US toy giant Mattel has axed 72 staff at Bluebird Toys, including a raft of senior marketing personnel, following its takeover deal. The move raises doubts over Mattel’s future marketing strategy for Bluebird. Sales and marketing director David Allmark will leave Bluebird at the end of the year with no job to go to. Freda […]
Skoda, the VW-owned Czech car maker, has appointed a new director and – for the first time – a dedicated marketer for the brand in the UK. Rob Tracey took over as director of Skoda UK from Dermot Kelly this week and will oversee all aspects of the brand. Christopher Hawken has joined in the […]
Hollywood movie star Jeff Goldblum is starring in an advertisement for the Apple iMac which breaks in the UK on November 9. Created by TBWA/Chiat Day, the ad shows Goldblum talking about consumers’ fears of being left out of the online revolution and outlining the advantages of e-mail and the Internet. The ad forms part […]
The Diary predicts that next year you may witness a fall in the number of bookings made on Iberia, Spain’s national airline, as travel agents take their revenge for a journey from hell. The Association of British Travel Agents held its annual conference in Marbella last week, where tour operators gathered to discuss the hot […]
ITV2, scheduled to launch on December 7, has signed a deal with Cable & Wireless Communications which will make the channel available on analogue television. The station launches on digital on the same night.
The travel industry is the last place you would expect to find a superbrand. For a sector that has seen considerable consolidation over the past few years, the industry’s branding still looks unwieldy and fragmented. This is despite the fact that it is controlled in the UK by four main players. Thomson, the market leader, […]
Kingfisher’s B&Q is giving J Sainsbury’s Homebase a pasting. Just days after Kingfisher announced that it would open 55 more giant B&Q Warehouse stores, J Sainsbury published figures last week showing Homebase’s like-for-like sales slipping. The DIY market may be facing tough times, and this will inevitably hit B&Q as well. But observers believe it […]
Bates Dorland has created a 17m Christmas press and television campaign for Woolworths, which breaks today. The ads feature various people receiving the precise gift that they want – ranging from a Teletubby toy to a cat-shaped biscuit jar. John Stubbings, Bates Dorland chief executive, says: ‘The role of the advertising is to make Woolworths […]
Is the head of FilmFour – Channel 4’s new cable, satellite and digital TV channel – really more powerful than the controller of BBC1 or the chief executive of ITV? He is if you believe The Power List, the Channel 4/Observer analysis of the 300 most powerful people in Britain, published this week. FilmFour’s Paul […]
There is something rather cosy and unlikely about a group of corporate giants getting together for the greater good of their product. Five years ago, the idea of Sony, Philips, Panasonic and Toshiba lining up alongside Warner Brothers, Warner Vision, Buena Vista, Columbia Tristar, MGM and Polygram to promote their products would have been unthinkable. […]
Two of the UK’s top ad agencies, Saatchi & Saatchi and Ammirati Puris Lintas, have taken the unusual step of hiring foreigners to head their creative teams. This provides more evidence that London’s reputation as the centre of the creative adv
I was interested to learn that David Hutton, chief executive of Twiggy & Co, believes many women consider Twiggy a role model because she looks so good for her age (MW October 22).
Victory-owned Virgin Clothing Company is parting company with a further four members of its marketing department. The move follows the departure of marketing director Lesley Angus this summer. The company has decided not to replace Angus. Marketing manager Sue Powell will head the marketing team in future, which, after the latest departures, now has four […]
Your article on plain language in the financial services sector “Jargon busters” (MW October 15) was interesting, but it tended to go over old ground. Surely it’s now time to advance our understanding of this issue a little. For example, how does plain English work in the contemporary world of “brand voices”? And how exactly […]
Anti-tobacco lobbyist ASH (Action on Smoking & Health) is launching a new poster campaign calling for bigger health warnings on cigarette packets.