Digital agency Reading Room has been appointed by Pernod Ricard UK to handle a brief for Glenlivet Scotch Whisky. It will be the brand’s first electronic, customer-relationship management campaign. Reading Room won the business after a competitive pitch against an unknown agency. The eCRM campaign will run for two years and aims to develop customer […]
The war of words between WPP Group and market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres reached new levels of acrimony as TNS unveiled details of its proposed “merger of equals” with German market research company GfK. WPP and GfK are locked in a power struggle for control of TNS. WPP claims the two research companies will […]
Google is testing a new service in a bid to compete with search aggregators and price comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket.com. Google is currently beta testing Google Merchant Search in the UK for secured loans from financial services providers. The service allows users to enter their details into a Google search to find personalised results. […]
Enjoy England gears up for summer of fun
Naked Communications has been appointed to handle the pan-European communications strategy for Kimberly-Clark brands Kleenex, Andrex and Huggies. The agency will join the roster alongside existing agencies, JWT and MindShare, and was appointed without a pitch. Naked’s US office has been working on a number of Kimberly-Clark brands since the end of last year. Hedy […]
Outdoor advertising revenues have dipped for the first time in nearly six years, leading observers to question whether this is a blip or the start of a decline following several years of exceptionally strong figures. Investment in new, and arguably more exciting, formats such as digital screens and premium billboards has been strong, as have […]
Sega, the video games company, is launching its official Olympic Games title later this month. It will be backed by a major TV campaign and sponsorship deal with Sky. The company, which has the licence to release games using the Olympic rings and official Games 2008 logo, will release Sega Beijing 2008 Olympics on June […]
Thanks to the internet, market research is no longer the only way for brands to gather information about consumers. Alicia Clegg explains how partnerships can help researchers rediscover their edge
On foreign soil, Sid Chav is vulgar, loutish, devoid of manners and given to casual outbursts of violence – even in the first-class cabin of the plane
GCap Media has sold digital-only station Planet Rock for an undisclosed sum to newly formed company Rock Show. The company is led by rock and radio fan Malcolm Bluemel. It is understood that rock icons Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, Jethro Tull lead singer Ian Anderson and rocker Gary Moore, and Fish from Marillion are […]
Havas Digital is partnering with Yahoo! to develop a new online trading platform. The announcement closely follows WPP’s tie up with Yahoo! which is similarly developing a more efficient way of buying and selling digital advertising space. Under the agreement Havas Digital will work with Yahoo!’s Right Media Exchange business, which it acquired in July […]
I recently watched Eggheads, BBC2s long-running early evening quiz where the winners from prestigious series such as Mastermind, Brain of Britain and the Weakest Link combine to take on the finest pub quiz teams across the country. It is a daily head to head battle over their general knowledge and, frankly, it is rather dull. I do not watch it regularly as I am not yet an octogenarian, but I do know that the Eggheads rarely lose to the amateurs.
Arch-rivals Unilever and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have been waging a war in the laundry market since the dawn of time, it seems. One, P&G, is the largest manufacturer in the detergents sector with Ariel, Bold, Fairy, Daz and Dreft in its portfolio. The other, Unilever, owns the leading and longest-established detergent, Persil.
Marketing of bank, insurance and pension brands could be in for a radical shake-up under plans unveiled last week by regulator the Financial Services Authority. The FSA proposes to publish – for the first time – detailed information on customers’ complaints about the companies it regulates (MW last week). If the proposals go ahead, the […]
The Government is delaying the launch of a controversial report into the effects of introducing a 24-hour drinking law because it concludes that deregulation has fuelled both underage and binge drinking. The Home Office is understood to have postponed its publication because it is “nervous” about the conclusions. The withering report has been drawn up […]