Coca-Cola will reveal fourth-quarter results later this week showing an estimated operating profit of more than $800m (ú530m), bringing its annual income to $3.6bn (ú2.4m). According to Wall Street analysts, the company will also announce that consumption outside of the US has grown by more than 750 million units. But behind the buoyant projections from […]
AT&T, the US telecommunications giant which is poised to enter the UK market, is about to appoint Young & Rubicam board director David Gray as international advertising director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Gray headed the Y&R team that pitched unsuccessfully to retain AT&T’s $50m (ú33m) corporate and consumer advertising account across Europe, […]
Software company Novell is to follow the route of Microsoft and attempt to become a household name. Novell, worth $2bn (ú1.3bn), is the second largest software firm in the world. But, unlike competitor Microsoft, it is not well-known outside the IT world. Although Novell merged with WordPerfect last June – adding education, games and business […]
Shell UK dealers and institutional shareholders have received letters from sales promotion company Don Marketing accusing Shell of a cover-up involving a “flawed” promotion. Don and Shell are involved in a long-running legal dispute, due to come to court in February. Don has issued three high court writs and county court proceedings against Shell, alleging […]
Mergers and acquisitions activity may be making a return, but it is to the domestic US market that most companies are turning their attention. By George Pitcher Oh, deep joy. Mergers and acquisitions activity is returning to the market – and we didn’t even have to wait for the spring. Bliss it is in this […]
DK Promotions is running a sampling village area at the 1995 Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition in March. The area is designed to help companies that do not wish to take a full stand demonstrate products to exhibition visitors. Wunderman Cato Johnson has opened a new office in Athens, Greece. SMP, the marketing communications agency, […]
Targeting of potential cable television customers used to focus on blanket door-drops. Now cable companies have adjusted their vision of the future and are making use of geodemographic classification systems to find areas that will give the be
Nirex, the agency responsible for the disposal of radioactive waste, is launching a national press campaign and has hired Laing Henry to handle the account. The ad campaign is a response to increased opposition to Nirex from environmental groups, including Greenpeace, which has criticised plans to build a nuclear waste dump at Sellafield. Nirex, funded […]
Grey is angrily denying rumours surrounding its new Slim-Fast campaign. The agency is under attack from TV viewers and the ITC, who accuse it of artificially blowing up the “before” photograph held up by Cheryl Baker, who is endorsing the product. Baker, Grey and Slim-Fast are standing by the ads’ claim that she lost “18lb […]
The Government has chosen not to act on C4’s controversial funding formula. Channel 4 chief executive Michael Grade must have realised that the chances of swift Government action on the channel’s controversial funding formula were faint after
DIY retailing is a risky business – misjudge the market, as many have done, and there’s a heavy price to pay. So is Sainsbury’s biting off more than it can chew with plans to buy a shaky-looking Texas?
The European will launch a series of heavy promotions around the revamp of its lifestyle Elan section as a glossy magazine at the start of February. Promotion will include poster and radio advertising, supported by an extensive point-of-sale campaign. It is the culmination of investment by the paper’s owners, the Barclay brothers, aiming to revive […]
Maurice Saatchi has fuelled the legal battle with his former employers by issuing a writ alleging breach of contract. The former Saatchi & Saatchi chairman alleges that the plc “unlawfully terminated” his service contract on or about December 16 and misrepresented itself when the service contract was negotiated in June 1994. It is his response […]
This month, BrandTrack looks at the purchase of chocolate-covered countlines. In a sector where the impulse purchase reigns supreme, old favourites Snickers and Kit Kat were forced to fight hard to beat off aspirant Time Out
In today’s post-recession market, are retailers desperately struggling to keep profit margins buoyant or merely ripping off an unsuspecting public?