In-depth features, interviews and insights into marketing’s biggest issues.
A provocative teaser campaign for the launch of digital channel Five US has triggered a raft of complaints claiming the ads are derogatory to America. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received 35 complaints about the advertising, which features the strapline “Nothing good ever came out of America”. The campaign was first revealed on Marketingweek.co.uk. […]
British Gas is launching “Green Bonds” for its customers as part of an energy efficiency drive.
Sony Ericsson is launching its first retail outlet in central London as it steps up efforts to engage consumers with the brand. The mobile phone operator has struck an agreement with the Carphone Warehouse to manage the store which will open at the end of November, stocking Sony Ericsson handsets, accessories and PC cards connected […]
News International has bolstered its online operations, beating its two fiercest rivals to the acquisition of UK online graduate recruitment company Milkround. The media owner paid 20m to secure the site following an auction in which it came up against Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT). The new venture will be headed […]
Bacardi is to pay $91m (48.7) for cult New Zealand vodka brand, 42 Below. The announcement comes as the spirits giant launches its first ever UK above the line campaign for Grey Goose, the premium vodka it already owns. 42 Below was launched by Geoff Ross, a former director of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, […]
Community Channel, the digital TV station majority-funded by the Cabinet Office, has hired a new commercial team as part of a drive for more revenue.
Kellogg is launching a television advertising campaign to back the roll-out of new cereal brand Optivita. The ad, created by JWT, backs the breakfast cereal giant’s biggest brand launch since Special K hit the shelves. The company claims Optivita will create a new sub-brand of cholesterol-lowering cereals, and says “there has never been a better […]
STA Travel UK has appointed Celia Pronto to the newly created role of marketing director following a restructure of its operations. Pronto joins the company from InterContinental Hotels Group where she was regional marketing manager for the UK and Ireland, Middle East and Africa regions. In her new role Pronto will head a 17-strong team, […]
Green & Black’s, the luxury chocolate brand, is understood to have appointed Starcom to handle its 2m media planning and buying account.
Phones4U, the mobile phone retailer, has poached Brendan Sweeney from John Lewis to be group commercial director. Sweeney will slot in alongside group marketing director Jim Slater, with both men reporting to Phones4U chief executive Tim Whiting. At John Lewis, Sweeney was commercial director with a seat on the board. He has been replaced at […]
T-Mobile UK has poached O2 marketer Derek Williamson to become head of business marketing. In his new role, Williamson, who was part of the corporate industry sector marketing and business marketing teams during his time at O2, will be responsible for delivering mobile voice and data products and services to SME and corporate customers and […]
Bartle Bogle Hegarty is attempting to gain a foothold in the online social networking boom by launching a “virtual” advertising agency.
Cruise operator DFDS Seaways has handed its 1.5m marketing and advertising business to full-service agency Robson Brown. The Newcastle-based shop, which also has offices in Manchester and London, won the account following a competitive pitch. It was previously held by a number of London-based agencies, including RMG Connect. Robson Brown will handle the company’s national […]
Cheapflights, the international travel price search and comparison website, has appointed former British Airways marketer Joe Sikorsky to its top UK marketing role. Sikorsky joins as head of UK marketing and will report to commercial director Rob Passmore. He previously spent 11 years at BA, most recently as head of digital, where he managed the […]
Vodafone is taking on the likes of Nokia and Motorola by launching a range of own-brand handsets. The Vodafone 710 is the first handset manufactured for the mobile giant by China’s Huawei Technologies following a strategic alliance signed by the two companies in February this year. The phone will be the first of a range […]