Q&A: Abigail Comber, British Airways head of brands and marketing
Josie AllchinBA’s head of brands and marketing Abigail Comber reflects on the airline’s key marketing moves this year.
Month: November 2012
‘Overtly sexual’ Playboy ad banned
Lara O'ReillyAn “overtly sexual” outdoor ad for the Playboy TV phone-in channel has been banned by the advertising watchdog, which said it was likely to cause “serious and widespread offence”.
Game on to keep consumers engaged
Lucy FisherGamification is helping research professionals to gain valuable consumer insight using engaging games.
Banks have far to go to secure customer loyalty
Tess WaddingtonI think ICM’s Steve Ogborn has it dead right – financial services firms need to start with loyalty. And that starts with systems and customer communications that are human and authentic.
Brand equity can damn as well as aid you
Mark RitsonA few years ago, I was working as a consultant for a luxury brand. After a long and fruitful week of branding meetings across Europe, we ended the week in Paris and I visited the brand’s biggest boutique with one of its senior executives. Enamoured after five days of working for this lovely brand, I decided to buy one of their nice bags for my wife.
MW Engage Awards 2013 will be better than ever
Ruth Mortimer“In any business, you get to a point where you do things because that’s the way you’ve done them for the past five years. Somebody new coming in questions that thinking and you get a new drive for innovation.” So says Frank van der Post, managing director of brands and customer experience at British Airways.
VisitEngland plans eight campaigns for 2013
Branwell JohnsonVisitEngland, the national tourist body, has devised over-arching themes for its suite of campaigns for 2013.
John Lewis ‘teases’ with Christmas ad trails
Rosie BakerJohn Lewis is looking to build excitement for its 2012 Christmas ad campaign by taking the unusual step of running trailers on Channel 4 building up to the launch of the full ad later this week.
Asda Xmas ad sparks ‘sexist’ complaints
Lara O'ReillyAsda is facing censure from the advertising regulator after its Christmas ad sparked a slew of complaints alleging the spot is “sexist” and reinforces negative gender stereotypes.
Close election? If you ignore the data
Michael BarnettThe ‘close’ US election is a media invention. If Obama loses, we might as well give up on polling data altogether.
RAC bids to drop ‘dull industry norms’
Lara O'ReillyThe RAC has launched the first ad campaign since it overhauled its marketing strategy, which aims to speak to potential and existing members in a more positive way than its competitors.
M&S performance improves but profits still down
Rosie BakerMarks & Spencer has reported a fall in profits despite an improvement in sales performance in its second quarter results.
Make a date for the Data Strategy Awards
Branwell JohnsonIt’s time to make a date for the Data Strategy Awards 2013 with table bookings now being taken for the glittering event next year.
UK grocery sales boosted by consumers seeking value
Seb JosephGrocery purchases are now the third most popular category bought online after travel and books with three quarters of UK consumers now using the internet for buying and researching household groceries, according to a new study.
Instagram launches Facebook-like web profiles
Lara O'ReillyInstagram, the photo sharing mobile app owned by Facebook, has rolled out web profile pages giving brands a destination page on the platform to share their most recent images with consumers.