Amstrad has been rocked by two senior departures from Amstrad Direct, a key sales operation which also handles its new beauty care brand Ultima (MW last week). Amstrad Direct managing director Lindsay McEwan quit the company last week. McEwan’s departure was quickly followed by the division’s commercial director, Phil Samson. No reason was given for […]
Talk Radio UK has attracted an ideal sponsor for its real-life “weepie slot”, Our Tune, on the new Simon Bates radio show. Kleenex Tissues has signed a six-figure deal to sponsor the programme for one year. Our Tune consists of listeners’ tales of tragedy and heart break, read out on-air and followed by a sentimental […]
Despite its largely unnoticed arrival, digital radio could revolutionise listening habits and advertising
BSkyB has begun the next phase of its 18m marketing push, unveiling details of seven new satellite channels launching this autumn. National newspaper ads ran at the weekend proclaiming “The sky gets bigger tonight” to herald the UK launch of the Disney Channel on October 1. Six additional channels make their debut on November 1. […]
Two Dogs, the Australian alcoholic lemonade distributed in the UK by Merrydown and Whitbread, is planning to launch a triple-strength version. The move has angered consumer watchdogs anxious about its effects on young and under-age drinkers. The brand has an alcoholic strength of four per cent alcohol by volume. Duncan MacGillivray, managing director of Two […]
ITV is negotiating with Granada over the production of a fourth weekly episode of Coronation Street for autumn 1996. No decision has been made on which night the new episode will run, but ITV sources believe Thursday and Saturday nights are the favourites. A weekend slot for the programme would suit the programme’s maker, Granada, […]
Sainsbury’s The Magazine has set a quality precedent in publishing. Martin Croft discovers its secret ingredient
Quaker Oats has appointed Jeff Cowell to the new position of commercial director, cereals UK. UK country manager Kevan Lawton is leaving the company and will be “exploring a number career options”. Cowell is currently marketing director at Yoplait Dairy Crest. He was previously with Heinz. Cowell takes up his role next month and will […]
Sock Shop is being relaunched with a new logo, redesigned packaging and fresh focus on specialist hosiery and socks. Fourteen months after entrepreneur Stephen Hinchliffe’s group Facia bought Sock Shop’s 87 outlets, its management has decided the chain needs an image lift. Sock Shop marketing director Dominic Ebery claims the relaunch will start in the […]
In reference to your article “CU gets hot response to ITV branding” (MW September 22), it’s good to see some recognition of the contribution that TV sponsorship can make when properly exploited. I must correct you, however, for stating that this is the first time a response number has been included on-air as part of […]
Sainsbury’s Economy range heralds a shift away from quality, towards Tesco’s old ‘pile it high, sell it cheap philosophy’, reckons Stephan Buck
Rocked by a spate of top-level marketing departures and bad press, Eurotunnel has struggled in its first year. But the underlying problem is the massive debt from construction. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel, or is the only answe
Clubcard, Tesco claims, has been a success. Rivals have not rushed to follow suit and remain unconvinced.
Accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward has appointed integrated marketing communications consultancy Aspen Business Communications to manage a lead-generation programme following a three-way pitch. The Business Database from Yellow Pages now includes more business locations, increasing records to 1.7 million. Hooton Schofield and the production services division of The Computing Group have merged to create The […]
Consumer databases are comprehensive, but marketers’ ability to target clients lacks depth without effective business-to-business records. Martin Croft reports on the problems posed by companies spending less than ten per cent of their marketi