Coke in Notting Hill Carnival row
Marketing WeekNEWS Coca-Cola is threatening to withdraw its four-year sponsorship deal with the Notting Hill Carnival, after rival PepsiCo upstaged it by giving away thousands of free drinks at the event.
NEWS Coca-Cola is threatening to withdraw its four-year sponsorship deal with the Notting Hill Carnival, after rival PepsiCo upstaged it by giving away thousands of free drinks at the event.
Virgin Trading Company is slashing the price of one litre Virgin Vodka bottles – to be launched before Christmas – by 40 per cent. The decision raises speculation that Virgin is finding it hard to maintain the brand’s premium positioning. It will be the first time Virgin Vodka, which launched in May, has been price […]
Scottish Courage marketing director John Nicolson faces a testing time in the months ahead, but those who have worked with him reckon he is more than up to the task. One source says: “He’s one of the best team players around although it’s always clear that he leads the team. When you meet him he […]
The International Wool Secretariat is launching its first global advertising for the Woolmark this Friday in a 35m multimedia campaign through Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO. Friends Provident is understood to have shortlisted agencies for the launch next year of an execution-only insurance sales service over the phone. The insurance company’s 4.5m (Register-MEAL) advertising account is held […]
Nintendo and J Walter Thompson are in crisis talks this week about who will handle the computer games giant’s ad account. JWT is understood to be angered at the decision to plough this year’s budget into trade marketing instead of ad support (MW last week). It is also said to be unwilling to continue the […]
Lunn Poly is planning to join the 400m consumer travel voucher market, dominated by Thomas Cook and Going Places. The travel agency aims to become market leader in travel vouchers within two years. The vouchers are redeemable at travel agents or through Lunn Poly’s national booking centre. Four newly designed denominations will be available at […]
Advertising for Ford’s new large passenger car, the Galaxy, breaks tomorrow (Thursday). The push, by Young & Rubicam, makes reference to first-class air travel, emphasising its roomy interior. Account director Paul Venn says that it seeks to avoid presenting the car as “a ‘Mum’s taxi’ or a leisure vehicle”. An initial teaser campaign includes two […]
Mobile phone network provider Cellnet has unveiled details of its new 10m campaign through Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO, which was revealed in Marketing Week (MW August 18). At the same time, Cellnet is trying to distance itself from widespread customer confusion over how mobile phone contracts work by rewriting its literature along the guidelines set down […]
Robbie Williams, teen idol and former Take That popster, is to appear in a series of advertisements for Pepsi – dressed as a woman. The teenage heart-throb will appear on posters for Pepsi’s 7-Up Light dressed in a woman’s wig, bikini bottoms and stilettos. Pepsi is hoping his appearance will appeal to the 7-Up target […]
Britain’s second biggest tour operator, Airtours Holidays, unveils 15m of free or cut-price children’s holidays with this week’s launch of its summer brochures. The package, promoted as “Extra Special”, includes new lowest price guarantees and two new brands of holidays, Suncenters and Sunclubs, plus pre-bookable duty-free and airline seats. It brings together existing initiatives, with […]
The apparent boom for radio continues as illustrated by the latest revenue and audience figures published by Rajar. Commercial radio during the second quarter of 1995 took a little more than a half share of radio listening – 50.1 per cent. This figure has been reached after a period of steady and sustained growth. Two […]
Anchor Foods managing director Fernando Guerra is to remain with the company despite accepting a similar job at own-label manufacturer FE Barber. According to sources, the surprise U-turn was made after Anchor offered Guerra more favourable terms to stay. Barber, which is owned by Hobsons, announced in May that Guerra would join the company from […]
Traditional broadcast thinking applied to new media is obsolete – in the future, dialogue will build brands, marketing directors will be told this week. In a so-called “white paper” from new media communications specialist AKQA, marketers are advised to ignore claims by some traditional media owners that only their media can build brands. “That’s a […]
It’s official: there’s too much sex in women’s magazines. Forty-six per cent of women agree sex coverage is excessive. Only 24 per cent disagreed and a further 20 per cent were indifferent, according to CIA MediaLab’s latest Sensor survey. Even among the traditionally more liberal 15 to 24-year-old age group, 33 per cent believed there […]
ITV is pinning its hopes for a ratings recovery on its long-running drama serials. It is also planning future programming to help it attract more 16 to 34-year-old viewers, the group that advertisers and agencies have been most concerned about. The new controller of network drama Nick Elliott, who joined ITV from the BBC in […]