Precision Marketing articles from July 2007

Precision Marketing archives from July 2007

Tories demand data breach shake-up.
July 13, 2007... A future Conservative government is likely to strengthen Information Commissioner Richard Thomas' hand to tackle data breaches, despite Ministry of Justice claims he already has 'adequate powers'. The move follows the publication of the...

Powergen switches business to Tequila.
July 13, 2007... Utility giant Powergen has pulled its direct marketing account out of Publicis Dialog and handed it to Tequila without a pitch. The move sees the whole account aligned into the TBWA network, after the ad agency picked up the business...

Foster's lager direct account up for review.
July 13, 2007... Scottish & Newcastle is understood to be reviewing the direct marketing account for its Foster's lager brand following a #45m marketing investment in the product. Wunderman, Scottish agency Chunk and M&C Saatchi have all previously...

IN BRIEF: Postal strike set to escalate.(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Postal workers are set to escalate their strike action with a 24-hour stoppage starting on July 12, which will wreak havoc over the following weekend. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is urging Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton to...

IN BRIEF: HTW name axed in merger.(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Harrison Troughton Wunderman's stay of execution has lasted less than a week, even after securing the #20m Orange account, which many believed would secure the short-term future of the agency brand. HTW is now to merge with Wunderman...

IN BRIEF: Learning council plots #8m blitz.(integrated campaigns of Learning & Skills Council )(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... The Learning & Skills Council is launching an #8m integrated campaign to encourage people to sign up for training and education schemes. The new campaign, entitled 'Our future. It's in our hands', has been created by Leo Burnett, and will...

Royal Mail launches 'carbon neutral' door-to-door plan.
July 13, 2007... Royal Mail is attempting to ease fears over the environmental damage caused by door-to-door mailings, by launching a new scheme to encourage and incentivise businesses to make their mailings carbon neutral. The Carbon Neutral...

VW urges consumers to test drive at night.
July 13, 2007... Volkswagen is encouraging consumers to test drive its latest Golf at night to get a true feeling of the car without the distraction of a busy city. An integrated campaign, created by Proximity London, will illustrate how driving along a...

Countryside group to hunt 'high-brow' cash.
July 13, 2007... The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is revamping its direct marketing strategy in an attempt to draw in new supporters. The charity campaigns to ensure that the UK's planning system protects the environment while reshaping...

Paramount embraces MSN to build movie-goer insight.(Paramount Studios )(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Paramount Studios is planning to build a detailed customer database of movie-goers on the back of a major campaign to promote the blockbuster Transformers: The Movie across the Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions network. The film...

One size fits all for Land Rover.
July 13, 2007... Land Rover is gearing up to promote its Discovery 3 SUV as a versatile vehicle, through its 'One size fits all' drive. The campaign, created by Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel, aims to highlight the vehicle's versatility as either a...

HSBC boosts agency roster.
July 13, 2007... HSBC has added Dig for Fire to its roster of agencies to work on a project basis for the bank. The appointment follows the acquisition of Dig For Fire by the Digital Marketing Group in October of last year. HSBC was a client of DMG prior...

IN BRIEF: EC to probe DoubleClick deal.(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... The EU investigation into the privacy policy of Google is to be widened to cover rival search engines, as concerns rise over the storage of personal data. Search engines retain vast amounts of user data, such as search histories and sites...

IN BRIEF: Personal hired for teacher push.(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... The COI has hired brand response agency Personal to develop a contact programme to encourage and assist aspiring head teachers in their career progression on behalf of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). The programme will use...

IN BRIEF: VW launches Passat blitz.(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Volkswagen is aiming to cut through marketing jargon and position its latest Passat as the only sensible car in a world of 'fluff and nonsense'. A direct mail campaign, created by Proximity London, will target 130,000 prospect and current...

Open University set to hand brief to McCann.
July 13, 2007... The Open University (OU) is poised to appoint McCann Erickson Birmingham to its #10m integrated marketing account, including direct mail, DRTV and brand work. The account was called into review in December 2006 following the appointment of...

Virgin newly-weds eye Mauritius.(marketing of Virgin Holidays Ltd.)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Virgin Holidays is launching a campaign to promote its latest holiday destination, Mauritius. The campaign has been created by Virgin Holidays' direct marketing agency Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw. Press adverts will be placed in a...

IN BRIEF: Google attacks EC data chiefs.(Google Inc.)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Google has hit back at EC data protection chiefs following criticism of how long it holds customer information, claiming data retention does not fall within their remit. The search giant's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer says the...

IN BRIEF: TFL hunts agency for #16m brief.(Transport for London )(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Transport for London (TFL) is seeking an integrated agency to handle its external recruitment activity, worth an estimated #16m. The contract will initially be awarded for two years with a further two- year prospect. The agency will also be...

IN BRIEF: William Hill pushes 'bingo at home'.(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Sports betting service William Hill is aiming to encourage consumers to play online bingo at home, though an integrated campaign. The drive, 'ditch the dabber' created by Otley-based agency Prego, will push the gaming giant's new online...

K-C rolls out #2.5m 'longer' Andrex blitz.
July 13, 2007... Kimberly-Clark is to kick-start a #2.5m blitz to support the launch of its new Andrex Longer Lasting toilet roll, which it claims is 50 per cent longer than rival brands. The campaign - comprising TV ads, in-store promotions, a dedicated...

Toshiba in repositioning drive.(www.toshiba-europe.com)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Toshiba Electronic Group is aiming to reposition itself as a 'leading innovation' brand, through a pan-European integrated campaign. The company has appointed agency Mason Zimbler to devise the initiative, which will push Toshiba's latest...

Planning is the glue holding it all together.(analysis of planning)
July 13, 2007... Could planning be the most important department in modern day advertising? As creative director of an integrated agency, I wouldn't dare make such a pronouncement. However, there is no doubt planning is emerging as the glue that holds the...

Email deal boosts US DMA digital practice.
July 13, 2007... New York The US DMA is to boost its digital credentials by joining forces with the Email Experience Council (EEC), a global professional organisation focused on best practice, whose members include Cisco, Forbes and Unilever. The...

US financial giant is rocked by data theft.
July 13, 2007... Florida An employee of one of the US' major financial processing companies stole 2.3 million consumer records containing bank account and credit card information. The employee worked at Fidelity National Information Services' Florida-...

China and Japan strike postal services deal.
July 13, 2007... Japanese and Chinese postal authorities have signed a deal this week to bolster co-operation in services across the two countries, which will see them collaborate in the future running of their post delivery systems. The two governments...

Avoid the rat-race - listen to customers.
July 13, 2007... In today's fast moving and unforgiving market, there is no margin for error. We all know that marketing blunders have a nasty habit of coming back and biting you - look at what happened to Dasani water in the UK. Such high profile disasters...

ANALYSIS: Why 'best in class' networks don't come cheap.(industry forecasts of marketing industry)
July 13, 2007... The rush is on to snap up direct marketing businesses as the new groups take on the big five holding companies. But, as one group has found, integrating disparate disciplines is not so simple WKS Results' obviously had the inside track...

How the MoD managed to shoot itself in the foot.
July 13, 2007... An insensitive direct marketing blunder by the Ministry of Defence comes as a timely reminder of the importance of using deceased suppression files With no end in sight to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Armed Forces recruitment...

Brands warned: divert budget or lose out online.
July 13, 2007... Wondering why your website fails to convert and retain customers? Diverting some of your digital budget into improving the user experience might well be the answer In the rush to create an online presence, many companies have forgotten...

OPINION: How to find the UK's white sock capital.(forecasts and trends of markets)(Brief article)(Column)
July 13, 2007... The other day I gave a talk to my colleagues about the nature of reality. I signed off the talk by saying 'so it's au revoir to Derrida, adieu to Bourdieu, and Foucault to Foucault'. I thought this was rather witty but it met with a po-faced...

VIEWPOINT: So, where did it all go wrong for legacies?
July 13, 2007... Everyone must know the story of the bell boy who asked, "Mr Best, where did it all go wrong?", as he brought more champagne to the famous footballer, who was lying next to Miss World, with thousands of pounds of casino winnings strewn around...

LEADER: Salutary lesson of the demise of HTW.(management of Precision Marketing Inc.)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... It's an often forgotten fact that when Precision Marketing first opened for business in October 1988, the lead story of the launch issue carried the headline 'Wunderman exodus continues'. How anyone found out that it had started in the first...

PROFILE: Pitt wants to get in your head.
July 13, 2007... Chris Pitt Having spent the past 20 years in the financial services sector, HSBC's head of direct marketing believes the only way to sell 'distress purchases' is to tap into consumer concerns Selling financial products is not many...

CONSUMER INSIGHT: The changing face of parenting.
July 13, 2007... Parenting has never been so scrutinised as it is today. With debates ranging from the right age to have children to the tribulations of balancing a career with parenthood this is a sector in flux Today's parents may be constrained by the...

Creative Critique: 13.07.07.
July 13, 2007... Nick Meads Executive creative director Carlson Marketing It's exciting to see such a strong common thread joining these four very different pieces of work: each one is underpinned by well thought- through consumer insight. First up, a...

VERTICAL MARKETS: Driving force.
July 13, 2007... As car-buyers increasingly research online before purchasing, manufacturers must wake up to a wealth of new marketing opportunities offered by the Internet and email Buying a car used to involve spending hours trudging round car showrooms...

DATABASE SOFTWARE: A singular problem.
July 13, 2007... Of the many reasons to explain the failure of CRM models, one of the most plausible is the failure to integrate effective database software There are dozens of theories as to why many CRM implementations in the late nineties and early...

MAILING ISSUES: Under new management.
July 13, 2007... Liberalisation of the postal services market continues to impact on pricing and services. Meanwhile, further down the supply chain, there are other fundamental shifts taking place One of the most significant changes following the...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Mail Order Mums list up for grabs.
July 13, 2007... Transactis is releasing its new database of 'Mail Order Mums'. The list is made up of 437,206 affluent females who have bought children's fashion, toys and furniture through the mail, or via the phone or Internet in the last 12 months. ...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Home DVD service releases database.
July 13, 2007... DD Home Entertainment (DDHE) is releasing its database of mail order customers for sale through Respone One. DDHE is a DVD mail order service offering a wide range of classic films, television and special interest titles from the BBC, Channel...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Gardeners list comes to market.(Independent Direct Marketing Ltd.)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Independent Direct Marketing has unveiled its database of enthusiastic gardeners for sale. The list comprises over 50,000 buyers from seed manufacturer Mr. Fothergills. The list is 60 per cent female mainly aged 45 years old and over,...

LIST/INSERT FILE: SME magazine releases file.
July 13, 2007... Business Info, the business magazine for SMEs, has released its database of 35,000 subscribers for rental through McCarthy O'Connor List Outsourcing. The subscribers are all business professionals including directors, senior managers ad buyers...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Insert opportunity from CD retailer.
July 13, 2007... Online CD and DVD retailer Bang CD is announcing a package insert opportunity. The online retailer sells its stock at up to 40 per cent off the recommended retail price, and offers members exclusive special offers and pre-release information....

MOVING PEOPLE: Key appointment at Prospect Swetenhams.(Lindsey Sandom-Brown appointed)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Prospect Swetenhams has appointed Lindsey Sandom-Brown as head of client services. She joins the company from HLB/WWAV where she was sales director from 2005, after holding positions at GfK and Acxiom. Welcoming her appointment Annette Holmes,...

MOVING PEOPLE: Four recruits join TMW.(Tullo Marshall Warren)(Samantha Kennedy)(Soizic Malfait)(Stephen Armstrong)(David Napier)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Integrated agency Tullo Marshall Warren (TMW) has appointed four new recruits to the company. Samantha Kennedy joins from DLKW as business director, Soizic Malfait joins as regional business unit director from Euro RSCG, Stephen Armstrong...

MOVING PEOPLE: New consultant joins EuroDirect team.(Neil Joyce appointed)(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... EuroDirect has appinted Neil Joyce as a consultant. Joyce joins the EuroDirect team from Acxiom. His new role will expand the company's consultancy team with a remit is to help client's improve the effectiveness of their marketing and he will...

MOVING PEOPLE: Aprilia appoints new marketing and PR manager.
July 13, 2007... Motorcycle manufacturer Aprilia UK has appointed Miles Taylor marketing and PR manager, having spent the past seven years in the similar role at Yamaha. He has a strong background in automotive marketing having previously also held positions...

Nice Work: Jay D'Souza.(management of Jay D'Souza at David Bogue )(Brief article)
July 13, 2007... Jay D'Souza Advertising sales manager TILT Responsibilities My role as a sales manager is a varied and challenging mix of winning new business to developing our publications and retaining our key clients. Assessing results with our...

Land Rover 'abandons' pitch.
July 27, 2007... Land Rover is understood to be abandoning the pitch for its direct marketing account, despite being in the final stages, as a result of its imminent sale and a restructure of the marketing department. Wunderman and Craik Jones Watson...

EC plots action over postal VAT.
July 27, 2007... The European Commission is threatening to take the Government to the European Court of Justice unless it amends the law which allows Royal Mail to be exempt from paying VAT, in a move which could force a huge hike in postal rates. The...

Kitcatt Nohr backs Phil Nunn start-up.
July 27, 2007... Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw is backing the launch of a media planning start-up, Trinity Communications, set up by ex-Manning Gotlieb OMD managing partner Phil Nunn. The agency founders are Nunn, Amy Lennox, who was previously head of...

IN BRIEF: Zonal pricing rejected for now.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Postcomm has rejected Royal Mail's plans for zonal pricing, which would have seen brand-owners pay more for deliveries of items in many rural and some urban areas, after deciding it would lead to 'unreasonable charges'. The move has been...

IN BRIEF: Walk-outs ramp up postal strike.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) is to escalate its strike action against Royal Mail in the next two weeks with a rolling programme of walk-outs this week. The strikes will see each section of the company walking out on two separate...

IN BRIEF: Intercasino plans TV push.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Intercasino, claimed to be the world's first and largest online casino, is planning a major integrated campaign - spearheaded by a brand responsive TV blitz - to drive gamblers to its site. The company has handed the brief to Personal, which...

Charities stand accused of alienating mid-value donors.
July 27, 2007... Charities should be asking for larger donations to recruit mid-value donors - and ditch the classic #3 a month request - according to a new report. It found that mid-value donors were more responsive when they believed their gift would...

Bishop to boost direct and digital at the COI.
July 27, 2007... Central Office of Information (COI) boss Alan Bishop says the Government is planning to ramp up its direct and digital budgets following a combined spend of #52m in the past year. Bishop adds: "There's more of a focus with direct marketing...

Seat builds profile for summer registrations.
July 27, 2007... Seat is launching a campaign to build brand awareness and drive consumers to its showrooms ahead of new registrations in September. The campaign, created by Geronimo, will feature the strapline 'Be Driven by your Passion' in a bid to...

Zurich jettisons image ads to embrace DRTV strategy.
July 27, 2007... Zurich Financial Services is breaking away from traditional TV advertising to move into DRTV for the first time, as part of a new marketing strategy to move into direct response. The DRTV ad, created by Publicis Dialog, will be part of an...

NSPCC tries 'Full Stop' legacies.(National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Whitewater (U.K.))(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Child welfare charity the NSPCC has appointed Whitewater to develop its legacy fundraising strategy following a four-way pitch. Whitewater will be working with the newly-created strategic legacy directorate at the NSPCC, headed up by...

Marshall in line at Wunderman.(Publicis Dialog )(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Former Publicis Dialog chief executive Simon Marshall is understood to be in the running to replace John Butler as head of Wunderman in the UK. Marshall left Publicis Dialog in May (precisionmarketing.co.uk) without a job to go to and is...

IN BRIEF: Experian snaps up pH Group.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Experian, the global information solutions company, has acquired the pH Group, a leading business-to-business analytics company to enhance its data offering. The pH Group will be known as pH, an Experian company, following the acquisition...

IN BRIEF: Honda in prize draw blunder.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Honda dealerships in the US have been left red-faced after accidentally mailing 50,000 customers a #500 ($1,000) winning scratchcard. Only one customer was due to claim the grand prize of #500 ($1,000) but instead thousands of recipients...

Costa moves online in loyalty expansion.
July 27, 2007... Retailer Costa Coffee is launching an online customer relationship management scheme as part of a revamp of its loyalty programme. It will urge Costa Card customers to register their loyalty card online to keep up-to-date with special...

William Hill in mobile gaming site.
July 27, 2007... Bookmaker William Hill is expanding into mobile phone betting, following the success of its online gaming channel. The site, created using technology from MobileAware, will provide a range of mobile services, including live sports results,...

IN BRIEF: OnePost chief urges strike settlement.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... OnePost managing director Graham Cooper is urging Royal Mail and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) to settle the postal strike before it wreaks havoc in the market. Cooper comments: "The effect of prolonged action will be a move by...

IN BRIEF: Google cuts 'cookie' lifetime.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Google is to slash the lifetime of its 'cookies' to improve its privacy practices. Cookies - data files stored on users' PCs after they visit a website - were previously set to expire in 2038. Under the new policy, they will only last two...

IN BRIEF: Digital spend 'closing in on DM'.(Brief article)
July 27, 2007... Digital marketing is fast closing in on direct mail as the biggest discipline in the direct marketing industry - alone generating sales of #52bn out of a total of #125bn for the whole sector - according to a new study from the Future...

Bensons unveils #6m integrated campaign.
July 27, 2007... Homestyle Group retail giant Bensons for Beds is planning a major integrated blitz after appointing Wand to its #6m marketing account, following a three-month agency review. The company, which is the UK's biggest bed retailer with over 220...

Royal Mail pushes Potter stamps.
July 27, 2007... Royal Mail is embarking on an integrated push to support the launch of the special edition 'Harry Potter Stamp Collection', on the back of the publication of the final book in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. The...

Think before you take on a digital.
July 27, 2007... Advertising agency buys digital shop. Direct marketing agency buys digital agency. PR agency buys advertising agency. Global direct marketing network merges with global advertising network. Strategic agency acquires creative department. ...

Marketers raided for breaking SMS laws.
July 27, 2007... Irish data protection officials have raided a number of mobile phone text marketing businesses following a raft of consumer complaints about unsolicited SMS campaigns. The raids, carried out on up to ten companies, were in response to...

US state gives public safeguards on data.
July 27, 2007... Boston The state Senate has given final approval to a bill allowing consumers to protect their personal information against the risk of identity theft. The bill will allow consumers to block new credit accounts set up in their name. It...

International phishing gang apprehended.
July 27, 2007... Rome Police have arrested 26 people who are allegedly involved in an international phishing scam targeting the home banking services of Poste Italiane, Italy's postal operator. The gang of Italians and east Europeans allegedly sent out...

Wake up to benefits of best practices.
July 27, 2007... As an industry, we pride ourselves on our accountability, providing our clients with measurable results backed by evolving technologies that allow us to analyse and optimise in ever-increasing detail. But there is an opportunity to impact...

ANALYSIS: Fresh round of ammunition to fight off the critics.
July 27, 2007... Investment in direct marketing is outstripping ad spend and grew by over 16 per cent between 2004 and 2006, a Future Foundation study has found. But will it be enough to silence industry's It is fair to say the direct marketing industry has...

ANALYSIS: Only fools rush in with Facebook marketing.
July 27, 2007... Social networking site Facebook is a tough nut to crack for marketers as paranoia is rife about unsolicited data collection. Smart brands are giving users something positive to talk about Social networking sites may be a dream for ID...

ANALYSIS: Industry backs rethink of zonal pricing.
July 27, 2007... Celebrations over the rejection of Royal Mail's zonal pricing plan were shortlived, with most people agreeing the scheme will be implemented eventually. But at least now it will not be rushed in When Royal Mail first mooted the...

OPINION: Royal Mail's fate will affect us all.(Column)
July 27, 2007... With so much emphasis being put on digital, mail is feeling as forgotten in the UK as Jenson Button. Yet while it is vital that digital becomes part of the fabric of modern marketing, mail still has a role in integrated communications. ...

LETTER: Magazines are last word in customer relations.(Letter to the editor)
July 27, 2007... It is certainly true that many companies struggle to deliver good customer service ('Can't get no satisfaction?', PM June 15). This is because the majority are not customer-centric. While it is important to improve existing forms of...

LETTER: Trust is key to email activity.(Letter to the editor)
July 27, 2007... Your article, 'How not to get trashed' (PM June 18), overlooked the most important asset in email marketing: reputation. It's not just about getting a return on the relatively low marketing investment and creating campaigns that deliver...

LETTER: Learn from KBK but don't despair.(Letter to the editor)
July 27, 2007... Learn from KBK but don't despair I was sorry to hear about the demise of Keevill Barton Kershaw. It's not good for the industry when a business doesn't make it. Everyone knows there are too many agencies chasing too little business...

VIEWPOINT: Seize the chance to make a fresh start.(environmental policy of David Miliband)
July 27, 2007... Now is the time to show the new environment secretary that the whole industry can conduct itself responsibly and sustainably When the new Prime Minister announced his first Cabinet line-up, it was little surprise to see upwardly-mobile...

LEADER: Why three is the magic number.
July 27, 2007... Anyone seeking proof of the combined power of direct and digital marketing need look no further. According to both the Future Foundation (see News Analysis), and COI boss Alan Bishop (see News) the two are not only ideally suited, they make...