Marks & Spencer (M&S) has reported a 34% fall in pre-tax profits to 297.8m for the three months ending September 27. The drop follows a decline in sales across its food and clothing businesses.
Associated British Foods has seen a 3% rise in pre-tax profits to 632m in the year to September 13. It has been attributed to the strong performance of its retail business Primark and grocery brands including Silver Spoon, Twinnings and Ovaltine.
Media Square, the marketing services group, has reported a pre-tax profit of 900,000 for the six months to August 31 compared to a 13.2m loss for the same period last year.
Google and Yahoo! are planning to scale back their proposed advertising partnership in an effort to appears the US regulators. The two companies have suggested reducing the deal to just two years and offering advertisers the opportunity to opt-out of the tie-up. The deal, which was due to start last month, is still under investigation […]
Renault-Nissan has appointed OMD to run its 650m pan-European media planning and buying business. It follows a decision to consolidate the accounts, currently split between Carat and OMD.
Tesco has retained Initiative to handle its 80m media planning and buying business. The decision comes months after it was understood to have put the agency on notice.
Associated Newspapers has promoted Rosemary Gorman to the new role of deputy advertising director for Mail Newspapers. The move is part of the ongoing restructure of the publisher’s senior and commercial teams. Gorman was previously advertising director for the Evening Standard and she will be replaced by Simon Davies, currently advertising director for The Mail […]
PepsiCo is scrapping the PJ Smoothies brand at the end of the year and will increase its focus on its Tropicana Smoothies brand. It is the second high-profile smoothie brand to be hit by rising costs of raw ingredients and flagging sales. The decision to scrap the PJ Smoothies brand comes just a year after […]
EBay has appointed Carat to its media planning and buying account without a pitch. The Aegis-owned agency is already working on a pre-Christmas ad campaign for the online auction brand. A spokesman for eBay confirms the appointment but says it covers a specific Christmas brief only, with the campaign to run online and in print. […]
The Daily Mail and General Trust, the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, is considering an acquisition of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, according to reports. It is not clear what stage the discussions are have reached. The future of the Independent News & Media titles have long been […]
The Department of Transport is launching a 2.6m ad campaign aimed at highlighting the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt. The TV ads will launch tonight (November 3) and feature graphic images of people’s internal organs damaged in a road accident.
An overly commercial and competitive BBC unfairly restricts access to audiences, says the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers. The industry body has made the comments ahead of the start of the Commons Culture of Committee inquiry into the commercial operations of the BBC. The inquiry by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select […]
Miller Beer will be pulled from the UK market at the beginning of next year because it is “no longer viable”. It follows a decision between Miller Brands UK and Scottish & Newcastle, which brews, markets and distributes the brand, to end their agreement. A S&N statement says: “The decision to withdraw Miller Beer follows […]
Procter & Gamble’s recently departed chief marketing officer, Jim Stengel, is starting up his own agency. The new company, Jim Stengel LLC, will focus on “purpose-based” marketing.
BSkyB is understood to have tabled a 450m indicative bid for broadband company Tiscali’s UK business. The move leaves the satellite company in exclusive talks to acquire Tiscali after rival bidder Carphone Warehouse walked away from the auction.