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Stuart Smith
Stuart Smith is one of the most incisive and knowledgeable commentators on global marketing. He was a long-time editor of Marketing Week during the period when it was the UK's leading marketing, media and advertising specialist publication. Visit Stuart Smith Blog.
By Stuart Smith on May 4, 2012
Handily, just weeks before an IPO tipped to give Facebook a value twice that of Ford, some research has come to light underwriting investors’ colossal projection of faith. Here, to give the flavour, is Mediapost’s take on it: Social media has surpassed search, and is poised to overtake online display advertising as the No. 1 [...]
Posted in Agencies, Finance, Media, News, Research | Tagged Agencies, agency executives, comcast, display, facebook, ford, ipo, John Shelton, mediapost, research, search, social media, strata, valuation
By Stuart Smith on April 20, 2012
Mystery surrounds, as they say, the unheralded departure of Paul Weinberger (pictured), chairman of The Red Brick Road and Keeper of the UK £110m Tesco account, now under review. The rupture won’t be complete: Weinberger tells us he will do some client consultancy after his ‘retirement.’ But we are left with the distinct impression he [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News | Tagged agency review, every little helps, Paul Weinberger, retirement, Stuart Smith, Tesco, tesco account review, the red brick road, trbr, £110m account
By Stuart Smith on April 20, 2012
It may of course be a coincidence. But I suspect not, given the close timing. No sooner has Professor Terence Stephenson, speaking on behalf of 200,000 doctors, called for a ban on ‘junk food’ brands sponsoring sports events than up pops another prominent medic, advocating blanket ‘fat taxes’ on soft drinks and chocolates. Next step, [...]
Posted in Clients, News, Politics, Research | Tagged bannist tendency, bird flu, british journal of nutrition, coca-cola, coi, Dr Mike Rayner, fat taxes, national health service, obesity, obesity epidemic, pasty tax, Professor Susan Jebb, Professor Terence Stephenson, Stuart Smith
By Stuart Smith on April 16, 2012
It’s been a while since the medical profession has got onto its high horse about banning the promotion of fast food and soft drinks brands. But now, sensing the increasing vulnerability of the coalition government, it’s charging straight for the breach. The militant assault comes from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, an umbrella organisation [...]
Posted in News | Tagged academy of medical royal colleges, ad ban, Andrew Lansley, anti-smiking, bannist tendency, big pharma, carling, coca-cola, health secretary, hssfs, League Cup, McDonalds, naming ban, obesity, olympics, packaging, Professor Terence Stephenson, sponsorship
By Stuart Smith on April 15, 2012
For those who – like me – have been following the buyout shenanigans at Chime with some bemusement, the following item from Bob Willott’s Marketing Services Financial Intelligence will be of more than passing interest: Chime Communications confirmed yesterday evening [Friday last] that long-term shareholder WPP has continued its recent buying of shares so that [...]
Posted in Agencies, Finance, News, PR | Tagged Bell Pottinger, Bob Willott, buy-out plan, chime comminications, increased shareholding, Lord Bell, marketing services financial intelligence, Piers Pottinger, Sir Martin Sorrell, Stuart Smith, WPP
By Stuart Smith on April 13, 2012
But don’t hold your breath for a result. This is going to be a long-drawn-out contest, meticulously refereed at every stage by agency intermediary Oystercatchers. Not a cosy inside job, pushed through on a nod and a wink from Tesco’s C Suite, as has tended to be the case in the past. The first stage, [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, News | Tagged 24/7 real media, Asda, big price drop, Carolyn Bradley, every klittle helps, grey, JWT, Martin wood, Morrisons, new platform, oystercatchers, Paul Weinberger, Peter Cowie, Phil Clarke, profit warning, Richard Brasher, Sainsburys, shortlist, Sir Frank Lowe, Sir Martin Sorrell, Sir Terry Leahy, Suki Thompson, Tesco, the red brick road, uk business, WPP, £110m pitch
By Stuart Smith on April 12, 2012
Women in control, or controlling women? After a cursorary examination of the latest Orangina ‘Miss O’ offering from the Fred & Farid team in Paris, the answer has to be the latter. And here’s another execution featuring a female hyena: Drink Orangina diet drinks, the ads seem to be saying, and far from ‘staying in [...]
Posted in News | Tagged diet drink, fred & farid, french women, gender stereotyping, miss o, orangina, Stuart Smith
By Stuart Smith on April 9, 2012
Like me, perhaps, you missed one of this year’s most critical product launches. That’s because, for reasons still not entirely apparent, it took place on Easter Sunday. Never mind that though. All the most influential tech reviewers are agreed: the Nokia Lumia 900 is undoubtedly one of the finest smartphones money can buy, with its [...]
Posted in Clients, Creative, News | Tagged .99, apple, apps, at&t, David Pogue, easter sunday, google android, iPhone, Microsoft, Nokia Lumia900, smartphone launch, Stuart Smith, times square, windows phone 7.5
By Stuart Smith on April 6, 2012
All advertising is, in a certain sense, the cultivation of cliché. Agencies first determine – with whatever artifice their planning departments can provide – suitable socio-economic stereotypes which their creative departments then bombard relentlessly with the most seductive messages they can contrive. Success and consistency in this trade leads to agency work acquiring a highly [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News | Tagged adam & eve, Ben Priest, breakaway, David Golding, google, James Murphy, John Dryden, John Lewis, journey through life, lloyds bank, rkcr/y&r, Stuart Smith
By Stuart Smith on April 2, 2012
Cabinet Office minister Francis ‘jerry can’ Maude’s legendary communications skills were on full display last week, with a gaffe that caused the Government its worst wobble since the election. Let’s hope this is not an omen. Maude (pictured) is, among other responsibilities, the minister in charge of direct government communications. Meaning: he has been the [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Media, News, Politics, PR | Tagged audir commission, change4life, coi, daily mail, drink drive, Francis Maude, gcc, government communications centre, Jenny Grey, nhs, son of coi, uk government, Wendy Proctor
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