FT staff shun appraisal project over job fears

Marketing Week

The new Financial Times’ chief executive, Stephen Hill, is understood to be planning job cuts across the newspaper, causing one staff union to suspend co-operation with a management consultancy project. The National Union of Journalists has asked editorial staff at the FT not to complete documents that are part of a project called Century Bold, […]

BT in talks with Dixons over retail sell-off

Marketing Week

BT has been in talks with Dixons about the possible sale of its 90-strong retail division. BT’s head of retail Paul Collis, who joined the company in June last year, is leaving at the end of the month and sources say a sale of its stores to Dixons has been discussed. Dixons already has a […]

Labour MP hits Campbell’s with ‘Marypride’ initiative

Marketing Week

A Labour MP is defying US food giant Campbell’s, which closed a Homepride sauces factory in his constituency town of Maryport, by launching his own initiative, called “Marypride”. Campbell’s closed the profitable factory eight weeks after buying it for 58.6m, and moved production to alternative sites. Now MP Dale Campbell-Savours has launched the “Marypride” scheme, […]

ICD research exposes promiscuous shoppers

Marketing Week

Older professionals who are not direct mail responsive are likely to be the most loyal customers, according to new research from ICD Marketing Services. Loyal consumers are also probably Diners Club members, who opt for sailing holidays and are unlikely to support charities. Disloyal consumers tend to be younger, have up to three children under […]

Brief

Marketing Week

Jamont UK has launched KittenSoft, which it claims will challenge Andrex’s position as the premium toilet paper brand. The launch is backed by a 3m multimedia drive through Bates Dorland, starting May 1. The 40-second ad combines a hard/soft-sell approach, with technical product details being listed while the listener daydreams about a white kitten playing […]

TALKING SHOP

Marketing Week

Just as shopping was one of the hallmarks of the Eighties, the retail magazine is a phenomenon of the Nineties. It reflects some recent marketing concerns such as the importance of developing dialogue with consumers and adding value in increasingly competitive markets. Redwood Publishing is a leader in the field, producing magazines for outlets as […]

Cable can help local television

Marketing Week

Torin Douglas (MW March 15) makes some good points about the intense competition facing the future of cable television as digital and new satellite services fight for a share of viewers. He paints a grim picture, but misses the one vital element that only cable TV can deliver – truly local television. Terrestrial television is […]

Sega mocks Nintendo over 64 console delay

Marketing Week

Sega is making the most of Nintendo’s current vulnerability with the launch of a press campaign which is a blatant attack on Nintendo’s much-delayed Ultra-64, now re-branded Nintendo 64. The national press campaign, breaking on April 24, has been devised by McCann-Erickson which denied earlier speculation that Sega was reviewing its 20m pan-European account out […]

HIGH STEAKS

Marketing Week

The latest scare over ‘mad cow disease’ has sparked public chaos, with sales in free fall as shoppers shun beef. But how can the food industry, led by giants such as Burger King and McDonald’s, regain consumer confidence?