Archive

Virtual reality is hitting the British high street as Visionary Shopper transforms the way in which supermarkets study their customers. By Virginia Matthews

Chocolate retailer Thorntons’ first marketing director, Pamela Langworthy, who held the same position at Dairy Crest, will oversee a new ad campaign after the previous one was blamed for poor Christmas sales. Thorntons saw a 1.2 per cent fall in sales in the approach to Christmas, which normally accounts for 30 per cent of annual […]

In the Market Research special report “Techno Probe” (MW February 24) the second paragraph of the feature stated that many market research companies operate in an unprofessional way, using dishonest researchers and doing limited check-ups on their activities. The original copy made it clear that the writer was referring to a single personal experience as […]

If Simon Bullimore really was “Canute-like”, “Mars returning to earth” (MW March 3), at the ISBA policy conference then he was demonstrating that Mars was not omnipotent, rather than the other way round. Let us not forget than Canute got his feet wet to persuade his courtiers of what he knew to be true – […]

British broadcasters in the Nineties face a conundrum, delegates heard. Despite an increase in channel choice, overall, UK TV viewing has slipped by 4.6 per cent in the past two years. Millward Brown managing director Rosi Ware said viewers perceptions of poor programming and the better performance of other media were to blame. “Poor programme […]

Rival companies marketing to students have clashed over claims that student unions have refused to take one firm’s starter packs. The marketing company of the National Union of Students, NUSSL, is launching the Student Union Bag (SUB). It contains product samples and brand information, in direct competition with the Student Welcome Pack (SWP) from Reaction […]

B&Q is to test a new convenience format for its DIY stores – known provisionally as B&Q Express. The stores will offer DIY basics such as paints and tools, but are not likely to include kitchen and furniture ranges. The Kingfisher-owned DIY chain has two store formats at present: the giant Warehouses and smaller Supercentres. […]

Battery giant Duracell has developed a branded computer game signalling the first move into interactive marketing by a major manufacturer in Europe. The Duracell Challenge will be covermounted on floppy disk on consumer computer titles in the UK and Europe. The titles represent a circulation of up to 1 million. In addition, the game, which […]

Channel 5 can expect “boom then gloom” over the ten-year period of its licence, according to a report published by The Henley Centre today (Wednesday). For while the commercial prospects for the channel in the first five years are “relatively easy to gauge”, the five years after that are much harder to assess, the report […]

Clarins, the cosmetics and toiletries company, has just launched a new design for its in-store promotional stations. The design, called Problem Solvers, has been developed and installed by Michael Sheridan & Company. It uses Clarins’ signature red and gold branding but attempts to differentiate the promotional sites from Clarins’ permanent retail fixtures. Problem Solvers aims […]

Packaging design, the intelligent layperson might think, is there to make your product stand out from the rest. But too often shelves are filled with yard after yard of look-alike cartons and me-too tins which only show up the unwillingness of

LONDON: Jennifer Laing’s return to the hotseat – as chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising London – eight years after she last occupied it has led to a mixture of back-handed compliments that have rarely been seen, even in the ad industry.

Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO is lined up to handle a campaign for the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is aimed at preventing the use of land mines world-wide. The agency is understood to have been chosen ahead of Saatchi & Saatchi and Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper. The business is set for final approval from […]

Procter & Gamble has resolved its long-running power struggle at the very top of the organisation with John Pepper, the president responsible for P&G’s international business, winning the succession battle to replace chairman and chief executi

Lever Brothers is launching New Generation Persil Liquid on March 20, with a ú1.5m ad campaign through J. Walter Thompson breaking at the end of April.