Marketing Week
24 February 2005

02 Plans wireless push to Six Nations fans' mobiles

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

O2 is to be the first company to use wearable versions of short-range wireless devices to distribute content to mobile phones. Rugby fans at next Sunday's Six Nations match in Dublin will be able to get ringtone versions of the English national anthem and the official Irish rugby anthem.

Alfa Romeo chief to work on Maserati marque

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Fiat has announced that Alfa Romeo chief Karl-Heinz Kalbfell is to take on responsibility for the Maserati marque after it was moved out of the Ferrari stable and aligned with Alfa. The appointment follows last week's ousting of head of Fiat Auto, Herbert Demel, after 15 months in the job.

An aphrodisiac to get your goat

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Are eight heads any better than none?

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

The arrival of Thinkbox is welcome, but its lack of a full-time staff and low budget suggests it could be disappointing

Bad-taste Posh viral ad put up for sale on Ebay

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Boy Meets Girl to axe design and administration staff

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Boy Meets Girl, the advertising and design agency set up by Andy Law, is making a number of redundancies in its design and administration departments following a strategic review of the business.

British Airways named official airline of Kylie Tour

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

British Airways has been named the official airline of Kylie Minogue's Showgirl Tour, which begins next month. The airline will be able to run promotional competitions for tickets to concerts and will receive branding at venues.

Cahoot marketing chief quits as Abbey cuts team

Wed, 2 Mar 2005

Capital Radio Group and GWR Group to sell Century FM

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Capital Radio Group and GWR Group, the radio operators that are expected to merge this May, have agreed to sell Century 106 in the east Midlands. The decision follows concerns from the Office of Fair Trading about the affect the merger would h

Casino group slams Gambling Bill proposals in national campaign

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

The British Casino Association (BCA) has raised the stakes in the row over the Government's Gambling Bill by running a series of full-page advertisements in the national press.

Children's Society shortlists agencies for Safe and Sound initiative

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

The Children's Society has shortlisted Ideas, Whitewater and Philosophy to pitch for the charity's Safe and Sound initiative, aimed at raising awareness about the welfare of runaway children.

Chupa Chups UK joins forces with Perfetti van Melle

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Chupa Chups UK, the lollipop and mint maker, has joined forces with Perfetti van Melle, the owner of Fruitella, to market and distribute the two companies' portfolio of brands. It follows the collapse of Food Brokers last week.

COI Communications shortlists five agencies for radio buying account

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

COI Communications' shortlist for its £20m radio buying account is Carat, MindShare, Starcom, Zenith Optimedia and incumbent OMD.

DDB London celebrates 75 Years of 'PG Moments' with new ads.

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

DDB London has created a television and cinema campaign to mark 75 years of 'PG Moments', as part of celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Unilever-owned tea brand. It features the T-Birds and their reactions to various historical events.

Diageo signs multi-million pound sponsorship deal with McLaren

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Diageo has signed a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with McLaren that will see its Johnnie Walker whisky brand become the Formula One team's headline sponsor, as first reported in Marketing Week (December 16, 2004).

Find out what's in store

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

A vast array of promotions compete for consumers' attention in store. Helen Donald looks at what steps can be taken to discover what will work best

Fish4jobs tops UK recruitment sites

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Fish4jobs, the online classified recruitment site owned by Newsquest, Northcliffe, Trinity Mirror and the Guardian Media Group, is the first port of call for UK jobseekers, according to new research.

Football report is missing, presumed read

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Concerned moralisers have long contended, to little avail, that professional footballers' poor behaviour on and off the pitch is contributing to a rise in yobbishness among the nation's youth. The Diary has at last found evidence that these Cassandras may be partly right - but it's not impressionable teenagers who are being led astray.

Growth in TV ad revenue to stall

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

GSK to replace Ribena variants with Really Light

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

GlaxoSmithKline is to axe its Ribena Toothkind and Ribena Light sub-brands in April, replacing them with Ribena Really Light.

Guardian publishes Formula One season

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

The Guardian is publishing a 68-page guide to the Formula One season next Monday (February 28). The special will be supported by a television and radio campaign created by DDB London.

Heinz launches new lunch products

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Heinz has launched a new convenience format for the lunch and 'on-the-go' markets called SqueezMe for its sauce range, Salad Cream and mayonnaise.

Iris faces review of T-Mobile direct marketing business

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

T-Mobile is set to review part of its £10m below-the-line business held by Iris.

Lead from the front, Mr Cescau

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

With Path to Growth visibly running into the sand, a radical overhaul of Unilever's rambling structure could not be delayed much longer. But reform has got off to a shaky start, and whether it will be enough to put the multinational brands giant back on track is a reasonable question.

Lee Jeans shortlists five agencies for ad account

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Lee Jeans has shortlisted Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest, LG&F, Farm, 180 Amsterdam and incumbent Storåkers McCann for its advertising account.

Making a profit out of a crisis

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

While the German economy may have been performing rather poorly of late, the Diary has every confidence in its eventual resurgence. Zeitgeist is, after all, a German word, and one German company at least has its finger on the pulse of contemporary events.

Masterfoods UK picks pet care MD

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

'No, Mr president, an air kiss is not a new missile'

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Next time you're hit by an anti-tank round or tortured for no apparent reason, don't worry -Âit's only a nice American, trying to say 'hello'. By Iain Murray

Npower to review £3m ad account out of Isobel

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Utility company npower is putting its £3m advertising business out to tender.

On the wrong track over CIM 'hunt'

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

I'd like to clarify points raised in your news piece "CIM searching for director to stem membership loss" (MW February 10).

Orange to take legal action against Stelios

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Orange is to take legal action against easy entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou over his plans to use the colour orange for his rival mobile phone service easyMobile, set to launch next month.

Pensioners' lack of financial care

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Pensions crisis warnings have instilled fear in younger people about financial security in old age, but for those already in retirement, other issues take precedence over money

People assets must be figured out some way

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Alan Mitchell quite rightly has concerns about the effects of the new international accounting standards (MW February 17), but to dismiss measuring return on investment as proof of the "Marie Celeste mindset gaining ground", goes too far.

RAB and Ofcom announce rise in radio industry revenues

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

The Radio Advertising Bureau and OfCom have announced that total revenue for the radio industry was up by 5.6 per cent to &£637.6m in 2004. Sponsorship and promotions continue to see the fastest growth, increasing by 23.3 per cent year in year.

Regulator to clamp down on medicine ads

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Search firms rebrand to cut 'techy' links

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Two leading UK search marketing companies are rebranding in an attempt to move away from the industry's "techy" image. Website Promotion Services (WSPS) has become The Search Works, while Corporem Global has renamed itself Latitude.

Spirit lands Whitechapel Gallery brief

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Stelios spells out strategy for easyMobile's success

Wed, 2 Mar 2005

EasyGroup entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou has vowed, in an exclusive interview with Marketing Week,to shake up the mobile phone industry with his new venture easyMobile.

Tesco adds Food Club to loyalty portfolio

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Tesco is launching a Food Club, which will entitle Clubcard holders to a free magazine and special offers.

Thomson in food brand promo deals

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Holiday company Thomson has lined up two third-party promotions, with Old El Paso and KP Nuts, as part of its drive to develop partnerships and maintain its "power brand" status.

Three agencies battle it out for United Business task

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

WPP Group is one of three bidders to emerge in the race to buy United Business Media's market research business, which includes NOP and is valued at £250m. WPP has also indicated its interest in buying BBC Broadcast.

Tourist body starts £30m agency hunt

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Will TV stations sign up to desmond listings scheme?

Thu, 24 Feb 2005

Northern & Shell has hit on the idea of charging TV companies for listings. So are the schedules advertising or editorial?