How far will the Government go when it changes the rules on cross-media ownership this autumn and whose advice should it take?

What does “defensive driver training” suggest to you? A martial arts course to protect you from fellow drivers? A reinforced bumper with bullbar to make sure that nobody messes with you? A ready scowl for any driver coming within crashing distance? Or a way of cutting the insurance premiums of your sales and marketing team? […]

Auditing may seem straightforward, but one man has undertaken some very strange assignments indeed, like counting phone boxes in the Caribbean and valuing a rhino

Cadbury Schweppes’ launch of a range of vitamin-packed fruit sweets which are claimed to protect children’s health has been slammed by a pressure group because it says they contain too much sugar. The Kia-Ora fruit pastilles brand was developed by Cadbury Schweppes pharmaceutical subsidiary Ernest Jackson. The product will be available through newsagents and pharmacies. […]

Surprisingly, UK commercial radio seems to attract more sponsorship money than television. No industry figures are published, and current estimates vary, but probable value is between £35m to £45m, with perhaps £10m to £15m more being spent on associated promotions. Not bad for the “two per cent medium”, as it is frequently described. Many UK […]

Eurotunnel’s ex-director of sales and marketing Neil Cooper is understood to have been ousted from the company, with no grounds given for his dismissal. Last week, the beleaguered Eurotunnel marketing department announced that Cooper was leaving the company by “mutual agreement”. The company also said that his role would be split in two (MW March […]

The Sunday Telegraph is understood to have sold an extra 70,000 copies following the launch of a voucher scheme with the Saturday Daily Telegraph on March 19. The Sunday Times, which copied the 80p for two deal with its Saturday sister title, is believed to have increased sales by 15,000. If the additional copies were […]

Reaction UK, owner of the product sampling vehicle Student Welcome Pack, is taking legal action against the National Union of Student Services for malicious falsehood following claims surrounding the launch of its rival sampling pack (MW March 17). Allied Domecq Retailing has appointed John Cavey, former vice-president of operations for Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin Donuts, as […]

Music & Video Club, the membership discount club run by retail giant Kingfisher, is looking for an agency to carry out creative work for its store opening programme over the next year.

Travellers on the information superhighway will soon be surfing under the influence of alcohol with the launch of Internet- linked bars and pubs. The UK’s first cyber pub, the “Six Bells”, opens next week in Cambridge and is a joint venture between Greene King and Internet provider CityScape. Plans for further Internet pubs are being […]

Thomas Cook is in disarray after two further top-level departures: commercial director Peter Shanks is joining rival Going Places and chief executive Christopher Rodrigues has been publicly ousted. Shanks will become purchasing director at Going Places, the retail division of Airtours. Rod Allerton, who was managing airline relations at Thomas Cook, is now acting commercial […]

Sports sponsorship is no longer decided on the whim of a company chairman. As Martin Croft discovers, where once it was driven by corporate objectives, it now has to justify its budget and extend into other areas of the marketing mix

WMGO Group chief executive Chris Woollams is understood to be holding talks with a French group interested in buying some or all of the business. Woollams would not confirm he is in discussions and would only say that the group “talks to lots of people all the time”. The group only went public last June […]

Sky Television will spend at least another ú18.5m on marketing when its new financial year starts in July, says director of marketing Philip Ley.

As, presumably, one of the “hundreds of one man bands” to which Jo-Anne Walker referred in her article on field marketing (MW March 3), I must add to the comments made by Mike Garnham. Jo-Anne’s choice of words was unfortunate in some instances. Successful field marketing companies have not “milked” the recession. Those that have […]