Only weeks after the launch of Mastercard’s TV branding campaign, rival Visa has begun a four-week burst pushing its own debit card. The TV ads, which have been created by Saatchi & Saatchi, use word games to illustrate the voice-over. The picture, above, illustrates `a count’. The ads are the first since last year’s Denis […]
Last week we asked, is Saatchi & Saatchi cracking up? In this week’s switchback instalment of the fairground saga, we might just as well ask the question of Saatchi the brothers as Saatchi plc.
The Observer looks set for yet another relaunch when a new editor replaces Jonathan Fenby, who resigned last week. The Sunday paper is looking to reverse its news-based strategy by raising the profile of its features, interviews and themed sections, which have failed to convince enough readers to buy the newspaper, say sources at the […]
Melody Radio, London’s easy listening station, has appointed Mustoe Merriman Herring Levy. The first work is a TV and poster campaign to break on February 1. The work is designed to raise awareness of Melody’s frequency change – it moves from 104.9 to 105.4 MHz the day the campaign breaks – and to encourage sampling […]
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 […]
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 […]
Angus Porter, the UK marketing director of Mars Confectionery, gives his opinion on the findings.
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 […]
The things they wish they’d never said…
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.
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
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]