Saatchi: When the magic ended

Marketing Week

The Saatchi brothers are, or were, the nearest thing advertising had to a royal family. Their indisputable achievements were surrounded by an aura of mystique and prestige, knowingly and assiduously cultivated by themselves. Like Bagehot’s celebrated dictum on royalty, they determined never to let daylight in on the magic for fear of dissolving it. And […]

VYING FOR PROMOTION

Marketing Week

In the premier league of consumer goods, a promotion battle is fought out every day as special offers flood the shelves. And the results are good: this summer, items under promotion accounted for 20 per cent of the value of the average British

Telegraph gets its wires crossed

Marketing Week

The Telegraph has been making claims about The Times which might be expected from a rattled competitor but which are at best selective (MW December 1) The Telegraph has been the leader in the daily broadsheet market for many decades since it cut its cover price to below The Times, in fact. But brand leadership […]

Metrobus in row with BTA over share

Marketing Week

Metrobus, the bus contractor which evolved from Primesight two years ago, has thrown the already turbulent bus advertising market into further turmoil by capturing a large slice of British Transport Advertising’s portfolio. Metrobus has won the 4,000 strong Badgerline Group contract, which accounts for about 25 per cent of BTA’s business. However, industry observers have […]

Sainsbury emasculates Essentials

Marketing Week

Sainsbury’s has slashed the number of products in its price-fighting Essential for the Essentials campaign and relaunched the strategy under the title “Low Price Essentials”. The chain has cut nearly 200 lines from the campaign, and now only 120 are covered. The in-store marketing of the strategy has been “de-emphasised” and in-store merchandising has been […]

UK Living signs Brookside exclusively

Marketing Week

UK Living, the cable and satellite channel for women, has acquired the Liverpool soap opera Brookside. The exclusive deal enables the broadcaster to show the soap three nights a week starting with the first episode broadcast 12 years ago. Brookside will go out twice a day at 6.30pm and 11pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, […]

BTA ads: the bus stops here

Marketing Week

Allow me, as managing director of British Transport Advertising, to allay any confusion following the recent “musical chairs” in the bus advertising contracts business and the misleading information that has been circulating (MW December 9). Changes are on the way – but because of contract terms, in many cases not for one or two years […]

JWT Manchester beats 19 to Holland & Barrett

Marketing Week

JWT Manchester is understood to have won the 20-way account pitch for the healthfood retail chain Holland & Barrett. According to sources the account does not represent a huge win in terms of budget for JWT but the pitch has already attracted headlines. A series of agencies are reported to have been angered by Holland […]