Aviva is supporting the rebrand of Norwich Union with a major celebrity-fronted campaign starring Bruce Willis, Elle McPherson and actress Michelle Yeoh. It is understood the campaign will focus on name changes, reflecting Norwich Union’s move to become Aviva. The celebrities have been chosen because they have changed their birth names before becoming famous. The […]
Brands must learn to engage with the Millennials – the 14- to 31-year-olds reshaping society – if they are to get their message across, says Marian Salzman Throughout the developed world, the demographic bulge of Baby Boomers is moving into retirement, and a new generation – the Millennials – is on the horizon, reshaping the […]
Barclaycard, the UK’s oldest credit card brand, is investing a large amount of money in its nine offerings to give them a modern image and maximum consumer appeal. Catherine Turner reports
Nationwide sales and marketing director John Sutherland is stepping down from his role following the building society’s decision to bring in a board-level marketing specialist. The move follows the acquisition of the Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies and its decision keep all three as standalone brands. It is unclear if Sutherland will be moved to […]
A fall in sales of furniture and homewares has led to a 13% drop in sales at Argos and Homebase. Parent company Home Retail Group says the credit crunch has contributed to the first half decline. The results, announced today (September 11), show that like-for-like sales at Argos fell by 3% to £1.85bn over the […]
Nationwide is planning to merge with the Derbyshire and Cheshire Building Societies. The largest building society in the UK will support its two smaller rivals, subject to the approval of financial regulators. The news comes as the two regional lenders both reported losses in the first half of 2008, attributing it to the growing pressures […]
Marketers have been reluctant when it comes to using video games as advertising platforms. But with the number of playings increasing, opportunities to reach a large audience are following suit
Despite being the world’s leading social networking site
Karmarama has won the launch advertising account for Nationwide Insurance, the Nationwide sub-brand being developed by LV=, the Liverpool Victoria friendly society. LV= called the pitch last month and is also reviewing its media planning and buying (MW August 7). The agency has been tasked with developing direct response advertising across car, travel and small business […]
Nestl鑳 apparent decision to phase out its Boosted Smoothies brand just four months after launch (see box) highlights the difficulties facing multinational food companies in creating exciting and successful innovations.
The credit crunch has not been bad news for everyone in financial services. Building societies, what’s left of them after the demutualisation decimation of the 1990s, are seeing their coffers swell. Is this just a last hurrah for a financial anachronism, as frightened investors seek knee-jerk safety in the ultimate among conservative institutions? Or are […]
Volkswagen is launching an online campaign with The Times to promote its new Passat CC. The campaign will focus on a newly created online hub on the newspaper’s website, devised by Tribal DDB London. It will star comedian Tony Hawk in six video podcasts, covering subjects such as wine and travel, which will be available […]
Teenagers and young people are leading a massive change in Chinese retail culture that has seen influences from Japan and the West become absorbed into mainstream lifestyle and attitudes China has changed at an astonishing speed during the past two decades, perhaps more so than any other country in such a short time span. The […]
If Gap is to woo back UK consumers from the budget, high-turnaround fashion retailers, it needsto re-establish its brand position, reinvent itself and be more dynamic, says Archana Venkatraman Gap, the all-American clothing chain, is abandoning its UK design strategy for the European market just two years after introducing it. The U-turn comes as the […]
After paying $894m for US broadcast rights of the Olympics, NBC was forced to pay ‘digital whack-a-mole’ to get a healthy return. The New York Times described it as an endless game of “digital whack-a-mole” and hundreds of bloggers and their readers vented fury and frustration – this was the first reaction in the US […]