Tesco has filled the post of marketing operations director left vacant by Tim Mason, who was promoted to main board marketing director a year ago. The chain has handed the marketing operations role to Richard Brasher, who is working on secondment as store manager at the Baldock store. The marketing operations director handles the day-to-day […]

Research into the global TV market shows that European consumers are prone to xenophobia.

David Benady’s story “Scottish Courage clears out brands” (MW February 8) is misleading and in-accurate in both tone and detail. This may be the inevitable consequence of relying on hearsay from a closed meeting but it is nonetheless, irresponsible. Scottish Courage will focus its marketing investment on its key brands, which is a continuation of […]

Harrods’ marketing department has suffered another blow with the departure of advertising and marketing director Marie-Louise McLeod. McLeod, who has been at Harrods for three years, is believed to have been unhappy about sharing her position with Rebecca Dillon, the former Revlon marketing director who joined last year (MW November 17 1995). A Harrods spokesman […]

Payment of hidden surcommission – or additional fees – to media owners and agencies is on the increase because of the structure of the UK media industry, the Media Circle conference in Guernsey was told last week. Mike Smallwood, media director of Lowe Howard-Spink, told delegates in a closed session that the drive for media […]

Nestlé-Rowntree is launching an extension of its mint brand Polo. The company is to sell packets of tiny round mints, dubbing them the “holes” of its famous 46-year-old sweet.

London News Radio’s two London stations, News 97.3 FM and News Talk 1152 AM, will relaunch after a long-awaited deal was struck last week with ITN and GWR. GWR is taking over responsibility for revamping the AM service, ITN for FM, GWR chief executive Ralph Bernard confirms. “Exact changes will be decided after comprehensive research,” […]

Press buyers are to get tough with The Observer on its advertising rates because of sliding circulation. The newspaper’s January ABC figure of 449,529 was five per cent down on January 1995 and, more worryingly, down on its December 1995 figure by 0.8 per cent. December is traditionally a newspaper’s worst month, but The Observer’s […]

Labatt Brewing UK’s managing director Pat Donoghue has died of cancer, aged 42, after a long illness. Donoghue joined Labatt in June 1994 after working at Holsten Distributors, where he was also md. He continued working at Labatt’s until shortly before Christmas, even though he was ill. Donoghue leaves a wife and two young children. […]

If governments are to gain public support for a unified Europe, they must adopt a more complete approach to campaign planning. John Shannon discovers that politicians still have a lot to learn. John Shannon is president of Grey International.

Fresh from its success working on the Tesco Clubcard and the Labour Party’s recruitment drive, direct marketing agency Evans Scott Hunt has just set a new record. Last week, computer bandits broke into the company’s offices in Soho Square and escaped with 130,000 worth of computer chips. This, according to Inspector Knacker, is the biggest […]

This years nominees for the 1995 Hollis Sponsorship Awards, to be held on February 13, have all shown expertise in creatively and effectively communicating their objectives. Richenda Wilson reports

One of the UK’s largest paint makers, Akzo Nobel, is merging its sales and marketing and ditching its marketing director Steve Duncan. The company makes paint brands including Crown, Sandtex, Brolac and Macphersons as well as Crown Wallcoverings. Akzo Nobel backs them with an advertising spend of about 4m. Under the new structure, two directorships […]

The Association of Independent Radio Companies is pressing on with plans for a radio equivalent of the Broadcast Advertising Copy Clearance Centre and is renaming itself. It will advertise for four people to join the fledgling Radio Advertising Copy Clearance Centre this week. A headhunter is seeking a chief for the division. The initiative marks […]

Sex and cars helped men’s magazines to outpace the rest of the market in the latest ABCs. IPC’s Loaded increased sales by 82 per cent year on year to 174,763, making it the most successful men’s lifestyle magazine in history. Linda Lancaster-Gaye, managing director of IPC’s Specialist group, says the next target is to top […]