Audi names new marketing chief
Rosie BakerAudi has named Nick Ratcliffe, former Mercedes and BT marketer as head of marketing to replace Dominic Chambers who left the automatic brand in December.
McDonald’s preps campaign to highlight pork provenance
Rosie BakerMcDonald’s is prepping a TV and print advertising campaign to highlight the provenance of its food after becoming the first UK fast food chain to source 100 per cent of its pork from Freedom Food accredited British farms.
Dove uses criminal artist to show real beauty
Rosie BakerDove has hired a criminal sketch artist to draw women in the latest phase of its Real Beauty campaign.
Q&A: P&G managing director Irwin Lee
Rosie BakerAs P&G partners with Asda to drive awareness of its Clean Drinking Water Programme, Marketing Week spoke to the FMCG firm’s UK managing director Irwin Lee about the challenges brands face marketing sustainability messages.
Brand audit: Starbucks
Rosie BakerStarbucks’ decision to join the suspended coffee charity movement has been slammed by critics as a cynical attempt to rebuild its damaged brand in the wake of accusations of tax avoidance last year. Whatever the motivation, the brand is gradually recovering its reputation, according to brand tracking measures, but still has a long way to go to fully recover.
Easterbrook returns to McDonald’s as global chief brand officer
Rosie BakerMcDonald’s has named its former European boss Steve Easterbrook as executive vice president and global chief brand officer.
KFC introduces freshly ground coffee
Rosie BakerKFC is launching a campaign to support the introduction of Lavazza coffee as it aims to broaden its appeal and take on coffee chains and fast food rival McDonald’s in the growing coffee market.
Renault follows Clio Va Va Voom viral with interactive activity
Rosie BakerRenault is following its Clio Va Va Voom viral ads, which revived its iconic Nicole and Papa characters, with an interactive digital ad that puts viewers in the passenger seat.
It should never be too early to appoint a marketer
Rosie BakerCalling the Hilco press office last week to check whether it planned to appoint a senior marketer now the deal to acquire HMV is complete, I was offered a rather worrying response: “Too early to say”.
P&G and Asda join forces for safe drinking water campaign
Rosie BakerAsda has partnered with Procter & Gamble to launch a sustainability initiative that will see clean drinking water donated to developing communities when P&G products are purchased at the supermarket, as it dials up its consumer facing sustainability agenda.
Starbucks joins homeless charity initiative
Rosie BakerStarbucks has joined the “suspended coffee movement” which enables customers to donate coffee to homeless people, as it continues to repair its damaged reputation in light of the tax avoidance row it faced last year.
Barry Bang’s ‘misleading’ ad banned
Rosie BakerA Cillit Bang ad featuring brand character Barry Scott has been banned for making misleading claims about the efficiency of the product.
Myvouchercodes first voucher site to offer Facebook fans discounts
Rosie BakerMyvouchercodes.co.uk is offering Facebook fans additional exclusive discounts, in an effort to differentiate itself in the fiercely competitive vouchers market.
Anti-poverty groups ready activity to combat ‘demonisation’ of welfare state
Rosie BakerAnti-poverty charities and unions are to launch activity to address the “demonisation” of the welfare state and improve the perception of people on benefits following criticism in recent months.
Honda moves away from ‘bland’ ads to regain ‘edge’
Rosie BakerHonda has vowed to invest money in brand building and move away from “bland” function-based advertising after admitting it has lost some of the “edge” its award winning campaigns of the past had.