As more firms realise the importance of motivating their staff, the use of incentive travel schemes is becoming increasingly commonplace. The real skill, however, is matching employees with their most cost-effective motivator.

First City.BBDO has hung on to its ú3.5m World of Leather advertising account, after pitching against Ogilvy & Mather.

In 1989, Benetton embarked on an advertising strategy to sell jumpers on the back of conscience-provoking images. Now it is in internicine warfare with its own retailers who claim the campaigns have damaged product sales and brand image.

The EC has revised the rules governing duty on goods imported from developing countries, including China and India. This puts an end to the duty-free status held by certain products including motorised toys, puzzles, weapons and some soft toys. Human-type dolls will continue to be duty-free, except for those from South Korea and Hong Kong. […]

In revising its code of practice, the ASA has taken on responsibility for electronic media.

The purpose of advertising is, I am led to believe, to persuade people to buy a particular product or service. This being so, why do so many firms use such awful and off-putting advertisements on TV? I have just seen one such – an ad for Bird’s Eye’s new chicken steaks. It was noisy and […]

It’s easy, at first sight, to dismiss the retailer rebellion against Benetton as “a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing”. Actually, it isn’t that far away and, though confined to one country at the moment – Germany – it could easily spread to a number of others. In fact, […]

Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s first work for Zyma Healthcare breaks on February 5. The campaign is made up of a press push in national newspapers, including review sections of weekend supplements, and in trade titles. The £2m campaign is to launch Savlon Baby, a new range of baby products and Woundwash, an antiseptic spray for children’s […]

Poster specialist Portland Outdoor has been forced to halt its acquisition of rival specialist Poster Publicity following instructions from shareholder WPP. WPP senior management is angry about the lack of consultation it received from Portland chairman Dennis Sullivan before the deal was announced in October. WPP feels the asking price of about £3m is too […]

No sooner has Mercury quit the consumer telecoms market, than BT’s Mike Biden proclaims a marketing revolution. But if the company is to develop a `pioneering’ role it will first need to convince the conservative UK public of the emotional ben

The Sunday Telegraph is planning a four-colour, heat-set, A3 review section to allow it to compete for colour advertising. A dummy section was produced on the newspaper’s presses last Sunday and has been presented to agencies. It is understood to be going into focus group research with a view to launching in the late spring […]

BT Global launched its first advertising campaign this week through Saatchi & Saatchi featuring the slogan `Let’s talk’. Enquirers will be sent a Let’s Talk brochure detailing aspects of BT and explaining how it differs from rival companies. BT Global marketing director Richard Slogrove says the slogan is versatile and open-ended and builds on the […]

The Government must allow ITV firms the commercial freedom already granted to the BBC to expand their businesses abroad, Carlton UK Television chairman Nigel Walmsley told the European Television Marketing Conference in London yesterday (Tuesday). Only reform of UK media ownership rules will allow media companies to compete effectively overseas, he says. “Regulators confuse pluralism […]

I read your article “Turning the cables” (MW January 17) with interest, but felt it important to clarify the role of the CCN Group, and particularly its Mosaic Systems product, within the cable industry. Firstly, the article’s author is quite right in identifying the primary use of CCN’s MOSAIC System as the prioritisation of areas […]

Harari Page has won the ú1m Direct from Framlington financial services advertising account, after a four-way pitch involving GGT, Edwards Martin Thornton and French Hall Walton Wiggins.