The heavy artillery of the Christmas advertising barrage formally began over the last few days with both M&S and John Lewis launching their offensives. Both have had wide media coverage, with both sets of senior management being interviewed by various ...
Read More »Ryanair changes tack as profits slump – but is it too little too late for its customers?
The boss of Ryanair, Mr Michael O’Leary must kiss the Blarney Stone every week as he deals with their latest news. The Blarney Stone is supposed to endow the kisser with the ‘gift of the gab’, something Mr. O’Leary has ...
Read More »Is this year’s Christmas campaign the last chance saloon for Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland?
M&S issued a press release on October 30 announcing its ‘widely anticipated’ Christmas TV campaign; today it gets its ‘consumer premier’ on the M&S website and social media channels ahead of the big reveal in the centre break of Coronation ...
Read More »Scam ads are becoming a global business say critics
This business of ‘scam’ ads; doctored versions of bona fide ads or ads specially made to enter awards, seems to be a rather bigger and more widespread affair than we thought. We all know the case of the JWT India ...
Read More »Paul Simons: where would I work now?
In the first of a new series in which we invite adland luminaries to tell us where they would work now if they had the choice, Paul Simons, one of the founders of leading UK creative agency of the 1990s ...
Read More »Paul Simons: Ed Miliband/ Mail row shows why PR can be a loose cannon – with ads you get what you pay for
With the Ed Miliband/Daily Mail saga running in to its third week it poses a very interesting question about being careful what you wish for. The delicate balance between the interests of politicians and the media has become a road ...
Read More »Paul Simons: power meals that mattered with John Wren and various other Omnicom big shots
My previous piece on the famous advertising lunch got me thinking about the ones that were truly about making history. When we went through the process of selling Simons Palmer to Omnicom it became clear the interest was purely for ...
Read More »Paul Simons: long adland lunches weren’t always a bad thing – despite the odd unintended consequence
I’ve just read a story written by a female journalist about the new Bridget Jones book where she reminisces about life as a scribbler back in the days when Bridget was a singleton. It got me thinking about the status ...
Read More »What other brands can learn from the Waitrose effect on the UK’s high streets
A while ago I reported back on the impact Waitrose appears to have on property prices based on searching around the Wiltshire area. This was based on our perception as we travelled around. I’ve just come across an article from ...
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