In-depth features, interviews and insights into marketing’s biggest issues.
LV=, the financial services friendly society previously known as Liverpool Victoria, is looking for an advertising agency to handle its creative account, worth several million pounds. It is thought that the agency will be given the task of raising the profile of the friendly society, which rebranded earlier this year, and that LV= has been […]
Transform Medical Group, the UK’s largest cosmetic surgery provider, has launched a new advertising strategy following a review of its marketing. Sales and marketing director Gary Nicholls, who was appointed in December last year, is planning a more targeted, segmented approach to the group’s advertising to build awareness of the services Transform offers. He has […]
The Home Office’s decision to consolidate its entire media-planning operation into one agency (MW last week) is expected to herald a round of similar centralisations by Government departments. Three agencies are pitching for the consolidated Home Office communications planning work. Manning Gottlieb OMD and Mediaedge/cia – which already handle the bulk of the department’s media […]
Next, the high street retailer, has appointed Mediaedge:cia to its 10m media planning and buying. The struggling clothes store group awarded the business to Mediaedge:cia following a competitive pitch against incumbent MediaVest Manchester. However, the Manchester-based agency is believed to have retained its 2m Next Directory account.
The Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSHCC) is understood to be looking for a media agency to handle its £1.5m planning and buying business. The charity is believed to have approached a number of agencies. It is thought to be boosting its marketing activities and fundraising initiatives (MW April 20, 2006). It is not […]
Digital channel Paramount Comedy is launching its first ad-funded TV series with US city Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has partnered with Paramount sales house Viacom Brand Solutions (VBS) for the deal, brokered by R&R Partners and Initiative. The ten ad-funded programmes form a retrospective comedy series based on Simon and […]
City AM, the London business freesheet, has abandoned plans to roll out sister editions across the UK, as it announces a profit for the first time since its launch. Managing director Lawson Muncaster, who helped launch the freesheet 18 months ago with a £10m launch budget, will not be drawn on the paper’s profit margins, […]
TV company Endemol has teamed up with toy manufacturer Vivid Imaginations to create an electronic board game for its new ITV1 gameshow Goldenballs. The deal, agreed last week, gives Vivid exclusive rights to produce the game based on the same format as the TV show. Goldenballs will give players the chance to win a substantial […]
City AM, the 18-month-old London business freesheet, has reached what is perhaps the most critical juncture in its short life. The paper has just made a profit for the first time and in March posted its best Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) distribution figure of 97,032. But it is this very success that is prompting […]
LBi scoops the IAB Creative Showcase Campaign of the Month, sponsored by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, with its dedicated microsite for Sony’s PlayStation 3. The idea for this winning campaign is a virtual hotel where visitors can explore rooms and discover for themselves what “living” is all about. The experience changes depending on the time […]
Google is in the midst of an industry backlash. While its tentative steps beyond digital into the traditional arenas of television and most recently radio have ruffled feathers, it is the proposed acquisition of ad-serving company DoubleClick for $3.1bn (£1.5bn) that is causing the most consternation as observers question whether the move would provide the […]
As online advertising expands, steps are being taken, including training schemes, to address the digital skills shortage, though new graduates are closing the gap. Martin Croft reports
In recent months many a Cassandra has predicted if not a crash, then at least a demise of the property market in the UK. It seems not a week goes by without a headline pointing out that affordable housing is beyond the reach of key workers, or that prices are rising inexorably – just this […]
The corporate outing remains a popular form of entertainment, but organisers must ensure they get a maximum return on expensive events – be it on investment or objectives. By Martin Croft
Getting up close and personal with the message can produce big dividends. But using the raw customer data in a sensitive way is a technique the industry has yet to learn. By David Reed