Dave Trott, renowned creative director of the “Hello Tosh, Gotta Toshiba” era, has lost none of his ability to surprise and shock. The other day, Stephen Foster, at MAA, had the audacity to suggest that small quoted marketing services aggregators, like Media Square, never amount to much because they can’t exploit scale: only the big …
Tim Lefroy, chief executive of the Advertising Association, is now a very happy man – and with good reason. At last, he has found the perfect opportunity to evangelise his most cherished belief among an uncomprehending British public. And it is? The unpopular and startling notion, around which he has built the …
The imminent arrival of Kodak at the bankruptcy court underlines a curious paradox about technology brands. They come about by, in some way, incarnating a bold invention. They end because they have become too brittle and resistant to precisely the process of innovation that made them great in the first place. No doubt the Kodak …
An arcane row has broken out between agency behemoths WPP and Publicis Groupe over the latter’s claimed financial performance. First, some necessary background to the dispute. These days, only two things really matter for global agency holding companies presenting themselves in the annual financial beauty parade. Two things, that is, beyond a clean set of …
The last time the Department of Health tried to put the frighteners on smokers with a television advertising campaign, it got into trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority. Apparently, this 2009 ad was much too scary for children. And could, in the future, be screened only after 7.30 in the evening: That scary. Makes you …
Our man on the spot Robert Dwek quizzes the car-sharing company’s UK boss Mark Walker about its future It’s been years since I got rid of my car. As a resident of central London, I was tired of hitting traffic jams the minute I left my driveway or of having to go and sit in …
For the late Sixties Hollywood Britpack – Ridley Scott, Alan Parker, Hugh Hudson, Adrian Lyne, David Puttnam – commercials production was the school where they learned the film-making art. Tony, Ridley’s younger brother by 7 years, was no exception. Initially, having graduated from the Royal College of Art, he hankered after the austere, attic-lit life …
Remember when Sir Richard Branson stole the national flag for his own airline after British Airways said it didn’t want it any more? Well, there’s a similar golden opportunity beckoning for any cheeky entrepreneur working in the car-hire sector. After 50 years, Avis has decided to discard one of the most famous taglines in advertising: …
Which brands make us most angry? Yes, you guessed correctly. The big ones that rip us off, starve us of mortgage funds, pilfer our savings and behave with amoral disregard for everyone’s interest but their own. Anything, in short, that ends with the word “Bank”. But come, let’s be a bit more specific. How about …
Tonight’s the night. The night, that is, when we finally discover who has won the much-uncoveted title of Bigot of the Year at the Stonewall annual awards. Stonewall being a charity dedicated to promoting the civil rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, it requires little to imagine what kind of bigot might …
