkouts. It is the first supermarket to trial the sale of air travel. The German-owned retailer is running the trial, which launches next week, with Air Berlin across its 390 stores in the […]

Tories’ hiring passes branding torch to a new generation

Marketing Week

The Conservative Party’s appointment of 25-year-old advertising executive Anna-Maren Ashford as brand manager (MW last week) is the latest stage in leader David Cameron’s rebranding of the party. The former Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R (RKCR) account manager is to consult constituency organisations about a new logo to replace the Tories’ existing torch emblem. The front-running […]