In-depth features, interviews and insights into marketing’s biggest issues.
Supermarket giant Tesco is preparing to launch a range of own-label nicotine replacement therapies. The retailer’s own-brand assault on the nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) market will put it in competition with established brands Nicorette, Niquitin CQ and Nicotinell, which together hold the lion’s share of the NRT market. Tesco has registered Quit-Aid and is believed […]
Noelle WaughOnce the driving force of innovation and creativity in the premium haircare sector, John Frieda has been forced to revamp its flagship Frizz-Ease range following a recent sales slump (MW last week).
McCann Erickson London has scooped the multi-million pound pan-European launch brief for US insurance company Genworth Financial. The brief for the agency will be to help it expand internationally, as Genworth embarks on its first significant growth outside North America. The company was spun-off from The General Electric Company in an initial public offering in […]
The National Football League (NFL) is reviewing its advertising business for the first time in three years in an effort to build its brand in the UK. Incumbent agency Blowfish and another four undisclosed agencies are involved in the pitch for the UK above the line account. Frontline Media, which carries out media planning and […]
If there is one agency in London that does not believe in big dramas, it is Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R. It has been two years since three of the four founders left – only Mark Roalfe remains as chairman – but the agency has continued to be a steady ship under James Murphy’s captaincy. Even […]
Easynet, the network and hosting technology company, is to ramp up its sponsorship activity and is in talks with the World Rally Championship to become an official sponsor of the event. An announcement is expected to be made on Friday at the opening of the World Rally Championship in Portugal. Easynet refused to comment on […]
The news that former Nokia president Pekka Ala-Pietila is launching a mobile phone service that offers free calls and texts to users willing to view ads through their handsets has reignited the debate about advertising on mobiles. Some believe that with heavyweight global brands such as Coca-Cola already committed, Ala-Pietila’s Blyk will be the service […]
Film company Universal is testing new mobile technology in a promotion to support the launch of its new Mr Bean film, “Mr Bean’s Holiday”. The mobile technology, called Snap Happy, uses image recognition and has been created and developed by marcoms agency Magnet Harlequin. Universal is the first advertiser to adopt the tool and is […]
Charity was on everyone’s lips – and on the tips of their fingers – this month, and this edition of MWi Data takes a look at which charities’ sites were most visited, which types of charitable group and which charities ranked top in terms of connectivity (based on the number of incoming external links to […]
The benefits of sponsorship go beyond having a logo plastered on property. Jo-Anne Flack discovers that sponsors are going a step further and engaging with consumers by taking ownership of events.
How better to discover your product’s true customer experience than putting yourself in a customer’s shoes? Mystery shopping, correctly deployed, remains a valuable marketing tool. By Steve Hemsley. Every year brands spend thousands of pounds acquiring valuable consumer insight, but to get a truly warts-and-all picture of the real sales experience nothing beats traditional mystery […]
Del Monte is undertaking a major relaunch of its fruit juices across the UK after being de-listed from supermarkets including Asda and Sainsbury’s last year. The move will be supported by an advertising push. The company has invited a “handful” of a…
Former HSBC global marketing chief Peter Stringham has hit out at the financial services sector, claiming the big UK banks are failing to build brand equity. Stringham, who is now global chief executive of Young & Rubicam Brands, described banking a…
UK sales of Diet Coke have fallen sharply despite a multimillion-pound campaign to refocus the Coca-Cola brand to a female market. The latest figures from Nielsen show volume sales of Diet Coke down nearly 20 million over the past year across the ta…
Gala is considering dropping Sharon Osbourne as the face of the brand less than a year after she was signed up. The bingo operator says it is reviewing its marketing strategy ahead of this summer’s smoking ban. Osbourne appeared in the launch campai…