The Government has appointed Zenith Optimedia to handle the communications planning for its national minimum wage awareness campaign. The decision follows a two-way pitch against Naked and Mediaedge:cia (MW September 13). The Central Office of Infor…
Eighteen months after BSkyB launched the UK’s first high definition television (HDTV) service, the first terrestrial broadcaster will begin offering HD content. Last week’s announcement from Channel 4 that it will launch a simulcast service on the Sky platform in December, together with plans by the BBC and ITV to offer HD early next year, […]
Naked Communications has won a global brand planning and communications brief for WGSN.com, the fashion and design trend forecaster owned by EMAP. It gained the business without a pitch. The agency will develop a consistent brand positioning for the company and oversee its internal and external communications strategy, as it looks to expand globally. WGSN […]
Virgin Media Television is launching a heavyweight cross-platform marketing campaign promising “proper telly” to support the arrival of its flagship entertainment channel Virgin 1. The campaign promotes awareness of the launch date and supporting key programmes from the first month’s schedule. It features the strapline “Proper Telly”. It starts on Friday ahead of the channel’s […]
The BenQ brand is thought to be returning to the UK less than a year after its mobile handset business went into administration. It is understood that BenQ is in talks with BT to manufacture phones for its fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) service BT Fusion. BenQ Mobile UK went into administration at the end of last […]
Pipex broadband chief Dominic Crolla is tipped to leave the company following its acquisition by Tiscali. There is doubt about the future of the Pipex marketing team, headed by Peter Turner, after the completion of the £210m deal earlier this month. It is understood that Crolla, who is managing director of Pipex’s internet business, will […]
A trade body representing worth-of-mouth agencies in the UK will launch next week. WOM-UK is being set up in response to the growing use of the medium. WOM-UK, which will launch at Marketing Week Conferences Word of Mouth Marketing event next week, will be a member-owned association. It will have a formal partnership with its […]
The UK launch of the iPhone may be undermined by a lax online policy that has already led to cybersquatting on key sites, according to industry experts. It follows last week’s announcement of the launch date and O2 as launch operator. NetNames, a company that manages domain names for clients, says that Apple has been […]
EMAP Advertising has signed up Diet Coke, Sky and Boots to complete its line-up of “VIP advertisers” for the relaunched Heat Radio. The digital-only station relaunched yesterday. The brands join Ford, which is the first advertiser to use the station’s new advertising model (MW last week). The station is allowing brands to get involved in […]
Dye Holloway Murray, the start-up agency, has been appointed to handle the advertising for Sk:n, a network of clinics specialising in skin and body treatments. The appointment was made by marketing director Gemma Reilly without a pitch. The agency is now working on an appraisal of the brand, which offers cosmetic and laser treatments as […]
Thinkbox, the commercial television marketing body, is looking for its irst advertising agency ahead of an expansion of its remit.
DDB London is parting company with bakery brand Hovis after six years as the parent company Premier Foods gears up for a consolidation of its £26m advertising account. The agency, then BMP DDB, won the £5m Hovis business at the start of 2001 (MW January 4, 2001). It was previously handled by D’Arcy. It is […]
Optimax, the chain of eye surgery clinics, has appointed Pravda to its 3m advertising account after a pitch against undisclosed agencies.
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) is rolling out its first online viral advertising campaign to encourage customers to sign up to its Scottish Hydro Electric brand and boost awareness.
Travelodge’s decision to extend its brand into a new sector for the first time with the launch of a travel insurance product (MW last week) seems, on the face of it, to be a logical move. Travelodge Travel Insurance is the chain’s first major online product and is being rolled out across the country following […]