Marketing articles from February 1995

Marketing archives from February 1995

Does Unilever's Move Mean Direct Success?
February 23, 1995... The prophets of doom were wheeled out by the advertising community once again last week when the news leaked that Unilever had appointed Brann Direct on a group-wide basis. Here comes another treacherous client a la Heinz on the descent to the...

BLA Group and Ford in Launch of the Year
February 23, 1995... Ford's new quarterly aims to set higher standards in motor industry customer magazines. Robin Cobb describes how BLA's expertise has been harnessed to achieve this. It's the customer magazine launch of the year. Produced for Ford by the BLA...

Tomkins Takes a Bigger Slice
February 23, 1995... Amanda Richards reports on a recent takeover in the troubled cake market Tomkins does indeed do exceedingly good deals. As the venerable Mr Kipling might have said, if asked for his opinion on last week's [pounds]35m acquisition of Lyons Cakes...

Nightmare on Media Street
February 23, 1995... A freedom to build cross-media empires is the holy grail for wanabee moguls. Conor Dignam looks at the consequences The vision of a nightmare future, in which a handful of media moguls control a monopoly of television, national newspapers and...

Faint Hearts Never Won Iron Lady
February 23, 1995... "But Harriot, come at it from this perspective. Three months ago when we were pitching for business, did anyone ever ask me who we were owned by?" It's the long-awaited flash of steel. For a woman portrayed as a harpy with balls, Christine Walker...

Pulling Power
February 23, 1995... Bulmer has brought in a new financial management system to keep a tight rein on profits. Staying ahead of the pack in today's cluttered and competitive markets demands more than being innovative and quick-witted. It means making solid,...

A Golden and Wonderful Marriage
February 23, 1995... Once Golden Wonder had to scale paper mountains to do analysis. But no more. Laura Mazur takes a look at a hi-tech union Until relatively recently, whenever the marketing department at snacks group Golden Wonder wanted to do some heavy-duty data...

Clear as Windows
February 23, 1995... At long last Windows is talking plain English. Clive Couldwell previews the Windows '95 show Windows '95, the latest all-singing, all-dancing incarnation of Microsoft Windows, gets its first real outing in public at the Windows '95 Show (Olympia,...

The Data Invasion
February 23, 1995... In the relentless tide of new data, there is a risk of the marketing function being swamped. Marketers in the packaged goods sectors are becoming alarmed at the huge volume of research data that is now threatening to overwhelm their desks. Paul...

Going for the Global Goal
February 23, 1995... This year's Market Research Society conference probes international marketing and the dilemmas thrown up by new technology. Now, more than ever, marketers need market research. The thrust into global markets will prove this, as an international...

BBC Brand Will Weather Storm
February 16, 1995... "Targeting and marketing are no match for faith and creativity: people are not to be pigeon-holed." This is the verdict of Libby Purves, writing in the Times this week on the leaked results of the BBC's two year research project into itself. Its...

Maurice: A Very Singular Case of Unblushing Gall
February 16, 1995... I don't know how many of you have read the oeuvre of the late Charles Bukowsky, but he wrote a little like Henry Miller, though without the same high moral tone. To give you an insight into his unusual persona, the only actor they could find...

US Image Fades as New Euro Jeans Air
February 16, 1995... Social commentators looking for evidence of the cultural battle between Europe and the US could do worse than watch a lot of telly. Another week and there'll be a sudden explosion in jeans ads - and a test of whether American imagery is still...

EBN TV Spearheads a Continental Strike
February 16, 1995... One of the most expensive media investments so far in the future of the pan-European media market launches this month, when European Business News broadcasts for the first time. From February 27, EBN will offer a seven-days-a-week cable and...

Tesco Tries Bonding with New Clubcard
February 16, 1995... The fevered argument that flared up again this week at the national launch of the Tesco Clubcard is proof that relationship marketing is still a contentious issue. In an official statement, rival chairman David Sainsbury said: "We estimate that...

Dalgety Runs Closer to Pack Leader
February 16, 1995... An embarrassment of riches could be one of the consequences of the Spillers/Quaker merger. Robert Dwek on the battle of the petfood brands The offer's on the table, all $700m ([pounds]442m) of it. Dalgety has crossed its fingers and is now...

Advertising Has Got to Stand Up to the PC Police
February 16, 1995... In the wake of the changes to the Independent Television Commission's food advertising code, there has been an extraordinary brouhaha in the press. As you doubtless know, among other things the ITC's new rules prohibit commercials showing anyone...

TV Teddy Signals the Way Down an Interactive Road
February 16, 1995... There's a lot more media around these days. Of course it's been years since "media" was only about what share of the budget to give to Granada, but suddenly it seems as if, just as we're all getting used to dozens of TV channels and newspapers...

Peace in Our Time
February 16, 1995... The new helmsman at ISBA has vowed to step it away from the stormy waters between advertisers and agencies and into calmer climes. Disgruntled agency chiefs looking for ammunition to throw at short-sighted clients would have come away...

Facing the Future with Confidence
February 16, 1995... I would like to say a few words about the way advertising is viewed in the business environment. It would be wonderful if its benefits were widely accepted, but they are not. The inside cover of Mr Heseltine's White Paper on competitiveness,...

Knowing His ABCs
February 16, 1995... At the age of 16, Stephen Grabiner went down to the local shop and, without telling his parents, changed their morning newspaper order from The Daily Telegraph to The Times. For the young Grabiner, The Daily Telegraph was a drab, dusty and tired...

When Loyalty Lies
February 16, 1995... Tesco's Clubcard looks like more proof that relationship marketing is the right way to go. But customers don't see it like that, says the Henley Centre. Customer loyalty is a much desired thing. Everyone accepts without question that it's more...

No Computer? No Comment
February 16, 1995... The FT invested [pounds]250,000 in installing a state-of-the-art corporate-wide database system to assist its marketers in understanding more about their customers. There was a time, not that far back, when the main priority for anyone intent on...

How to Avoid Foot in Mouth Disease
February 16, 1995... Corporate public relations blunders don't just cause red faces for a few executives. Cathy Bond looks at how they can seriously damage a company's market share and long-term viability Few crises in the making will be as obvious as Gerald Ratner's...

Different Strokes
February 16, 1995... Meticulous preparation, co-ordination and local knowledge are essential weapons for companies thinking of entering the minefield that is pan-European PR Tori Hibbitt, managing director of the Rowland company's Business and Technology Europe...

From Local Roots to Far Horizons
February 16, 1995... Paying attention to local research and what the client really wants doesn't mean having to limit either your ambition or your imagination in international PR It's rare to find a story on Microsoft, the world's largest computer software company,...

Crossing the Line
February 16, 1995... Is cross-border marketing realistic? Graham Lancaster asks if international PR is simply an attempt to knit together a patchwork of unconnected themes and strategies Like flying saucers, genuinely international PR campaigns are more written about...

Wake Up, Switch On
February 16, 1995... PR consultants have recognised the opportunity offered by breakfast TV. Beverly Cramp looks at how to keep both clients and the ITC happy The success of such innovative, early-morning television programmes as The Big Breakfast may have caught the...

What a Give-Away
February 16, 1995... They're popular with readers, editors, manufacturers and PR consultants. Julie Savill takes a look at how, in the increasingly competitive consumer press, off-the-page reader offers and give-aways can bolster brand awareness and sales There may...

Cries and Whispers
February 16, 1995... Alex Thomas examines the truth behind lobbying firms' shaky public image Lobbyists make journalists look good. On the scale of social acceptability they rank even below insurance salesmen and second-hand car dealers. Reams of sleaze coverage have...

Peace Pacts Stimulate Long-Haul Incentives
February 16, 1995... An end to political unrest in several countries has opened the door to trouble-free travel abroad This year sees the incentive travel industry in a more positive mood than it has been for a long time - for many companies, since before the Gulf...

Continental Drift
February 16, 1995... The Continent's pulling in the crowds with bargain rates, special packages and new developments With budgets looking healthier than they have over the past few years, organisers are once again turning to Europe for conference and incentive...

Look No Further: British Exhibition Centres Are Gearing Up to Tempt Business from Europe
February 16, 1995... British exhibition venues are planning to storm into the 21st century in a big way. Exhibition centre managers are gearing up to attract more business from Europe and beyond, and there are some bold new UK conference facilities in the pipeline....

Room with a British View
February 16, 1995... UK venues are thinking big to attract the new small, training conferences. The UK conference industry is having to work harder than ever to protect its market share against competition from overseas venues. Not only have the expectations of...

Stands That Deliver
February 16, 1995... Some exhibitors' wares aren't just here for show. They're the nuts and bolts of the event - literally There's a lot more to Confex than venues. A whole section of the show is devoted to the nuts and bolts of the event's industry. It's the...

All Work and All Play
February 16, 1995... Suppliers are finding new ways of meeting companies' needs for entertaining clients and staff Despite the lack of the promised feel-good factor, companies are certainly beginning to entertain again, and that means their own staff as well as...

Chief duo quits ailing Olympus. (Olympus Sport)
February 9, 1995... Sears's Olympus Sports has lost its managing director and head of marketing as it prepares to downscale its 200-strong high street chain. The retailer is closing 20 stores with the loss era further 40 jobs at head office as part era...

Moulinex Swan rejigs key jobs.
February 9, 1995... Moulinex Swan has appointed its fourth marketing chief in less than two years. Nick Hewens joins from Reckitt & Colman and takes on the role of group marketing manager with overall marketing responsibility. He will report to managing...

Castlemaine in premium move. (Carlsberg-Tetley PLC's new premium lager)
February 9, 1995... Carlsberg-Tetley is working on a secret project to launch a premium Castlemaine XXXX, hot on the heels of Bass's decision to launch Carling Premier (Marketing, February 2). The launch ties in with the general trend away from standard lagers...

Levi's Ads Bury Marketing Myth
February 9, 1995... "Advertising is dead". That idea, or variations of it, have been dug up, dusted off and paraded for our inspection at the first hint of each new challenge to TV's cultural dominance. We may not believe it, but one of its variations has seeped...

Levi's hails TV age with 'Taxi.' (Levi Strauss and Co.'s TV ad)
February 9, 1995... Levi's has become the first advertiser to put TV on the TV with a shocking new film for 501's, starring a glamorous transvestite. The film, which appeared nationwide this week, returns Levi's to the cutting edge, ten years after "Launderette"...

Twiglets adds color to pack. (Jacob's Bakery's ads)
February 9, 1995... The Jacobs Bakery is relaunching Twiglets, with a [pounds]1.5m ad campaign and packaging designed to reflect the brand personality more accurately. Market research showed that consumers saw little correlation between the brand and its...

Word-of-Mouth to Become True Measure of Ads
February 9, 1995... Coming hard on the heels of the fall from grace of Michael Jackson and OJ Simpson, Eric Cantona's all-too public brawl with a supporter comes as something of a body-blow to the "star endorsement" school of brand promotion. Marketing history is now...

DMX Picks JWT for Music Task
February 9, 1995... Digital Musical Express, the hi-tech, high-quality cable and satellite music service, has signed up J Walter Thompson to handle its European launch. DMX, which hopes to create a niche between radio and private record collections, promises to...

A Funny Ad That Misses the Mark Has Sad Results
February 9, 1995... Have you ever considered the differences between US advertising and British? Our virtue, I think, is that we are more entertaining on the whole than they are. The virtue of American advertising is that it sells harder. Some say this is because...

Sun Signals End to Price Battles
February 9, 1995... News International is tipped to raise the price of The Sun before the end of March, as spiralling newsprint costs force the industry's press barons to end their price-cutting conflict. Rupert Murdoch last week signalled that the price war could...

Speed Is Key to the Interactive Transformation
February 9, 1995... Channel Two on my multi-channel, hugely expensive cable TV service is a thing called The Box. It plays a stream of videos with men in massively baggy clothes and women in spangled bikinis three sizes too small for them bopping lasciviously along...

Virgin launches vouchers offer. (Virgin Air Inc.)
February 9, 1995... Virgin is gunning for the lucrative incentives market with the launch this week of Virgin Vouchers, going head-to-head with Marks & Spencer and Thomas Cook. The new Virgin subsidiary will target clients that traditionally use gift bonds to...

Video Market Is No Game
February 9, 1995... Video game sales have experienced a blip over the past year but with the next generation of consoles lurking on the horizon, the big players are set to return with all guns blazing. At the beginning of the 90s video game manufacturers could do no...

Sweet smell of success for Gillette. (Gillette Co.)
February 9, 1995... Gillette, the brand, topped this chart last year. This time, we've split it into Series and Sensor, and the survey shows the shaver's favourite has creamed the aftershave and male fragrance sector to take the two top spots. Young Northern...

Out on a Limb
February 9, 1995... New dedicated "innovations" roles fly in the face of current management trends and can open internal rifts. Alex Thomas reports on the innovator's troubled task Whenever someone swaps a mainstream marketing job for something "strategic" there are...

Putting His House in Order
February 9, 1995... There can be few who would envy David Clayton-Smith his role as marketing and merchandise director of Do It All. Since he joined 15 months ago, nearly half the stores have been earmarked for closure and the Dudley head office, in need of a little...

The Twiglet Zone
February 9, 1995... The knobbly, wacky Twiglet brand was, it would seem, the John Cleese of snacks, but the John Major of packaging. Robert Dwek enters the Twiglet Zone to see how Jacob's Bakery got the balance right About ten years ago, Jacob's Bakery did something...

Distinct or Extinct
February 9, 1995... In an increasingly competitive environment, if you brand isn't unique, chances are it will die. Robert Dwek talks to leading brand specialists about the 'core-full', the 'core-less' and the world of brand protection It's a story that's set to run...

Smart Cards on the Table
February 9, 1995... Who says money talks? As the launch of the Mondex smart card approaches, it could be goodbye to cash. Delegates at Smart Card 95 this month will hear much about Mondex. This will be the first practical experience of the "electronic purse",...

Cool Carling in, boring Bass out. (Carling Black Label beer; Bass Brewers Ltd.)
February 2, 1995... The UK's biggest brewer, Bass is pulling its name from number one selling lager Carling Black Label because drinkers think the Bass name lacks credibility. The move is designed to co-incide with a range of high-profile Carling brand...

Budgens drops its Penny chain. (Penny Market)
February 2, 1995... Fierce competition in the discounter groceries market has forced another contender out of the ring. Budgens' announcement that it will close fledgling Penny Market chain follows Argyll Group's exit with the sale of 101 Lo-Cost stores to...

Lilt in redesign to stop decline. (Coca Cola Great Britain's Lilt soft drink)
February 2, 1995... Coca-Cola has appointed design agency Coley Porter Bell to produce a new pack design for its totally tropical soft drink Lilt, only two years after the last revamp. Lilt has declined in the UK, falling by 10% in real terms between 1989 and...

Atari switches to attack mode. (Atari Corp. marketing campaign)
February 2, 1995... Atari is launching a [pounds]7m-plus pan-European marketing campaign in response to its own research which showed a decline in the video games market. The US company has previously trailed behind its Japanese rivals, Sega, Nintendo and more...

Radio 1 Battles Falling Figures
February 2, 1995... Radio 1FM is to mount a [pounds]2m ad assault to reverse declining audience share as the latest Rajar figures reveals the loss of another 200,000 listeners in the last three months of 1994. The Rajar figures for October-to-December show that the...

Will Birth Pangs Leave Channel 5 Fit for Long Life?
February 2, 1995... The Independent Television Commission has invited applications for Channel 5. The licence is to be awarded later this year, and the station probably on air early in 1997. However, taking a look at the recent success of satellite and cable channels...

Ads Must Create Excitement, Not Irritate Viewers
February 2, 1995... Spots caused by a nasty virus called "ish" have started appearing on our TV screens. The symptoms? Desperately tentative propositions presented to consumers in a manner which, at times, verges on the apologetic. This is good'ish. Better'ish....

Adland Attacks TV Watchdogs
February 2, 1995... Industry organisations called for reform of the "barmy" system for regulating TV advertising this week after two statutory bodies came to opposite conclusions about a controversial TV ad. The Broadcasting Standards Council upheld complaints in...

DMA to Elevate Industry Image
February 2, 1995... The Direct Marketing Association has unveiled plans to create an industry-wide consumer pre-payment protection scheme. The scheme is one of a raft of initiatives, revealed exclusively to Marketing, designed to fend off EC legislation, improve...

Banks Running Image Ads Just Doesn't Add Up
February 2, 1995... US talk-show demagogue Rush Limbaugh, whose politics are worryingly close to those of the late Genghis Khan, has written two bestsellers with titles distinctly better than their content: The Way Things Ought To Be and There, I Told You So. The...

Carlton guide to set out ad spec. (Carlton Television Ltd.)
February 2, 1995... Carlton TV is to publish a guide for clients and agencies on the format of advertising it will accept after ITV's ban on the Daily Mirror ads linked to BBC's Big Break. ITV companies are refusing to broadcast advertising which they see as...

Fragmentation Demands a New Targeting Ethos
February 2, 1995... Fragmentation. Oh no, not that word again... It has certainly become the buzz word throughout the media marketplace. Whether it be your target audience or your budgets, there appears to be a vast array of media options to choose from and we are...

Putting Marketing in the Driving Seat
February 2, 1995... Marketing has been on the periphery for too long. It must play a central role in UK commerce and industry and The Marketing Council can take it there. The new Marketing Council, announced last week, is a timely and important initiative, following...

Waking Up to the 21st Century
February 2, 1995... Business consultancy The Monitor Group has a vision of the future - The 21st Century Corporation. There's no time to sit back and rely on past success: companies must innovate to accumulate. Harriot Lane Fox sorts the dinosaurs from the go-getters...

Runway Success
February 2, 1995... Meeting Sir Colin Marshall is akin to an audience with an old-style monarch. Not the let-it-all-hang-out modern variety. But a monarchy bathed in the hush of right-royal reverence. "Sir Colin is giving us three quarters of an hour." "We'll have...

Stationery Movers
February 2, 1995... The paper industry is turning over a new leaf in marketing, with brand building now a vital tool. There was a time when a sheet of paper was just a sheet of paper. These days, however, paper used for business stationery is no longer a face-less...

Business Magazines Week
February 2, 1995... The magazine you're reading now is one of Britain's 5,352 business titles. In marketing, as in other businesses, there are few people who can honestly say they never read the 'trade' press. Business magazines have a closer relationship with their...

Service without a Smile
February 2, 1995... Glowers and grunts from salespeople have ruined many a shopping spree. Now, it seems, customer service is lacking even in companies that cultivate a 'friendly' image. A major study of UK service standards concludes that newsagents are the least...

Microsoft Creates Order out of Chaos
February 2, 1995... To banish the software pirates, Microsoft pooled its databases and then added a customer loyalty programme. Competitors may gnash their collective teeth, but when Microsoft UK calls its integrated customer database "the computer industry's...

Contracts with Killer Looks
February 2, 1995... Vogue's circulation is 180,000. The Tesco Recipe Collection notches up 450,000. Anne Massey looks at the customer magazine explosion Nowadays it takes more than a glance to differentiate between the better targeted customer loyalty contract...

Keeping the Faith
February 2, 1995... It's not enough to convert a prospect into a repeat buyer. To build loyalty, you must make a customer into an advocate of your products and services, says Professor Adrian Payne. As markets mature, customer retention becomes increasingly...

BUPA's Title Takes Customers' Pulse
February 2, 1995... BUPA keeps an eye on its members via an upbeat customer magazine. It positively encourages two-way communication, says Robin Cobb Your customers feel ill, or they are worried about their health, and they contact you. This is not the ideal...

Trade Secrets
February 2, 1995... How do you ensure your company becomes a customer's first-choice supplier? The answer could lie in 'marketplace benchmarking'. A leading lawnmower manufacturer was recently shocked to discover that its key distributors (while supposedly working...

Back in Business
February 2, 1995... For many business press advertisers the full-page colour ad is no longer enough. In response, publishers are offering 'value-added' services. It was no fun being a business-magazine publisher in the early 90s. Not only did the supply of money...