Campaign articles from January 1998

Campaign archives from January 1998

Composed WCRS creative takes the helm at BMP. (United Kingdom advertising agency executive Larry Barker)
January 30, 1998... Larry Barker's diplomacy helped him end a union of 17 Years, Emma Hall says "I need to talk to you. Today." Larry Barker had already spent an hour staring at his telephone before plucking up the courage to dial Rooney Carruthers' number and...

Manhattan merger mystery that led to GGT crisis. (United Kingdom advertising agency GGT Group subsidiary Wells BDDP loses Proctor & Gamble account)
January 30, 1998... P&G's pull-out from Wells BDDP has roots in the GOT takeover, Karen Yates says Last week was hell for Michael Greenlees, chairman of the GGT group. News that the mighty Procter & Gamble had fired its New York office -- Wells BDDP -- sent...

The kings of Madison Avenue. (views of Omnicom Chief Executive John Wren)(Interview)
January 30, 1998... In the first of a series of interviews with the top names in US advertising, Caroline Marshall talks to the new head of Omnicom For all the marble in the lobbies and the elegant offices in the skyscrapers, the notion of the larger-than-life...

Dentsu plans to expand global networks with flotation cash. (Japanese advertising agency Dentsu)
January 30, 1998... The Japanese agency will invest in a second-string agency Karen Yates says What would you do if billions of dollars suddenly came your way? It's a question that Dentsu, the world's largest advertising brand, is happily contemplating after...

Ted Turner's marriage guidance allows the Time Warner odd couple to find happiness. (media businessman Ted Turner's relationship with Time Warner)(Company Profile)
January 30, 1998... Time and Warner have put their differences aside, and it's about time too. If opposites attract, then the 1989 merger between Time Inc and Warner Communications was destined to be a marriage made in heaven. It may yet work out that way, but...

ADS: a gay-free zone. (advertisers reluctance to use gay media)
January 30, 1998... We've come a long way in the past ten years. When even the Archers has a gay character, you know lesbian and gay people are making serious inroads into the mainstream. Although a UK ad campaign featuring gays or lesbians in a positive...

The G word. (advertisers reluctance to target the gay community)
January 30, 1998... Major adverstisers are still reluctant to tap into gay media and their high-spending audience. Belinda Archers asks, what's their problem? They have a high disposable income, they're predominantly ABC1, they're trend-setting, renowned for...

European seeks upmarket niche. ('European' magazine)(includes publishing chronology)
January 23, 1998... The European revealed its latest guise on newsstands this week as a fully fledged magazine, marking the sixth major revamp since its launch in May 1990. The new look is the work of Andrew Neil, editor-in-chief of the European, who joined the...

Voiceover row reaches impasse. (Equity union disputes artists' fees for advertisement voiceovers)
January 23, 1998... THE IPA/ISBA POSITION The ad industry's representative bodies call on Equity to drop pre-conditions and start talking The Equity dispute over artists' fees for commercials voiceovers moved on to a new footing this week with an...

Start-up with management consultancy in sights. (advertising agency Circus)(Company Profile)
January 23, 1998... Harriet Green cuts through the Circus jargon to see if it's an act with a difference Roll up, roll up. Come and see the strange creatures. Circus has come to town, promising much that will amaze -- including admen who closely resemble...

US agency to work its Nike magic from UK shores. (advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy)(Interview)
January 23, 1998... Mairi Clark discovers what plans Wieden & Kennedy has for its British launch When Wieden & Kennedy set up in the United States it was a place for its two founders to escape office politics and get on with their jobs. Soon after, it won the...

Can MacKenzie revive the fortunes of the Mirror? (Mirror Group Deputy Chief Executive Kelvin MacKenzine)
January 23, 1998... News Bunny rides to the rescue at the Mirror. Yes, after three years at Live TV, Kelvin MacKenzie is back in the newspaper business once again. Last week, he became deputy chief executive of the Mirror Group. His big challenge is to reverse the...

Red launch puts Emap Elan's director in mood for combat. (Managing Director Sue Hawken)
January 23, 1998... Sue Hawken is ready to hit people who sniff at Elan's new title. "I hate criticism -- I feel like punching people." This is certainly a woman who doesn't mince her words. But I'm slightly taken aback by the forceful language issuing from the...

What does the MMC's report imply for the radio industry? (Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigation of proposed deal between Capital Radio and Virgin Radio)
January 23, 1998... An official inquiry into the Capital-Virgin deal caused a stir, Alasdair Reid writes It's been a funny old month for the radio industry. Funny peculiar, that is -- they're certainly not laughing down at Capital Radio. First, Richard Branson...

How Associated New Media brought London's charms to online readers. (electronic periodical 'This is London')
January 23, 1998... This is London has listings but it is also an electronic paper updated six times a day. Not long ago, when the Net was a club for I academics and cybergeeks, it was possible to run from conference to conference and spark serious debate by...

The interactive revolution still needs a cautious approach. (digital television)
January 23, 1998... Digital TV promises many advantages to marketers, bid John Owen thinks that a lot of care is necessary As everybody knows, 1998 will be the year of the digital revolution. Couch potatoes of the world will unite and one-to-one interactive...

Guinness: the O&M years. (relationship between Guinness and advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather)(includes chronology)
January 23, 1998... During its 12-year relationship with Guinness, O&M has delivered truly memorable work. Caroline Marshall celebrates an era of pure genius Guinness and Ogilvy & Mather -- once the closest of advertising couples -- are to split just after their...

Advertisers praise brave new ITV. (ITV sets performance targets)
January 16, 1998... Advertisers and agencies have heralded as brave and revolutionary ITV's pledge to reverse the decline in its peak-time audience share by the year 2000 with a radical set of performance targets. The strategy, outlined to advertisers and...

Godman founder is less fearsome than forthright. (Jo Godman)
January 16, 1998... Her straight-talking style has reaped rewards for Jo Godman, Jane Austin says I'd heard all the rumours about Jo Godman, founder of Godman, Campaign's Production Company of the Year, being a scary operator. So it was with some trepidation...

Renewed focus emerges after 100 days' thought. (ITV establishes performance targets)
January 16, 1998... Eyre and Hardie maintain that ITV's bold revamp will work, Claire Beale reports One hundred days of hard graft have chiselled themselves into Richard Eyre's jaded face since he stood before the advertising community last September to pledge...

What is the future for the Ministry of Magazines. (IPC sold to management buy-out team)
January 16, 1998... Many in the advertising industry were relieved that IPC was sold to a management buyout rather than falling into the hands of a rival publisher such as Emap. But what can we expect from the Ministry of Magazines? Swingeing cuts? Ad rate hikes?...

The ladette with brand plans in mind for new joint venture. (MSc Managing Director Louise Jones)
January 16, 1998... After her success at M&B, Louise Jones forges on at MSc, Anna Griffiths writes Louise Jones, the silent weapon at Michaelides & Bednash, has decided it's time to enter the media spotlight as founding managing director of MSc, the media...

Can auditing be accurate if it is carried out internationally? (media auditing)
January 16, 1998... Alasdair Reid on the rising trend for assessing media across different countries Media auditing has always seemed a very British pursuit. Our TV market has, until recently, been underdeveloped in comparison with other major ad markets. When...

Opinion moves slowly in favour of DMA awards. (DMA/Royal Mail Direct Marketing Awards)
January 16, 1998... Some agencies feel direct marketers still have a bias toward results instead of creativity. For the third year running an ad agency has won gold in the DMA/Royal Mail Direct Marketing Awards (sponsored by Campaign's sister publication,...

How Ericsson uses James Bond to boost brand awareness. (tie-up between Ericsson's mobile telephones and James Bond motion picture)
January 16, 1998... Pierce Brosnan co-stars in the Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, with a mobile phone. Ali Qassim reports It keeps James Bond in touch with his latest love conquest, it opens doors, it blows up safes, it even drives his car. Ericsson's concept...

Fact to watch 1998. (emerging talents in the UK advertising agency and media buying sectors)
January 16, 1998... When it comes to reaching the top, there are no rules. Eleanor Trickett profiles the diverse industry talent that wins the ultimate kudos: respect, and sometimes fear, from their peers and managers At a time of year when many people are...

Adland's Napoleon licks wounds after US debacle. (Publicis Chairman Maurice Levy fails to prevent merger of True North and Bozell)
January 9, 1998... Maurice Levy's bid to halt a US merger was defeated. If Maurice Levy is advertising's modern-day Napoleon, then his tangle with True North, the FCB holding company, may turn out to have been his Waterloo. Last week's defeat of the...

What are the big questions facing media in '98? (1998 United Kingdom media market)
January 9, 1998... It's crystal-ball-gazing time again. While the year planners still look relatively empty, it's worth trying to back some winners -- and spot some losers -- for the year ahead. What are the big issues in media likely to be? The experts predict a...

Agency of the year: St Luke's. (1997; advertising agency)
January 9, 1998... Has Campaign succumbed to the cult of the Moonies, sucked in by the "virtual office" mantra of advertising's pet co-operative? Or has St Luke's been awarded "agency of the year" because of its outstanding 21 million [pounds sterling]...

Media agency of the year: Michaelides & Bednash. (1997)
January 9, 1998... Choosing a Media Agency of the Year was no easy task in 1997. That usual barometer of success -- new business -- provided scant help in a year when fewer accounts than ever were on the move. At the same time, finding an agency that stood out...

Medium of the Year: FHM. (FHM magazine awarded 1997 Medium of the Year)
January 9, 1998... When the votes were counted for Medium of the Year, Emap Metro's FHM was the outright winner. It was universally recognised that the men's magazine had a fantastic year in 1997, chalking up enormous circulation increases and storming ahead...

Advertiser of the Year: Volkswagen. (1997)
January 9, 1998... There was no contest in this category: 1997 was Volkswagen's year. The German car manufacturer challenged its advertising agency with a series of demanding briefs and BMP DDB responded with consistently outstanding work. Campaigns for...

Campaign of the Year: VW 'affordability.' (1997 award for Volkswagen's advertising campaign)
January 9, 1998... It's rare that advertising is loved in equal measure by the public, the sales director of the client company and a creative community riddled with inverted snobbery. However, two campaigns from our Advertiser of the Year, Volkswagen,...

Production Company of the Year: Godman. (1997)
January 9, 1998... Choosing Campaign's Production Company of the Year for 1997 wasn't an easy task. From a clear shortlist of Gorgeous Enterprises, Godman, Brave and Outsider, finding a company that fulfilled our criteria of creative excellence, profitability,...

The toilet duck who became the voiceover king. (television advertisement voiceover expert Enn Reitel)
January 9, 1998... Pigs, ducks, Alan Whicker. Enn Reitel's voice turns to anything. When the ad industry needs the voice of Mikhail Gorbachev by 3 o'clock, say, and then expects Mikhail to voiceover a couple of other takes in the style of Alan Whicker and...

Is it correct to distinguish art directors from copywriters? (job titles of creatives in advertising agencies)
January 9, 1998... The old job titles are less valid as teams share their skills, Think of some successful creative pairings. Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO's Tom Carty and Walter Campbell, say, or Robert Campbell and Mark Roalfe of Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe. Or...

Media mountain that GPs face. (medical journals aimed at doctors)(Healthcare supplement)
January 9, 1998... A buoyant pharmaceuticals industry generating lucrative display advertising has resulted in a plethora of medical titles, but do doctors want to read them all? The amount of professional media a GP receives is huge. In some weeks, a doctor...

Ads that go beyond the surgery. (advertising over-the-counter pharmaceuticals)(Healthcare supplement)
January 9, 1998... Agency staff have been adding medical knowledge to marketing skills to help them target the general public with products as well as GPs as the shift to over-the-counter remedies continues. All advertisers sometimes need a helping hand. That,...

Trade secrets. (advertising agency work in the healthcare sector)(includes related articles detailing creative directors' favourite pharmaceutical advertisements)(Healthcare supplement)
January 9, 1998... `Healthcare' and `creative' are not words you usually put together to describe agency work in the sector. But there may be changes to the tried and tested formula. Healthcare agency creatives are the first to admit that their agencies are...

The red-tape row. (legal responsibilities in advertising pharmaceuticals)(Healthcare supplement)
January 9, 1998... Of course, agencies must be sensitive when it comes to ads for medicines, but should people end up in jail if they get it wrong? The world of medical and pharmaceutical advertising is in the throes of a colourful dispute which could result in...

What it's like in ethical advertising. (advertising medical brands)(Healthcare supplement)
January 9, 1998... As GPs take on financial responsibility for practices, advertising must find more effective ways of heightening their awareness of medical brands, People I meet in advertising always seem to ask: "What brands do you work on?" "I work in...