US-owned toy giant Hasbro has appointed Colgate Palmolive sales director Alistair Richards to the newly-created post of commercial director in charge of sales and marketing. The business heads of the company’s two divisions, Nicola Basham at pre-school and toys, and Graham Derby at board games and puzzles, will report to Richards. At Colgate Palmolive, Rich-ards […]
Sega is to launch a 3D successor to Sonic the Hedgehog, designed to run on the new Saturn games machines to be released next month. Saturn product manager Jeremy Crisp says the game, called Bug, will launch in September. It will be technically-superior to Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog game, says Crisp. Crisp confirmed that Saturn’s […]
The EMAP and Metro Radio Groups have launched a joint sales venture across their 11 radio stations targeting advertisers on the Channel 4 Northern macro region. The joint sell, across the North-West, Yorkshire and the North-East, has heightened speculation about EMAP’s intentions for Metro. The company has been considering acquiring stakes in Metro presently held […]
Camelot’s new franchise venture company, Camelot Enterprises, has been forced to change its name. At the same time, it is appointing the parent company’s marketing director, John Kinsey, as its new chief. Camelot Enterprises will change its name to National Lottery Enterprises after it discovered a firm of the same name operates in Stockport, Cheshire. […]
Carlsberg-Tetley is test marketing a cask stout beer in 135 pubs across the UK, with a view to a national launch in October. Sam’s Stout is cask-conditioned and targeted at regular cask ale drinkers and students. It is served at 8o centigrade, rather than 13oc, the standard temperature for most cask ales. It will have […]
Scott Paper’s UK arm is launching another product under the Andrex brand name, despite its US parent declaring that all products must be rebranded under the Scott name (MW May 19). Scott will invest 6m over the next six months in the pan-European launch of two new kitchen towel ranges. Just over half of the […]
The Spar retail group joins Sainsbury’s and Safeway as the latest grocery chain to launch an own-label cola, using syrup supplied by Canadian company Cott Europe. Spar American Cola, will be launched on July 4 (US Independence Day) in the UK and, unlike other own-label colas, will roll out across Europe this summer. “We are […]
As advertising becomes less important to commercial television revenue, ITV may be forced to persuade its viewers to invest in digital services.
NBC Super Channel is planning further programming changes this autumn to consolidate recent sales and audience growth, the channel said this week as it announced the appointment of a new European head. NBC has named Roger Ogden president and managing director of NBC Super Channel. He joins in August and replaces Ruud Hendriks who left […]
As the Automobile Association’s recent campaign testifies, using shock tactics in a direct mail offensive can seriously upset consumers. But with 2.5 billion mailshots being sent last year, agencies are under increasing pressure to make their
IBM machines will appear in Olympus Sport shops next week, as part of the computer giant’s promotional campaign for Wimbledon tennis tournament. It is installing computer systems in Olympus Sport’s two main London stores and is sponsoring in-store competitions in all 200 stores. The Olympus deal marks IBM’s first move outside traditional computer retailers and […]
Last week, the Diary spent a pleasant afternoon playing zap ’em up on the new Sega Saturn games machines. All impressive stuff, but the Diary is a little concerned that Sega has the wrong marketing ploy for beating its giant rival Sony. Sega’s plan is to bundle a free game with its machine, which is […]
WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell faces increasing acrimony as he squares up to investors resisting his proposed remuneration package. The hostile ground-swell grew this week as members of the influential Association of British Insurers apparently lent their weight to the opposition. Dissident investors claim they now account for at least 20 per cent of shareholders […]
NEWS British Airways has chosen Fruit of the Loom marketing chief Ford Ennals to replace Mike Batt as marketing director.
Harari Page has created a television and press campaign for Har-vey Nichols starring the Thunderbirds’ puppets Lady Penelope and her chauffeur Parker. The ads will break in the first week of July – during News at Ten – and promote the upmarket store’s summer sale.