Leagas Shafron Davis Ayer rolls out its first `original’ work for the Volkswagen-owned Seat this weekend. The agency secured the ú5m account last year after an extended pitch for the total pan-European business was won by Ayer Europe. The new campaign is designed to highlight Seat’s value-for-money image via an interplay between two characters: one, […]

Allied Domecq has appointed new media specialist Curtis Hoy Beeston interactive (CHBi) to develop an interactive entertainment network for UK pubs. “Interactive media is now integral to our marketing plans,” says Allied Domecq Group media manager Patrick Burton. CHBi will develop an in-pub interactive entertainment system, known as Pub Net. Screens will be linked with […]

If you’re feeling alone and unloved and WLTM a N/S better half with a GSOH, where can you turn? Look no further than the Kindred Spirits ads in The Sunday Telegraph

Golden Wonder has been ordered to remove illegal flyposters for its Bandido tortilla crisp brand. The snack food giant launched a flyposting campaign through Tequila UK this year. It was intended to give its Bandidos snacks an underground, streetwise image. But Golden Wonder has now been ordered to remove some posters because they are being […]

To the child with a dinosaur in his pocket or a Monster Munch decoration on her bike, the country of origin of a premium is of little interest. But to the marketer relying on that item to boost sales, and to the suppliers responsible for sourcing it, locating reliable, competitively-priced items is a daily concern. […]

I read the article “Barclaycard Netlink fights Internet hackers” (MW February 3) with disbelief. There is no fear of hackers or anyone else gaining access to confidential data of any kind through Netlink because we have not put any confidential data on the system. Customer accounts, the area of biggest concern to us, are on […]

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) launches new guidelines this week, bringing its advice to advertisers and agencies up to date. An 80-page Notes of Guidance document includes an easing of the previous ban on promotions involving alcohol, a section covering the portrayal of the elderly in advertising, and clarification on the portrayal of children […]

Bates Worldwide is finalising plans for redundancies and beginning a new-business assault in an effort to deal with the loss of more than $300m (£200m) of Mars business. Mars shifted $350m of confectionery and petfood accounts out of Saatchi & Saatchi last week following a review triggered by the ousting of Maurice Saatchi. Bates is […]

WH Smith has confirmed it has reappointed Bartle Bogle Hegarty, as predicted in Marketing Week (February 10). However, in a bizarre twist, the retail chain has also appointed former Woolworths marketing director Don Sloan head of brand marketing, two weeks after his secret agency won London radio station Viva! 963 AM’s creative account (MW February […]

Swatch is boosting its advertising spend by 50 per cent to ú3m to support the launch of a range of new products including the world’s first wristwatch pager, Swatch the Beep.

A cross-country skier may have survived with the aid of a Mars bar, but the firm will need something more to prosper – modern marketing strategies and better product development, for a start. By Marketing Week reporters

Newspapers have been in the business of making the news this year. So it was little surprise last week that The Daily Telegraph overshadowed its financial results with news that proprietor Conrad Black intends to buy back the 42 per cent of the company that trades on the London stock market. Some old City bores […]

Asking newspapers to give details of bulk deals is one thing – trying to calculate the number of broadsheet sections unread by the punters is another.

May I counter a number of unwarranted jibes in Tom O’Sullivan’s otherwise scrupulously fair portrait of the Consumers’ Association (“Shopper’s friend counters enemies”, MW February 10). John Murphy of Interbrand must choose a new set of adjectives if he is to criticise us more effectively. Self-appointed? The Consumers’ Association? We have more than 800,000 members. […]

Esprit Sponsorship was this week appointed sponsorship agent for London Underground (LU). “We’re looking at anything from name association to full sponsorship of the entire LU system,” says Esprit account director Marcus Wight. However, care will need to be taken to avoid unnecessary duplication with the activities of LTA Advertising, which handles advertising sales for […]