Marketing Week
4 May 2006

  • Age cannot wither the Post, nor custom stale its infinite variety...

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Age is a funny old thing. So often seen as an achievement in itself by pouting grandfathers bragging that they have all their own teeth, the Diary understands that actually it's what you do that counts, not how old you are.

  • Alfred Dunhill hunts shop for digital expansion plan

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Alfred Dunhill, the under-performing luxury goods brand, is reviewing its digital agencies ahead of an expansion of its online activities later this year.

  • American Express unveils major push for Nectar card

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    American Express is committing several million pounds to an online campaign to promote the co-branded Nectar credit card.

  • Asda to sponsor revived ITV gameshow The Price is Right

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Asda is to sponsor ITV1 daytime quiz The Price is Right as it strives to underline its "value" credentials.

  • Bacardi-Martini appoints specialist digital agency

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Spirits manufacturer Bacardi-Martini has appointed full-service digital agency Graphico to work on marketing the brand to UK drinkers.

  • Bacardi-Martini in drink launch U-turn

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    By Sonoo Singh

  • BBC Magazines to sell Origin Publishing

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    BBC Magazines is selling Origin Publishing and all of its non-BBC related titles to a management buy-out team.

  • BBDO extends its grip on Jim Beam

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    US drinks group Beam Global Spirits & Wines (BGSW) has appointed BBDO Worldwide to handle the global multi-million pound advertising for its flagship brand Jim Beam.

  • Beam Spirits restructures to support global brands

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Beam Global Spirits & Wine (BGSW) has restructured its marketing on a worldwide basis to reflect the increased importance of non-US brands to the group.

  • Boots rolls out health club scheme

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Boots is rolling out a health club scheme to tap into increasing consumer demand for healthcare and lifestyle information.

  • Boris Johnson to promote Liverpool 08 Culture drive

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Boris Johnson is to become an ambassador for Liverpool, the city he famously apologised to in 2004 when he denounced Liverpudlians for being "hooked on grief" in the wake of Ken Bigley's murder in Iraq.

  • British Airways reveals new drive to win back the masses

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    British Airways is planning a campaign to offer clarity on what the brand stands for as it shifts focus to include low-cost trips.

  • BSkyB wins Premiership rights

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    BSkyB has won the rights to screen half of the Premiership's 138 live matches from 2007 to 2010. The Premier League has awarded three of six live-television broadcast matches to Sky, which could also pick up two of three remaining packages.

  • BUAV prepares for brand awareness drive

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) is talking to branding agencies in a "prepa- ratory and preliminary" exercise, as it seeks to boost brand awareness and reposition itself.

  • Bulldog fires latest salvo

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Bulldog has fired the latest salvo in the broadband price war by launching what it claims is the first 16Mb service available across the UK. The launch will be supported by a &£10m advertising campaign.

  • Burger King UK marketing chief poised for US return

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Burger King is seeking a senior marketer to join its UK team. It is thought that Dawn Foster, the current marketing director, is returning to the US after a year in the role.

  • C4 moots branded 'transactional channels' amid public backlash

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Channel 4 is considering launching branded transactional channels to add to its digital portfolio, despite a backlash against "money-making" broadcast quizzes, which has led the Treasury to promise a review of regulations surrounding them.

  • Can the old guard team produce new tricks?

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Advertising has welcomed back some familiar faces in recent months. Sir Frank Lowe's headline-grabbing return was followed by the reunion of Jim Kelly and Robert Campbell at United London, and now sales promotion guru and Triangle founder Kevin Twittey is planning a start-up with Arc Europe account director Jamie Matthews ...

  • Capital losses

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    As GCap Media approaches its first birthday this month, it is unlikely to be in celebratory mood. The UK radio market's first "super group" has spent the year since its creation battling with internal issues, such as struggling to merge the cu

  • Capital losses mount in flagging GCap merger

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Nearly one year on, the GCap merger - even at the time a bit of a mésalliance between GWR and Capital - is looking frankly disastrous.

  • Cisco seals 2m deal with revamped Ascot

    Thu, 4 May 2006

  • City AM promotes Jeremy Slattery

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    City AM, the free morning daily newspaper for London's financial and business community, has promoted head of advertising Jeremy Slattery to the new position of sales director. Previous sales and marketing director Jeremy Phillips has left the company without a job to go to.

  • Clicking with women surfers

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Last week Trends Insight looked at the changing lives of modern women; this week we discuss how women behave online and what they want from the online environment. Women are emerging as a driving force in online uptake, and more women are logg

  • Client conflict forces McCann to drop £350m Reckitt pitch

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    InterPublic Group-owned McCann Erickson has been forced to step down from Reckitt Benckiser's &£350m global advertising pitch, following a major row over client conflict with FCB Worldwide.

  • COI trawls ad agencies for 3.5m DWP fraud assault

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    The Department for Work and Pensions is set to launch a new blitz on benefit fraudsters and is seeking agencies to work on a 3.5m brief.

  • David Meliveo to leave EasyJet

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    EasyJet brand and marketing manager David Meliveo is to leave the company with no job to go to. He will work three months' notice and is expected to remain in place until the company resolves its protracted advertising pitch.

  • Digit al switches on campaign to get the nation to switch over

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    The problem is that Digital UK must persuade the real-life Pollards that turning off their analogue TV signal and forcing them to buy new equipment is in their best interests.

  • Ex-Kingsmill chief in unfair dismissal row

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Former Allied Bakeries (AB) marketing director Jo Sykes, who was responsible for the Kingsmill brand, is taking her ex-employer to an Unfair Dismissal Tribunal after she was ousted earlier this year. It is understood that legal proceedings have already been started.

  • Far from the madding crowd

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    As a venue, London has had it fairly easy until recently. It has been able to draw people to visit the famous and historically exciting capital - even during the 1970s and 1980s when it was blighted by IRA bombings - but there wasn't much in t

  • Future of brands will depend on emotion

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Ian McCawley's article "Plug into a higher value" (MW April 20) raises an interesting point.

  • Gaming begins to prove its worth as an effective medium

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Interest in the video games industry as entertainment and its merits as a media channel is gathering pace. Last week BBC director-general Mark Thompson, announcing his plans for the corporation's future, praised the computer games industry for

  • GCap Media promotes Ivor Etienne

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    GCap Media has promoted Choice FM programme controller Ivor Etienne to managing director of the urban music station. Etienne will now take on responsibility for the strategic direction of the station.

  • Getting personal can be a model for DM success

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    I read with interest Alan Mitchell's article (MW April 20) regarding the evolution of direct marketing and using consumers to help ensure marketing success.

  • Glasses Direct drafts in London 2012 heavyweight Magliano to boost brand

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    David Magliano, the former London 2012 Olympics marketing director, has joined the online retailer Glasses Direct to advise the company on its marketing strategy and brand image.

  • Hachette Filipacchi UK axes B

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Hachette Filipacchi UK has axed its women's monthly lifestyle magazine B after a month-long review of the title's future, as first predicted in Marketing Week (April 6).

  • Hachette Filipacchi UK to launch Elle Collections

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Hachette Filipacchi UK is launching Elle Collections, the first brand extension of the UK edition of Elle. Elle Collections will be published bi-annually; the first edition will be on sale from July 19.

  • Hicklin Slade & Partners recruits Dan Thwaites

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Hicklin Slade & Partners, the relationship marketing agency, has recruited Dan Thwaites to head its digital division.

  • InBev promotes Richard Evans

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    InBev has promoted Richard Evans, its vice-president of brands, to president of InBev UK and Ireland. He replaces Colin Pedrick, who is stepping down after less than a year in the role.

  • Jerry Judge makes Cunning comeback

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Former Lowe Worldwide chief executive Jerry Judge is making his industry comeback with the agency that projected a nude image of Gail Porter onto the Houses of Parliament.

  • John Lewis shortlist

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Delaney Lund Knox Warren, WCRS, Lowe and incumbent Burkitt DDB are understood to have been shortlisted for the &£13m John Lewis account. It is thought that TBWALondon and Fallon are no longer involved in the pitch.

  • Joseph Jimenez leaves HJ Heinz

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    HJ Heinz chief executive and president for Europe Joseph Jimenez has left the company, days before he was due to take over as executive vice-president and chief executive for the Asia Pacific region and the rest of the world (MW March 30). He has left the company to pursue other interests.

  • JWt publishes repoort on marketing in Afghanistan

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    JWT, the WPP-owned agency, has published a report on marketing in Afghanistan which claims that advertising and communications are "pillars" of the country's reconstruction, and "fuelling social revolution". The report also says that Afghans welcome advertising and marketing.

  • Kevin Twittey to launch start-up

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Triangle founder Kevin Twittey has confirmed he is launching a start-up with former Arc director Jamie Matthews, as exclusively revealed in Marketing Week last week. The agency will be called Initials, and other founding partners include former Dynamo director Richard Barrett and Lyndsay Egmore-Frost from Arc.

  • Little big moments survival kit is a hit with our stressed-out hacks

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Journalists have to battle constantly against negative stereotypes of their trade. Every day the Diary gets to work, hangs up its trilby and Mac, extracts the press card from the hat band and gets to work smoking fags and barking at people dow

  • London 2012 Olympics will boost minor sports

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    I

  • M&S opens London store

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Marks & Spencer has opened a London store bearing its marketing slogan 'Your M&S', rather than the company name on its fascia.

  • Marketing spend block for 'in intensive care' Capital

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    GCap's flagship London station Capital Radio is in "intensive care", according to chief executive Ralph Bernard, and the company has no plans to give the station any significant marketing support until the station sounds "considerably better".

  • Mattessons 'fangs' ad too frightening, declares ASA

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    A television ad for Mattessons Fridge Raiders has been criticised by advertising regulator The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for scaring children.

  • Media buyers slam new-look Standard as 'downmarket'

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    The London Evening Standard , which relaunched as a full-colour newspaper yesterday, has failed to excite and been slammed by media buyers.

  • Mother wins £10m PG Tips from DDB

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Mother has snatched the £10m PG Tips business from DDB London. The news will come as a blow to DDB, which has held the account since 1922.

  • Nat Express Coaches calls £2m review of advertising

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    National Express Coaches is reviewing its estimated £2m account and is working with the AAR to draw up a pitch list of full service agencies.

  • New campaign - Strongbow Sirrus

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Scottish & Newcastle UK is launching a television campaign for its premium packaged cider Strongbow Sirrus that reinforces the "deeper taste" creative strategy unveiled earlier this year.

  • New campaign - Which?

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Consumer group Which? is launching its first brand advertising campaign to educate consumers about the diversity of what it offers.

  • New product - Jim Jam & Sunny

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Toy manufacturer Vivid Imaginations will roll out a new brand of pre-school toys next year under the pre-school brand Jim Jam & Sunny.

  • News Corporation adds two more websites

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    News Corporation has added two more websites to its growing online portfolio.

  • Npower plans 'Whodunnit' rerun after ASA swats BG

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Energy company npower is to repeat a series of press ads after British Gas failed in its bid to get the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to uphold a complaint about the executions' content.

  • Npower plots Urban Cricket drive

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Energy company npower is launching a website as part of its Urban Cricket initiative, which started yesterday (Tuesday).

  • Nucleus raising £10m in funding

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Nucleus, the branding and Web design agency that specialises in luxury goods and travel, is raising &£10m in funding as it switches focus to becoming a venturing and consulting business. The agency is due to unveil a mass-market finance site in the coming weeks, following the success of its luxuryexplorer.com portal, launched last year.

  • Politicians are too enchanted by the sorcery of marketing to care

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    It was with a silent shudder and a morbid foreboding that I read the news from Nijmegan. This ancient city of some 150,000 souls seldom thrusts itself into the spotlight, preferring to go about its business of being discreetly and inoffensivel

  • Premier Foods plans bid

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Premier Foods, the owner of Branston Pickle and Quorn, and McVities-owner United Biscuits are understood to be planning to make a joint bid for the UK arm of Campbell's. The division, which includes the Batchelors brands, is thought to be valued at &£650m.

  • Publicis TV campaign for Mcvities Moments

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Publicis has created a TV campaign to support the launch of McVitie's Moments.

  • Remedies for repetitive strain

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Television ads have been compared to uninvited guests in the living room. But however amusing and charming they may initially appear, even the wittiest and most pleasing commercials can become infuriating when repeated ad nauseam.

  • Rooney injury hits Asda's World Cup campaign

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Asda marketing chiefs are set to meet Wayne Rooney this week to discuss the England footballer's role in its World Cup promotions after his crippling injury at the weekend.

  • Sainsbury's Bank appoints Rob Walker

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Sainsbury's Bank has appointed Rob Walker, a former general manager at HSBC, as chief executive. He replaces Tim Pile, the former Alliance & Leicester marketing director, who was recently ousted (MW March 23).

  • Sainsbury's resumes membership of BRC

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Sainsbury's has resumed its membership of the British Retail Consortium following a hiatus between March and the end of April. The chain says it no longer has concerns about its representation by the BRC, such as the body's backing of Tesco after it decided to introduce an independent food-labelling scheme, rather than the Food Standards Agency traffic light system.

  • Sales staff just want to be loved... and paid

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    It's true that "sometimes sales people just want to be appreciated" (MW last week). Therefore, in my mind, the golden rule of motivating a sales team is to treat each and every member of the team as an individual. Lumping them together is a co

  • Sara Lee to launch online Sanex for Men Euro assault

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Sara Lee International is launching a pan-European online campaign for Sanex for Men, aimed at positioning the brand as an expert in male grooming.

  • Sony PlayStation extends commitment to Champions League

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Sony PlayStation is extending its commitment to the UEFA Champions League until 2008/2009 and will use the sponsorship to promote games and consoles.

  • St Luke's TV campaign for Magic

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    St Luke's has created a TV campaign for Magic 105.

  • Stream lands £150m France Telecom brief

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Stream, the TBWA/London specialist content division, is believed to have won France Telecom's £150m global branded entertainment business following a competitive pitch.

  • SUBtv to auction its ad space

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    SUBtv, the student media network, is to auction its ad space over the internet this summer. The company runs a network of 700 plasma screens in student unions and bars at 90 universities across the UK. Agencies will be able to bid for one-week campaigns on the network, consisting of 30-second ads played twice an hour, 12 hours a day.

  • Taking change on board

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    When Maurice and Charles Saatchi created the "World's Favourite Airline" tag for British Airways in 1982, the strapline reflected a far simpler time for the national carrier.

  • The data protection racket

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Do you have data on your business customers and prospects? Is each record enhanced with information, such as transactional history, segmentation code, financial attributes? Would you assume that you have copyright protection over that data?

  • The old guard falters

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Whitbread's announcement last week that it is to sell off most of its Brewers Fayre and Beefeater pub restaurants spells the end for the company's vision of building a diversified leisure group.

  • The word on the street is Sunkissed

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Word-of-mouth marketing has something of a chequered reputation. Brand owners have tried everything from placing actors in supermarkets who extol the virtues of new products, to piling empty, branded boxes outside apartment buildings, in the hope they will attract residents' curiosity. But Nivea, which has openly "hired" ...

  • Thomas Cook appoints Harvest Digital

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Thomas Cook has appointed Harvest Digital as its exclusive online planning and buying agency, following an extended trial. The travel company is using online media to boost traffic and sales through its thomascook.com site, which should account for 25% of its total sales this year, as well as supporting its retail network. Advertising will run on major portals and sites such as GMTV, Metro. co.uk and the Lonely Planet website.

  • Tim Waterstone withdraws offer

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Tim Waterstone, founder of the bookstore chain, has withdrawn a £280m offer to buy the stores back from music retailer HMV.

  • Tony Toad proves a useful Think Tank for marketers

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Sadly, the much-loved Crazy Frog's career seems to be on the wane - even though he has spawned (if you'll pardon the pun) a dancehall reggae tribute track called Ring Ding Ding (Frog), which as far as the Diary is concerned is the highest hono

  • Trademark case upsets FIFA World Cup sponsors

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Sponsors of this year's football World Cup may seek compensation from FIFA after it lost a trademark protection case in Germany.

  • TV advertising 'still crucial' in the age of digital revolution

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Changing viewing habits, the Web, convergence, mobile TV, product placement and sponsorship are just some of the topics to be debated at TV 2006 conference on May 17 and 18, but the question on everyone's mind is likely to be: is television ad

  • Unilever unveils £6.5m revamp of Sunsilk haircare

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Unilever is investing £6.5m in the UK relaunch of its "power brand" haircare range Sunsilk, the second revamp since 2003, in yet another attempt to take on market leader Procter & Gamble's Pantene.

  • UTV Radio settles differences with RadioCentre

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    UTV Radio is understood to have settled its differences with new radio industry body RadioCentre. Last month UTV managing director Scott Taunton threatened to withdraw from the radio body if the company was not represented on the board.

  • Vodafone sells old stock on eBay

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Vodafone has been selling end-of-the-line models and surplus stock on eBay, in an attempt to recoup its costs. The mobile giant claims the tactic has resulted in record sales of older handsets.

  • Walker nets £3m e-gaming task

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Online gaming company Cashcade, the owner of Getminted.com gaming portal, has appointed Walker Media to its &£3m planning and buying business without a pitch.

  • Where television advertising fits in the new media ecology

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    So, is worrying about the future of TV advertising just damaging "scaremongering" as Tess Alps, the new CEO of Thinkbox, the commercial TV industry's joint marketing body, suggested recently? Perhaps. But here is another suggestion: the intell

  • Which? calls Ofcom kids TV ad curbs 'total sham'

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Consumer lobby group Which? has slammed Ofcom's proposals to restrict or ban ads for unhealthy food during children's television as a "total sham".

  • Wood gets back into the driving seat

    Thu, 4 May 2006

    Peter Wood, the "serial entrepreneur" credited with revolutionising financial services when he set up Direct Line in the 1980s, is settling into the chief executive's seat at Esure, his joint venture with HBOS, following the departure of previous boss Peter Graham (MW last week).

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