Three, Mars, Women’s World Cup: Everything that matters this morning

Good morning and welcome to Marketing Week’s round-up of the news that matters in the marketing world today.

Three bosses admit it won’t survive without Vodafone merger

Leaders at Three UK have admitted the business is “unsustainable” without the merger to Vodafone, as it is spending more than it is earning.

The business, which has invested heavily in its 5G network, says without a further cash injection it will struggle to survive, according to The Telegraph.

“Very simply, we’re spending more than we’re earning. It’s unsustainable in the long term,” Darren Purkis, Three’s chief financial officer said.

The network’s CEO Robert Finnegan added: “Looking to the future, high levels of investment will still be needed to deliver the networks that the UK requires but levels of capex spread across the current set of four individual players are unsustainable.”

The merger between Vodafone and Three, which is owned by Hong Kong-based firm CK Hutchinson, would result in a customer base of more than 27 million.

Plans for Visit Saudi to sponsor Women’s World Cup scrapped

FIFA has confirmed Saudi Arabia’s tourism arm Visit Saudi will not be a sponsor of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

It follows a backlash from tournament hosts Australia and New Zealand, which took issue with the state of Saudi Arabia’s human rights.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino described the situation as a “storm in a teacup” but confirmed the discussion “didn’t lead into a contract”.

However, he said there was a “double standard” in play given there is $1.5bn worth of trade between Australia and Saudi Arabia every year. He also said he was looking for ways to “involve Saudi sponsors”, and those from Qatar, in women’s and men’s football generally.

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said: “Equality, diversity and inclusion are really deep commitments for Football Australia and we’ll continue to work hard with FIFA to ensure the Women’s World Cup is shaped in this light, and it is a historic event for our nation, showcasing the world’s greatest female players and advancing the game globally.”

Russian discounter to reopen in UK

Russian discounter Mere is planning to restart in the UK after pausing operations and closing its one store following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The retailer had talked of opening 300 stores in the UK, according to The Grocer, but these plans were also shelved in light of the war.

Mere is now looking to hire in the UK again, according to managing director Olena Solodka, who posted a job ad for a project manager on LinkedIn this week.

The business was founded in Russia in 2009 and in 2021 claimed to have 3,200 stores globally, with a presence in Germany, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine. It paused operations in a number of European countries following the invasion of Ukraine.

Its aim as a brand was to undercut fellow discounters Aldi and Lidl by 30%, thanks to a model which requires suppliers to deliver directly to stores.

Mere only had the one store in Preston, with The Grocer reporting that some suppliers were put off by its terms meaning it often lacked basics lines and resulted in it struggling to gain traction.

VisitBritain activity boosts visitor spend by £673m

Marketing activity led by national tourism bodies VisitBritain and VisitEngland helped to boost visitor spend by £673m between April 2021 and June 2022.

The organisation says tourism is showing continued “strong recovery” in overseas visitor spending and estimates £29.5bn will be spent by international visitors in the UK this year, up 4% on 2019.

There are expected to be 35.1 million visitors from overseas, equivalent to 89% of 2019 levels.

The USA has been identified as the largest and most valuable market for tourism in the UK, with spending by Americans in Britain up 40% on 2019.

VisitBritain has just launched a multimillion pound GREAT Britain marketing campaign in the US, Canada, the Guild Cooperation Council (GCC) and European countries.

Separate campaigns in the US with British Airways and a pilot cooperative marketing programme are also underway as it looks to tap into the growth in visits from America.

British Tourist Authority chairman Nick de Bois says: “Almost a year to the day since travel restrictions were lifted marks a timely opportunity to bring industry together and acknowledge the incredible resilience and innovation of tourism businesses across the country, as we emerge from what must surely be the most challenging period the sector has ever faced.

“With spring upon us it is also timely to shine the spotlight on Britain’s outstanding visitor offer, the industry’s economic importance and tourism’s ability to drive growth for the British economy.”

Mars unveils new purpose to empower women for Galaxy

Chocolate brand Galaxy has revealed its new purpose is to empower women, making a commitment to help 1 million people “thrive” by 2030.

Describing it as a “bold new era” for the Mars-owned brand, the focus is on female empowerment within cocoa growing communities and Galaxy retail markets, through which it hopes to help women, as well as their families and communities.

To launch the pledge, Galaxy has unveiled a global campaign to highlight the stories of women around the world and the impact they are having on their communities.

The campaign, by BBDO, will kick off in the UK and China before rolling out to North America, the Middle East ad India later this year.

The brand is also partnering with NGOs including Care International to help deliver and scale up programmes that support women both socially and economically.

“At Dove Galaxy, we’re committed to creating a world where our chocolate does as good as it tastes,” says Tiana Conley, global portfolio strategy at Mars Wrigley.

“It’s what our consumers expect of us, and what we demand of ourselves. Which is why I’m so proud of our ambitious new pledge to help 1 million people thrive by 2030. A commitment, driven by our belief at Mars that brands should be a force for good, which we hope will create a lasting legacy.”

Thursday, 16 March

John Lewis Partnership reports a £234m loss in 2022

The John Lewis Partnership, the parent company of both John Lewis and Waitrose, has reported a £78m loss for 2022. After “exceptional costs”, notably a write down in the value of Waitrose stores, the group made a loss of £234m.

This is only the group’s second-ever full-year loss and compares to a profit of £181m in 2021. For the year ended 28 January 2023, sales were down 2%, reflecting “strong sales” at John Lewis and a decline of 3% at Waitrose.

Staff will miss out on their bonuses for the second time in three years.

The group claims it had 800,000 more shoppers than the previous year, but they are spending less.

“The big online growth of the pandemic years was partly reversed. Shoppers shifted some of their grocery spending to the discounters,” the group’s chair Sharon White said.

The announcement of the loss comes as the group appoints its first CEO. Nish Kankiwala will take on the role from 27 March. Between 2016 and 2022 he was chief executive of bread brand Hovis. He also held senior leadership roles at brands including Burger King, PepsiCo and Unilever. He has been on the board of the group since 2021.

White says Kankiwala will help “supercharge” its transformation “while protecting the partnership’s ethos”. The company reported it spent £500m on its transformation last year. White reiterated the business’s commitment to its strategy, despite the loss.

“Far from diverting us from the Partnership Plan, the economic backdrop has galvanised us to go faster,” she said.

The leaders of John Lewis and Waitrose had previously reported into White, but now will report directly to Kankiwala.

“The new structure allows me to focus on the preservation of the partnership model and our distinctive character, on the strategy for the partnership and our big commercial choices,” White said. “Nish will draw on his significant transformation experience to drive performance and profitability day to day.”

Marketers say chancellor ‘missed opportunity’ on apprenticeships in budget

Marketing, advertising and retail industry figures have welcomed the chancellor’s focus on “back to work” in yesterday’s (15 March) budget, but have said the government missed an opportunity to reform the Apprenticeship Levy.

Commenting on the budget, Advertising Association (AA) director of public affairs Sue Eustace welcomed initiatives aimed at helping older people and parents with childcare needs back to work.

“We will however continue to urge the government to consider reforms to the apprenticeship levy to ensure it is more flexible and workable for businesses,” Eustace said.

Chartered Institute of Marketing CEO Chris Daly echoed these sentiments around the budget.

“With the ever changing economic and regulatory landscape it’s vital that business has the capacity and assistance to upskill the marketing workforce,” he said. “It was therefore a missed opportunity to reform the apprenticeship levy to provide businesses with the flexibility to train their full workforces for success.”

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) called upon the government to take action to remedy “wasted investment” which has gone into the Levy, citing figures that businesses have lost £3.5bn over the last three years in unused funds from the scheme.

“It is vital that government allows businesses to use their hard-earned levy funds for a wider array of skills courses,” says BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

The AA also welcomed government announcements in the budgets around AI, research and development tax reform and innovation clusters.

Eustace hailed these as “interesting measures that can help boost a business environment where advertising and marketing firms can thrive in a global market”.

Deliveroo reduces losses despite ‘difficult’ market conditions

Deliveroo narrowed its losses by £36m in 2022 to make a £294.1m loss for the year. Its revenue grew 14% in the year to £1.97bn.

The brand’s founder and CEO Will Shu hailed the performance of the business despite “difficult” market conditions and highlighted the company reaching adjust EBITDA profitability in its second half.

“This is a significant step on our path to sustainable cash generation, and we achieved this milestone a year earlier than our guidance by executing our strategy successfully despite headwinds from the market environment,” Shu says.

The delivery brand reduced its marketing spend in 2022. For its full 2022 year, it spent £215m on sales and marketing versus £268m in 2021. The company told investors it “refined and optimised [marketing spend] in light of consumer environment”, particularly in the second half of its year.

Deliveroo spent £88m on marketing in the second half of 2022, versus £134m in the same period in 2021. Despite this lower spend, the business claims it “continued to invest in our consumer proposition at the same time”.

It identified increasing its targeting of marketing spend as a “key lever” of its drive towards profitability in 2022, and one which will continue to play a role as the brand aims to make a profit.

The brand’s pursuit of profitability has not been simple. In November 2022, it decided to exit the Australian and Dutch markets where it determined it could not “reach a sustainable and profitable scale in these markets without considerable financial investment”.

Last month, Shu announced the company was making 9% of its workforce redundant. The company had grown its headcount too fast during the pandemic and was now suffering under multiple economic headwinds, he said.

“Our fixed cost base is too big for our business,” Shu said.

Zara owner sees profits surge

Inditex, which owns clothing retail brands such as Zara, Stradivarius and Bershka, saw its profits rise 27% in 2022.

For its financial year ended 31 January 2023, the business grew in-store and online sales by 17.5% versus 2021 to €32.6bn (£28.6bn). Store sales grew 23% in the period, as shoppers returned post-pandemic. The business also saw its online sales grow 4% over record 2021 levels to reach €7.8bn (£6.85bn).

The Zara-owner has extended its lead over Swedish rival H&M, partly due to a less price-sensitive customer base. H&M yesterday (15 March) reported less-than-expected sales in its first quarter 2023 results.

The business is now eyeing expansion for its brands into new geographies, such as women’s sportswear retailer Oysho in the UK. It also sees “significant long-term growth opportunities” in the US.

Improving its customer experience, both online and offline, is a priority for the business, it said. For example, it is introducing a new size recommendation service on its sites.

The business, which has sold its Russian business, said it remained open to returning to the country if “the situation changed”.

Greggs named strongest brand in the restaurant sector

Greggs ranks as the strongest brand in the restaurant sector globally, according to Brand Finance.

Brand Finance uses metrics such as marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance to calculate brands’ relative strength. Greggs scored 89 out of 100 on the brand strength index score.

The baked goods chain’s brand score decreased slightly from last year, but still remained strong enough to come out on top in the rankings. Its brand value went up 17% to $1bn (£828m). Last week, Greggs claimed its brand health and market share has “never been higher” while reporting its annual results.

Meanwhile, Starbucks remained the world’s most valuable restaurant chain, according to Brand Finance figures. The brand’s value has increased 17% in the last year to $53.4bn (£44.2bn). This is the seventh year in a row the coffee chain has been ranked as the world’s most valuable restaurant brand.

The world’s second most valuable restaurant brand ranked is McDonald’s, according to the figures it has seen its brand value decrease 7% this year to $36.9bn (£30.6bn).

Wednesday, 15 March

Meta to layoff 10,000 employees amid ‘year of efficiency’

Meta is cutting 10,000 more staff and will not be filling 5,000 open vacancies, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday (14 March) in a memo to staff.

This is Meta’s second wave of redundancies in the last six months. In November last year, the Facebook and Instagram owner laid off 11,000 employees.

Zuckerberg laid out a plan for the upcoming months at Meta, which alongside cuts includes cancelling “low priority” projects and restructuring to flatten the business’s organisations.

Since Meta reduced its workforce last year, Zuckerberg says “one surprising result is that many things have gone faster. In retrospect, I underestimated the indirect costs of lower priority projects.”

Meta made a profit of more than $23bn in 2022, but faced its earnings being down 4% year-on-year in the three months to the end of December 2022.

“I think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years,” Zuckerberg added.

TikTok considering a split from ByteDance if US proposal fails, reports say

TikTok is considering splitting from its parent company, ByteDance, according to a Bloomberg News report.

The prospective separation would be in response to the US government’s concerns around national security risks regarding the app and its parent company.

TikTok is currently under a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and has agreed to a range of measures as part of the plan. However, CFIUS has reportedly “stalled” the process and TikTok is unsure if its plans will be enough to allow it to operate in the US.

The news comes following increasing suggestions and worries that user data could be used by the Chinese government.

In the UK, security minister Tom Tugendhat has asked the government’s cyber-security experts to investigate risks posed by TikTok, the BBC reported yesterday (14 March).

“Understanding the challenges these apps pose, what they are asking for and how they reach into our lives, is incredibly important,” he told Times Radio.

Channel 4 marks Sign Language Week with awareness campaigns

To mark 2023’s Sign Language Week, Channel 4 is airing its leading shows with British Sign Language interpretation throughout the week. Shows such as the Great Pottery Throw Down, the Last Leg and Derry Girls will feature a BSL interpreter.

The channel has also introduced a Signed category to All 4. There, viewers can now access and explore signed content in one place, including 50 hours of new signed dramas, documentaries and comedies, Channel 4 says.

Channel 4 is also launching signed indents, created by the channel’s in-house announcer team, in collaboration with its Equity and Inclusion and Access Services teams, across Channel 4, E4 and All 4.

“It’s essential that Channel 4 and its content is accessible to everyone, and that we constantly strive to support the Deaf community both on and off-screen,” says Giles Barker, disability lead at Channel 4. “We’re incredibly proud to show a diverse range of shows with BSL interpretation as we add much more to our line-up throughout BSL Week.”

Jameson launches global campaign aimed at travel retail

Jameson’s new global campaign, ‘Arrive Like a Local’ in partnership with Irish Distillers, will be exclusive to global travel retail, the brand announces.

As part of the campaign, Jameson has created a digital library of city guides to provide information on ‘Jameson-recommended’ places to explore while away.

The campaign extends the brand’s ‘Widen the Circle’ brand platform, inviting “old and new” Jameson fans to connect as a global community.

The campaign, which will be live across digital, social, and out of home as well as featuring retailer integration hopes to drive footfall the in-store experiences across “key travel hubs”.

“Jameson wants people to feel connected, wherever they go. And we are doing that by equipping them with the tools they need to arrive like a local in the key cities that Jameson Fans love to travel to,” says Liya Zhang, vice president of marketing at Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail.

“We believe that this campaign will bring travellers closer to their destinations and create a deeper connection with local people and our Jameson brand,” she adds.

OpenAI launches ‘more creative’ GPT-4

The artificial intelligence company OpenAI has released GPT-4, its latest version of the AI system which powers ChatGPT, which made headlines when it launched at the end of 2022.

The company says GPT-4 can solve “difficult problems with greater accuracy” thanks to its “broader general knowledge and problem solving abilities”.

It’s “more creative and collaborative” than early iterations, and will be able to compose songs, write screenplays and learn users’ writing styles, the company says.

It is available for users who subscribe to Chat GPT Plus, the paid for version of Chat GPT.

The company still warns users that the platform could “hallucinate” facts: “Great care should be taken when using language model outputs, particularly in high-stakes contexts, with the exact protocol (such as human review, grounding with additional context, or avoiding high-stakes uses altogether) matching the needs of a specific use-case,” it says.

Tuesday, 14 March

Aviva appoints Direct Line’s Kerry Chilvers marketing director

Aviva has named Kerry Chilvers customer and marketing director for general insurance.

Known for her ability to build high performing teams, Chilvers joins from Direct Line Group where she spent nearly two decades, most recently as group brand lead.

Over her nearly 19 years at the insurance firm, she worked her way up from head of marketing on Privilege Insurance in 2004, to marketing director of Direct Line and partnerships in 2011, before becoming group brands director in 2013, a role she held for more than seven years before taking on her last position of brand tribe lead in 2020.

She worked alongside the firm’s recently departed managing director for marketing and digital, Mark Evans, for more than a decade, who described Chilvers as an “amazing” leader.

During her time at Direct Line she was responsible for driving marketing output and performance, alongside digital retailing and leading new product innovation and development across group’s portfolio.

Chilvers was central to the success of several high-performing campaigns, including ‘The Fixer’ and ‘We’re On It’, the latter of which took home the Grand Prix at the Marketing Week Awards in 2021 for its ability to drive both long- and short-term business impact.

At Aviva, she will report into chief customer and marketing officer, Cheryl Toner, and alongside marketing director for centres of excellence, David Erixon and customer and marketing director for UK and Ireland Life, Paul Fletcher, both of whom recently joined from NatWest.

TikTok accused of failing to handle sexual harassment claims

TikTok’s working culture has been brought into the spotlight again after several women in London have come forward accusing the firm of mishandling cases of sexual harassment.

The brand’s former head of UK ecommerce studio operations, Steve Ware, has been accused of inappropriate touching, lewd comments and an attempt to kiss one member of his team, according to the Financial Times.

Ware has told the paper all allegations are “false”.

One female employee said she was repeatedly propositioned by him and felt unsafe and trapped when in a room alone with him. On reporting the situation to Ware’s manager he was put on paid suspension. The employee submitted around 30 screenshots of communication and a list of people who would support her account but Ware resigned from TikTok in September 2022 ahead of the investigation’s conclusion.

While TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, said Ware’s behaviour fell short of its code of conduct it also said this all happened before the employee and Ware were in a “consensual romantic relationship”, which she denies ever happened.

Following the result of the investigation her fixed-term contract was terminated. “They realised he had left, and it did not reflect badly on TikTok anymore,” she told the FT. “I was left waiting for six months without any outcome… I did not get any justice.”

“I was scared of losing my job if I said something… and [that is what happened] in the end,” she added.

Several other women, both internal and external, have come forward claiming similar cases of sexual harassment.

TikTok says it is “fully confident in the rigour of our process for surfacing, investigating and taking action on any and all complaints of this nature”. “Harassment of any kind in our workplace is completely unacceptable and will be met with the strongest form of disciplinary action possible.”

Consumers across generations reverting to pre-Covid media habits

While the pandemic resulted in a significant convergence of media habits, however the latest data from IPA TouchPoints shows this trend is now reversing, with consumers reverting back to their pre-Covid consumption.

There is now a 37% correlation between the commercial media usage behaviour of people aged 16 to 34 and those over 55 in terms of reach. This is significantly down from last year when there was a 52% correlation between the two age groups and two percentage points lower than the 39% recorded in 2020 pre-lockdown.

Consumers’ daily consumption of commercial media has fallen by nearly an hour since 2015, the latest data shows. People aged over 16 in the UK spent four hours and 44 minutes with curated commercial media in 2022, down from five hours and 35 minutes seven years ago, a 15% decline.

The figure is down by 15 minutes compared to pre-lockdown 2020.

The change is being driven by the youngest age group, with those aged 16 to 34 spending an hour and 22 minutes (22%) less on commercial media compared to 2015. Although this is relatively unchanged compared to 2020, with people in this age bracket spending two minutes more per day in 2022.

In line with this, time with digital media platforms is also soaring for younger generations, with those aged 16 to 34 spending 80% of their commercial media time with digital media platforms, a 10% increase since 2020. The top five platforms for this age group are all driven by social and video sharing, with Facebook coming out on top followed by YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

Those aged 35 to 54 spend 52% of their commercial media time with digital channels, while over 55s spend just 28% of their time on digital media platforms.

The top five platforms for weekly reach among 35 to 54s are Facebook, ITV/STV, YouTube, Channel 4 and Instagram, while for over 55s it’s ITV/STV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Facebook and Sky Entertainment.

Meta preps fresh wave of job cuts

Meta is reportedly planning to slash thousands more jobs as it continues to look for ways to cut costs.

Reporting “several people familiar with the matter”, the Financial Times says Mark Zuckerberg plans to make the second round of cuts to Meta’s workforce tomorrow.

The digital giant, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has already cut 11,000 jobs from its workforce, which had stood at 87,000 until late last year.

Zuckerberg said last month Meta had to adopt a mantra of “efficiency”, which would involve getting rid of ineffective projects and removing some middle management role to enable faster decision making.

Bulldog aims to avoid category clichés with latest global campaign

Men’s skincare brand Bulldog has launched a global campaign that aims to avoid category clichés and demonstrate it “shouldn’t be complicated” for men to find the right products.

The brand has done away with shirtless models and close-up face splashes, instead portraying what it believes is a truer representation of how men approach skincare.

The first ad is set at a house party and is designed to show the ease of Bulldog products, while the second highlights the design of its bamboo razor. Both feature a telepathic bulldog who takes on the role of an advisor encouraging men to make the right choices for their skin.

“Men welcome recommendations on what phone to buy or what series to stream, but a five-minute chat about skincare is often unknown territory for many,” says James Barnes, general manager at Bulldog Skincare.

“At Bulldog, we have always believed that skincare shouldn’t be complicated, nor should finding the right products be a daunting task. That’s why we want to demonstrate just how easy it can be for men to discover quality products that are purpose built for them.”

The campaign, which has been developed by recently appointed agency Be The Fox, will initially go live across the UK on video on demand, out of home and digital platforms before launching in markets across Europe and North America.

Monday, 13 March

HSBC to acquire Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm

HSBC UK has agreed a deal with the government to acquire the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm (SVB UK) for £1.

HSBC says the transaction completes “immediately”. A government statement says customers and businesses with money deposited in SVB UK will be able to access it and other banking services as normal.

The deal follows a weekend of rapid negotiations as the government raced to find a solution that would prevent a wave of UK tech firms from going bust. On Saturday, the leaders of more than 200 tech companies signed a letter to chancellor Jeremy Hunt calling for the government to take action.

SVB specialised in lending money to startups and had grown quickly over the past 10 years. The business had over 8,500 employees globally.

However, the bank had struggled as higher interest rates made it more difficult for startups to raise funds through private fundraising, and the number of clients withdrawing deposits snowballed.

According to HSBC, SVB UK had loans of around £5.5bn and deposits of approximately £6.7bn as of 10 March. For the year ending 31 December, the UK arm recorded a profit before tax of £88m.

“Final calculation of the gain arising from the acquisition will be provided in due course,” the bank says.

BBC talks with Gary Lineker ‘inching forward’ as broadcaster races to resolve row

Talks between the BBC and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker are “inching forward”, according to reports, with the intention to get the football presenter back on screen this week.

The broadcaster’s weekend sports programming was almost entirely disrupted as presenters, commentators and pundits pulled out en masse to protest the decision to suspend Lineker for a tweet comparing the government’s language around asylum seekers to that used in 1930s Germany. The BBC had considered the tweet to be in violation of its impartiality policies.

A number of sports shows were compromised, with Football Focus, Fighting Talk and Final Score entirely axed from the schedule. On Saturday the BBC was forced to run a condensed version of Match of the Day showing game highlights only without any voiceover.

BBC director general Tim Davie apologised for the disruption but has said he will not resign, instead claiming he wants to find a “reasonable solution” with the presenter.

Hyundai’s pronunciation campaign triples brand’s ad awareness

Hyundai’s campaign to teach the British public how to correctly pronounce its name has successfully caught the attention of consumers, driving significant uplifts in word of mouth exposure, ad awareness and consideration since launching on Boxing Day.

According to YouGov’s BrandIndex tool, Hyundai saw the highest increase in word of mouth exposure during January out of all brands tracked in the UK, meaning more people are talking about the car brand now than at any time since tracking began in 2013. The measure exceeded a score of 7 for the first time, having never previously surpassed a score of 5.

Ad awareness has approximately tripled since ‘The Dawn of a New Hyundai’ debuted, while the brand’s positive buzz score more than doubled between 1 January and 28 January, from 3.1 to 7.

At the same time, consideration reached its highest level in a decade, with an average score of 16.6 for the first month of the year. In January 2022, Hyundai’s consideration score was 2.5 points lower at 14.1.

The ad appears to have resonated particularly well with consumers earning £50,000 or more, with the word of mouth measure experiencing the biggest boost among this group. Those aged 50 or older are also significantly more likely to be talking about the brand, though according to YouGov’s Profiles tool, this group is also least likely to be in the market for a car purchase this year.

Tesco to introduce additional charge for online suppliers

Tesco is reportedly set to introduce an additional fee for suppliers when their products are sold via the supermarket’s ecommerce website.

An email seen by the BBC said the new “fulfilment fee” is necessary to help the grocer “shoulder the costs” of serving customers online. Suppliers which refuse the fee could face range reviews and different price plans.

It is thought the charges could amount to an additional 12p per item on branded goods and 5p for own-label products, regardless of the item’s price. Businesses with a turnover of less than £250,000 will be exempt, however it will include online sales through Tesco’s wholesaler Booker.

Tesco has yet to set a deadline for suppliers and said the email was “the start of conversations”.

Samsung sponsors Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch

Samsung is the new official partner of Channel 4’s weekly Sunday Brunch programme, as the tech brand looks to promote its premium home appliances and Bespoke Home range.

On top of sponsorship bumpers shown during breaks, the deal has seen the entire Sunday Brunch kitchen kitted out with Samsung products, from the ovens to the microwave and fridge freezer. The show will also feature Samsung’s other products, such as its Frame TV.

Brokered by media agency Starcom, 4Sales and Sunday Brunch producers Remarkable, the sponsorship started yesterday (Sunday 12 March) and will last 12 months. Creative agency Exposure produced the sponsorship idents.

Samsung’s head of brand marketing for home appliances, Gino Grossi, says the brand is “excited” to sponsor a “highly regarded and popular” programme.

“This partnership will help Samsung build a strong proposition for consumers, creating desire for the full range of our premium appliances,” he adds.