Marketing Week
3 December 1998

3m Simply Kitchens to MediaCom

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Newly-merged agency MediaCom/TMBG has won the media buying account for fitted kitchen manufacturer Simply Kitchens.

Adidas ad chief joins top exodus to Helly Hansen

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Andy Towne, who is responsible for Adidas advertising, has joined six of his colleagues in quitting the sports giant for outdoor clothing brand Helly Hansen.

Agencies mad at Brad blunder

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

The marriage of industry reference bibles Brad and Alf resulted in a little production "accident" which has left a whole host of ad agencies hopping mad.

Barclays pays a heavy price for the knights with the long knives

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Martin Taylor, erstwhile chief executive of Barclays Bank, is close to the Government. He has, among other things, been consulted on the working families' tax credit. There is talk of a peerage.

Bass seeks new market in 8m Grolsch relaunch

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Premium lager Grolsch is to appear on TV screens for the first time in two years in an 8m relaunch. The campaign has been designed by Bass Brewers' incumbent agency EURO RSCG Wnek Gosper.

Brief

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Yellow Pages is launching a 5m national TV campaign featuring everyday situations where the BT-owned directory can be of help. One ad shows a young man finding the number for a cleaner for his flat which is so messy a neighbour thinks it has been burgled. The other shows a wife calling a mobile stereo fitter to help her bungling husband fit a new car radio. The ads are through Abbott Mead Vickers. BBDO, which is about to be bought by US marketing services company Omnicom. Graham Brown, ...

Brief

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

The Guinness Book of Records is launching its first national TV campaign with a 500,000 pre-Christmas ad blitz. The push, which is aimed at children between eight and 14-years-old, comprises 30-second and ten-second executions and has been devised by Triangle, with media buying through John Ayling & Associates. Guinness Book of Records marketing director Malcolm Roughead says the national launch follows a regional trial in the Midlands which, he claims, boosted sales by more ...

Briefs

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

CHBi Razorfish has won accounts with City fund manager Johnson Fry and PC accounting software company Sage Group. The new media agency expects to launch sites for both clients in early 1999.

BT/Excite's deal with a difference

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

BT's recent deal with the UK subsidiary of Excite promises to run on very different lines to business deals outside the Internet industry.

Business in schools faces a testing time

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

For the first time the Department for Education & Employment is to sit down with the National Consumer Council and discuss the role of advertising and sponsorship within schools.

COI shortlists two for 4m job seekers' helpline drive

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

The Central Office of Information has shortlisted two roster agencies to pitch for a 4m account to promote a telephone hotline aimed at helping job seekers find work.

Conference call

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Small and medium-sized conferences and events are increasingly being organised in-house, often with little or no professional input. Invariably the job falls to the managing director's PA. But the staff presented with the task of organising their company conference, over and above their normal jobs, are not always able to devote the time and energy necessary to ensure the event maximises its potential and achieves its objectives.

Customer loyalty tested in London Transport scheme

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

London Transport will be relying on customers' honesty in a trial which scraps the inspection of travel passes to cut buses' waiting times and ease traffic congestion.

Daily Record briefs four for 2m pitch

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Bell's Whisky's new 2m TV campaign through Court Burkitt breaks this week.

David Hoare to head Thorn UK

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

David Hoare, the former chief executive of Laura Ashley, is to join rental group Thorn as UK chief executive. He replaces David Williams, who left the company last week.

Digests

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Dixons in the dock

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Despite his half century in the electrical retailing industry, Dixons chairman Stanley Kalms could be forgiven for feeling just a little overburdened.

DoubleClick seals sales contract for Freeserve

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Internet ad sales house DoubleClick has won the contract to sell advertising for Freeserve, the Dixons Group-backed venture now vying with AOL to be Britain's biggest Internet service provider.

DVD body hit as Heller joins Warner Vision

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Simon Heller, former marketing consultant for the Digital Video Disc (DVD) committee, has been appointed marketing director of Warner Vision, the video arm of Warner Music.

Ethical position not the problem

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

I read with interest your article called "Reputations at Stake" (MW November 12).

Ex-Talk Radio md moves to Disney

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Former Talk Radio managing director Paul Robinson has joined the Disney Channel as vice president and managing director.

Inconvenient cards should be phased out

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

I'm still trying to work out the advantages of the latest idea in plastic cards (MW November 19).

ITC primes political timebomb with 90m Treasury bonanza

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

All things considered, the politicians were remarkably restrained about ITV's generous treatment by the Independent Television Commission the other day.

ITC sets flawed system to rights

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

The quality Napoleon most prized in his commanders was luck. Advertisers and commercial TV executives may well come to hold the same opinion about the generalship of Richard Eyre. After staking everything on a doomed campaign to achieve 38 per cent peak time ratings, Eyre's reputation has bounced back with two famous victories.

Lennox Lewis ties up fcuk sponsorship

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Fashion retailer French Connection has signed a sponsorship deal to sponsor heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis in the run-up to his title unification world championship clash with Evander Holyfield.

New Direction

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

The scope of information services has broadened so much that established directories have been forced to add value so they can hold on to their position in the market. At the same time, public information services are moving into areas originally dominated by business-to-business directories. The result, in both cases, is a renewed focus on the demands of both advertisers and consumers.

New way to clear radio daze

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Radio ad campaigns are known to be tricky to evaluate. Indeed, some people say that one of the best ways for local advertisers to measure the success of their radio campaigns is to look at their cashflow.

Portland hit by 1.2m Czech fraud

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Outdoor specialist Portland has been hit by fraud thought to have cost the company's contractors up to $2m (1.2m) in the Czech Republic.

Saatchi's theory misses the point

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

What nonsense is this I hear being reported from the lips of Lord Saatchi? (Iain Murray, MW November 26).

Somerfield to sell cut-price electrical goods

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Somerfield is the latest supermarket to venture into the electrical goods market, with the launch of cut-price deals on televisions and stereos.

Somnolence cured by sustenance

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

To walk down a street in England, or visit a supermarket, or indeed go anywhere where the public are at large, is to encounter one of the great mysteries of our island race, namely however did we become an advanced economy? The inhabitants are so slow.

Spanish baulk at new ad curbs

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Spain's principal political parties - Partido Popular (PP), PSOE (Socialists), Grupo Mixto, Izquierda Unida (IU) and Convergencia i Uni (CiU) - have united in calling for a new administrative body to be set up which would monitor and regulate advertising. If agreed, the proposal could become law as soon as this month. The country's advertising community, however, believes it already faces excessive restrictions on its activity.

Targeted drive works for C&W

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Roger Baird's article (MW November 26) demonstrates how out of touch observers are with the cable industry.

The millennium bug

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

The millennium may seem like an excuse for the party to end all parties, but it could also be an excellent opportunity to market a destination or a venue. It is the chance for a new beginning, an opportunity to put right what was wrong, and build on what is right. So, while exhibitions and expositions play an important role in displaying the individuality of countries, if well-planned, they could also provide a legacy in the form of greater confidence, jobs, improved facilities, and ...

Upbeat forecast for commercial TV in 1999

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Media auditor The Billett Consultancy predicts good news for advertisers next year with more people forecast to watch commercial TV - and therefore the commercial breaks.

Wallis hands senior role to insider

Thu, 3 Dec 1998

Sears fashion chain Wallis has appointed Carole Simpson as head of marketing.