Samsung has formed a global multi-year partnership with Italian coffee brand Illycaffè which will see Samsung tablets and other devices introduced to Illy cafes and Illy coffee served in Samsung’s stores and showrooms.
Sky is launching a new YouTube channel that will house full episodes of upcoming drama and comedy shows for the first time as the media company looks to encourage trial and acquire new TV subscribers.
EE has created a new brand platform, “No Brainer”, for 2014 designed to highlight its “market-beating” offers as the operator’s proposition evolves from looking to appeal to early-adopters to encouraging the mass market to sign up for its 4G deals.
O2 will tonight air a TV ad featuring Lady Gaga to promote its loyalty programme Priority, which is offering early access tickets for the UK leg of the popstar’s Artrave: Artpop Ball World Tour.
Travel search website Skyscanner is readying its biggest ever marketing investment, which includes its first TV campaign and bolstering its marketing team with three senior hires, as it steps up its bid to become the leading brand in the category.
Google believes its platforms are overtaking traditional media to become central to the “biggest brand-building campaigns of the world” and claims its efforts to roll out new ad products and improve campaign effectiveness measurement are seeing more marketers shift their budget to digital.
HP has partnered with the fortnightly TFI Friday-esque YouTube and Google+ entertainment show The Fox Problem as it looks to reach youth consumers in a natural setting.
Kronenbourg 1664 owner Heineken has said it is “very disappointed” with the ad watchdog’s decision to ban two marketing campaigns for overemphasising its connection to France and has submitted a request for an independent review of the ruling.
Asda is countering the rise of the discounters by investing £50m in cutting prices across everyday items in the first quarter of this year, a move it says will “even make the Poundshop and Aldi look expensive”.
The Department of Health is reigniting its turn of year anti-smoking campaign with a £3m push designed to “provoke disgust” among viewers.
Coca-Cola is launching a multi-channel brand campaign dubbed “Reasons to Believe”, a push designed to remind consumers there is more good than bad in the world.
The Marketing Week team is off to enjoy a festive break but we will be back with news, analysis and comment on 2 January 2014.
Spotify has begun testing brand pages, similar to those on other social networks, on its service as part of its strategy to make brands as influential as the artists and tastemakers that have been key in its recent shift to becoming a music discovery service.
ITV has struck what is thought to be a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Dolmio, which will see the Italian sauces brand targeting families watching TV programmes such as Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor on Saturday nights.
BlackBerry’s losses widened in its third quarter after it reported a huge shortfall in revenue having sold far fewer smartphones than in previous years – but its new CEO John Chen remains upbeat and has insisted its new organisational structure means its performance will improve in 2014.