The article about Penguin’s 60th anniversary (MW January 6) reported accurately on many of the promotion and publicity activities we will be undertaking to celebrate this year, but fared less well in its reporting of Penguin’s financial situation. The implication of the quoted figures is that, to use your reporter’s phrase, “investment in Penguin is […]
Volkswagen has received pitches for a multimillion-pound sales promotion drive to exploit the car company’s sponsorship of this summer’s Rolling Stones tour. Four agencies – IMP, Interfocus, CBH & Partners and incumbent Barraclough Hall Woolston Grey – pitched last week for the UK business. The account underlines the increasing emphasis on direct marketing and sales […]
It isn’t “ludicrous”, it isn’t “natural injustice” that Rupert Murdoch should own a larger percentage of satellite television than other newspaper publishers can own in terrestrial TV (Leader, MW December 1 1994). Such huffing and puffing is good lobbying fodder for our competitors but holds no intellectual water, as those working on the issues (rather […]
Private Patients Plan, the UK’s third largest health insurance company, has centralised its marketing department following the departure of several senior marketing executives. It is understood that the old structure, where each separate division had its own marketing department, has been replaced with a central marketing department. The group is thought to be searching for […]
I was stunned by the unnamed media analyst’s revelation in Helen Slingsby’s article “Saatchi moots his next move” (MW January 6) that “At the end of the day, there may not be any value in advertising beyond the people involved… if they leave, the investment becomes very risky.” Quite so. I think most of us […]
Volvo director of marketing Alexei Orlov has left the company following a restructure, which has seen the marketing role merged with sales. Orlov had been with Volvo since 1992 and has left without a job to go to. The new position of sales and marketing director is taken by Gerry Keaney, formerly director of sales […]
It seems to have been forgotten that it was the Saatchi Brothers themselves who destroyed the Saatchi empire and let down their shareholders prior to the company being rescued by others. Maurice Saatchi talks of the current regime giving little thought to clients, yet only a few years ago he and his brother distanced themselves […]
Sears boss Liam Strong is seeking a buyer for the Olympus Sports chain’s high-street stores, according to City analysts. Strong, former marketing director of British Airways, revealed the poor performance of the 200 stores in Sears’ Christmas trading statement last week. He talked of the “continued difficult trading environment for the high-street chain,” adding that […]
With a brief to shift Safeway’s `glamorous’, expensive image towards a family-oriented, affordable perception, Roger Partington has had his work cut out for him. But just a year after accepting the challenge, his strategies are showing signs o
New product development is re-emerging from the recession. Packaging is an essential element in unveiling a brand and manufacturers are turning to consultancies for expert advice on launches.
The things they wish they’d never said…
Carweek, EMAP’s most expensive and high-profile magazine for a decade, closed this week with an admission by the publisher that it misjudged the market. The closure, only 18 months after its launch, is an embarrassing and costly setback for the company, which prides itself on its experience in the car sector. “The car market has […]
Angus Porter, the UK marketing director of Mars Confectionery, gives his opinion on the findings.
Could I just clarify one or two perhaps misleading comments made regarding the recent dramatic changes in the bus advertising marketplace (MW January 6). Firstly, I would like to point out that Metrobus has not had a row with BTA over share. Quite rightly, BTA have made it clear that all these changes will not […]
Home-shopping channel QVC claims it enjoyed a record fourth quarter in 1994 with sales up 80 per cent on July to September and 400 per cent up year on year. It credits changes to the service, which have made it more like the US original. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising is in discussion with […]