How many people feel at odds with the current practice of marketing and the closely related business of marketing communications? Battered by the recession and controlled by accountants, perhaps despair is just around the corner? Examples of the damage wrought by the combined attentions of recession, and subsequently the bean counters, are numerous. High-street retailers […]

While many sympathise with those protesting against live animal exports, it should be noted that meat consumption is actually on the increase. By George Pitcher

Arsenal striker Ian Wright and upmarket publisher the Magazine Collection have formed a joint venture to publish a football and lifestyle magazine. The Player, to be launched in April, will be a glossy upmarket bi-monthly aimed at men aged 20 to 44 and is the latest entrant to the burgeoning men’s magazine market. Dennis Publishing’s […]

National newspaper bulk sales are not undermining advertiser value, according to agencies that have seen the national press’ bulk sales figures for the first time. New ABC regulations mean that national newspapers have to reveal the number of copies they sell in bulk deals to organisations, which then give them away free to readers. The […]

PowerStore Trading, the southern electrical retail chain, is understood to be in talks to buy some or all of the out-of-town stores of its northern equivalent, Homepower, say industry sources. Homepower, which is owned by privatised regional electricity companies Yorkshire and East Midlands, has 126 stores and has suffered sustained losses since it was formed […]

Business presentations are hitting the road. Whether an alternative to an exhibition or complement to it, roadshows offer an effective means of locating and interacting with the target audience.

Marketing staff at Laura Ashley are bracing themselves for a shake-up in the department after last week’s announcement of 200 management job cuts and a £35m business-wide review. The company is to create a global board based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, replacing separate boards for the UK, European and US operations. Karen Levi, marketing director for […]

BSkyB is to relaunch Sky TV Guide, its monthly listings magazine produced by Redwood Publishing. It is also considering a news-stand launch for the subscriber-based title later this year. Sky TV Guide was launched last September and is distributed direct to BSkyB’s 2.9 million subscribers with satellite dishes. Advertiser interest, although initially low, has steadily […]

The new campaign from Merseyside Development Corp-oration (MDC) uses hard-hitting, but humorous, illustrations to communicate the importance of choosing the right location for business expansion. The campaign, which was devised by McCann-Erickson Manchester, comprises three ads which break in the national press and business titles later this month. The execution (above) shows a stressed executive […]

No one could accuse the electrical retail sector of excessive dynamism, but it’s certainly had its fair share of excitement recently. Thorn has rolled the shutters down on Rumbelows and Fona, Clydesdale collapsed a while ago, one of the privatised electrical retail joint ventures, Homepower, is in severe trouble and Comet, embroiled in the corporate […]

If the nature of advertising is changing, why are agencies not doing more to put TV advertising on transport – where audiences are truly captive?

The British pub trade is undergoing a revolution. With the beer market in decline, operators are being forced to look at ways to improve their proposition. Themed pubs and restaurant-style facilities could prove to be the way forward.

The purpose of corporate hospitality is to educate and motivate. For the CICA, this involves a complex mix of promotions and events, culminating in its annual sales conference at The Belfry, north Warwickshire, every December.

Video-conferencing is coming out of the closet – or the boardroom to be more precise – and onto the desktop, where the benefits of such technology will be made far more accessible. It’s time to tidy your office before the revolution begins.

Transport Minister Steven Norris was widely criticised for calling public transport users `dreadful human beings’. But he was only saying what everybody else thinks