In-depth features, interviews and insights into marketing’s biggest issues.
Last week’s announcement that Borders, the US bookstore group, is pulling the plug on its UK operations, once again casts doubt on the future of high-street bookstores facing a blizzard of competition from online retailers and supermarkets. After reporting falling profits, Borders plans to concentrate on the US market and is carrying out a “strategic […]
So London, the weekly lifestyle magazine aimed at the capital’s millionaires, backed by IT tycoon Sir Peter Rigby’s son Steve Rigby, has been axed after only three issues – the latest casualty of one of the most competitive markets in the UK. Launching magazines has never been easy. In a saturated market, and with major […]
PepsiCo’s sugar-free cola drinks have suffered a downturn in sales in the take-home market since the launch of Coca-Cola’s rival offering, Coke Zero, according to industry data exclusively revealed to Marketing Week. Volume sales of Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi dropped to 129 million litres in the seven months since the June 2006 UK launch […]
The7stars has won the 1m media planning and buying account for Domino Records, the independent record label behind Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys. It is understood that the agency won a pitch against incumbent agency DPM and one other undis…
The latest chapter in the chequered history of MG, one of Britain’s best-loved car marques, is sure to be a defining one. The 83-year-old brand was relaunched once again last week, this time in China. New owner Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) unveiled the first MG cars to be made in the Far East since it […]
Online technological advances are being used by marketers to conduct an ever-increasing amount of research. Alicia Clegg discovers whether the internet can replace traditional focus groups
The advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad for the XBox 360 console featuring a car chase, following complaints that it encouraged dangerous driving. The ad, created by McCann Erickson, shows a balaclava-clad man being chased across a rooftop by two men, before jumping off, getting into a car and speeding away. A car chase […]
It is no good spending millions on a marketing campaign if retailers then run out of the product you are promoting. Ensuring the supply chain is efficient is critical to success. By Richard West
Procter & Gamble has hired Publicis Groupe to handle global marketing communications for its dental care brand Oral-B, following a final two-way pitch against Omnicom Group.
WPP has folded United London after merger talks with sister agency Grey London collapsed. The beleaguered agency, which was formerly known as HHCL/Red Cell, has been under increasing pressure since losing its two biggest clients, BSkyB and Alfa Romeo, late last year. United London joint managing partners Jim Kelly and Robert Campbell are both leaving […]
McCann-i, the interactive division of McCann Erickson, has won the digital advertising account for Goodyear Dunlop after a three-way pitch. McCann-i won the £1m business following a pitch against incumbent Carlson Marketing and one other undisclosed agency. It will be responsible for Goodyear Dunlop’s brand ‘experience’, corporate, dealer network and product activity. It will also […]
Caroline ParryJohn Lewis’s decision to scrap its planned brand advertising campaign earlier this year and bring in brand consultancy Circus to develop its marketing strategy has raised questions about Lowe’s future on the retailer’s roster before it has even developed any work (MW last week).
Media buyers are urging Douglas McArthur to radically overhaul the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) reporting frequencies across national newspapers and consumer magazines. The call comes as the ABC announces that McArthur, the former chief executive of the Radio Advertising Bureau, is to be tasked with undertaking the review. Media buyers are hoping the review […]
Communication planning agency EdwardsGroomSaunders (EGS) is launching an alliance with brand consultancy Deeks Consulting to develop clients’ brand strategy and positioning. The partnership aims to work with clients ahead of them briefing their media and advertising agencies. It is communications planning specialist EGS’s first alliance since launching in 2006 and is the only such partnership […]
Kimberly-Clark is to review its global agency arrangements, following a review of its marketing structure. The move comes as the packaged goods giant shifts away from traditional advertising spend into digital media and in-store media. It currently spends £20m on advertising in the UK. The new global marketing structure includes three newly-created key appointments overseeing […]