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By Stephen Foster on January 4, 2013
In Europe, at least, the week following New Year is a touch half-hearted; many people taking an extended holiday and, even if they’re not, disinclined to ruminate too much on the challenges ahead. But we can usually rely on WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell (left) to come up with some goods or other and he [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, Finance, Media, News, Politics | Tagged 2013, deutsch la, fiscal cliffs, frankie goes to hollywood, Gabrielle Aplin, George Osborne, John Lewis, new year, Sir Martin Sorrell, the power of love, volkswagen, voluntary tax, weekend, WPP
By Stephen Foster on December 5, 2012
We thought about writing something about a ‘WPP team’ being appointed to handle a ‘global branding brief’ for pharma giant GSK (GlaxoSmith Klein as was) but then noticed that it was: Grey London with a bit of help from Brand Union with one John Rudaisky, fresh from his triumphs as head of WPP’s ‘Team Vodafone’ [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Finance, Media, News, Politics | Tagged advertising effectiveness, Anna Wintour, campaign, Charles Wintour, George Osborne, grey, gsk, ipa, thinkbox, WPP
By Stuart Smith on December 3, 2012
There’s a grave danger that the witch-hunt against global brands who fail to pay their “fair share” of UK corporation tax will boomerang on the political class that has instigated it. Google, Amazon and Starbucks have been chief whipping boys in an excoriating grilling by the powerful parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, headed by former Labour [...]
Posted in Clients, Finance, News, Politics, PR | Tagged Amazon, corporation tax, ebay, entrepreneurs, George Osborne, job creation, Margaret Hodge, starbucks, tax avoidance
By Stephen Foster on November 26, 2012
BBH and main retail client Waitrose may have imposed their own self-denying ordinance this Christmas – preferring to expend Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal on a charity pitch – but it’s wheeled out the fizz (non-vintage definitely) and christmas pudding (literally) for cheap and cheerful mail order high street fashion chain Matalan instead. It’s a [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Finance, News | Tagged austerity, bbh, christmas ad, Delia Smith, George Osborne, Heston Blumenthal, matalan, Waitrose
By Stephen Foster on October 18, 2012
The latest IPA Bellwether survey published today reveals that marketing budgets were revised down for a second successive quarter in Q3 to the greatest extent since the end of 2009. This was due to a tough trading environment hampering profitability and cash flow amid concerns over the overall economic outlook. As a consequence a tight [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Finance, News, Research | Tagged Chris Williamson, Danny Alexander, George Osborne, gloomsters, internet, ipa bellwether survey, markit, Nicola Mendelsohn, search, uk economy
By Paul Simons on August 3, 2012
Andrew Gimson in the London Evening Standard has written a piece I’ve been mulling over but not quite had the confidence to write about; he has suggested Boris Johnson is limbering up to become the future leader of the UK. His observations are very insightful and persuasive. What has gone through my head is what [...]
Posted in Clients, Creative, Finance, Media | Tagged Boris Johnson, brand perception, David Cameron, George Osborne, Ken Livingstone, london mayor, olympics
By Stephen Foster on July 12, 2012
The latest Bellwether survey from the UK’s IPA (the agency trade body) published today shows that marketing budgets were revised down for the first time in a year in Q2 (April to June) reflecting pressure to cut costs as profit margins continue to be hit by weaker-than-expected sales. All this amid hardly surprising concerns about [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Finance, Media, News, Politics, Research | Tagged ad slowdown, ad spending, Chris Williamson, Danny Alexander, George Osborne, ipa bellwether report, uk economy
By Stephen Foster on June 17, 2012
The UK’s Leveson Inquiry into media ethics, set up by PM David Cameron to take the heat off politicians for their cosy relationships with law-breaking newspaper groups, has well and truly backfired. For Cameron and co obviously, because their cringe-making relationships with the media have been under the spotlight. But for his Lordship too, as [...]
Posted in Media, News, Politics | Tagged Charlie Brooks, David Cameron, George Osborne, Gordon Brown, James Murdoch, Jeremy Hunt, leveson inquiry, media ethics, phone hacking, Rebekah Brooks, Tony Blair
By Stephen Foster on May 29, 2012
The Leveson Inquiry entertainment goes on, with Tony Blair appearing earlier this week and being engagingly Tony-ish (the bastard), education secretary Michael Gove (a former employee of Rupert Murdoch as a journalist at the The Times) annoying his lordship with his view that a free press means that you have to accept the rough with [...]
Posted in Media, News, Politics, PR | Tagged BBC, bbc producer, bskyb, Craig Oliver, David Cameron, George Osborne, Jeremy Hunt, Jeremy Paxman, John Humphrys, leveson inquiry, Michael Gove, news corporation, Nick Robinson, Norman Smith, Robert Jay QC, Rod Liddle, the times, today programme, Tony Blair, tory pr man
By Stephen Foster on May 18, 2012
For a couple of years at least the UK media markets have been defying gravity, showing reasonable growth (in the circumstances) despite a wider economy that’s stagnant at best. Over the weekend UK PM David Cameron (pictured) will be hobnobbing with the G8 group of industrial nations at Barack Obama’s Camp David weekend place. He [...]
Posted in Finance, Media, News, Politics | Tagged Barack Obama, bully pulpits, camp david, coalition government, daily mail, David Cameron, deficit reduction, france, Francois Hollande, ft, g8, George Osborne, Greece, leveson inquiry, liberal democrats, Martin Wolf, news corporation, Nick Clegg, Sir Martin Sorrell, slash and burn, Sly Bailey, spain, stagnation, Sun, trinity mirror, uk economy, Vince Cable, WPP
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