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BMW picks ex-Rover boss to head new Mini division

Marketing Week

BMW has created a separate division for the Mini brand, headed by former Rover executive Trevor Houghton-Berry. Houghton-Berry joined BMW in June from Rover, where he was corporate sales manager. He has also held similar positions at Citroën and Mazda. He will be general manger for the new division, which will have its own marketing […]

Mars links with Hasbro to sell branded toys

Marketing Week

Mars has joined forces with UK toy maker Hasbro to launch a range of merchandise bearing its M&M’s and Skittles brands. Hasbro has created peanut and mini M&M’s Candy Hander dispensers featuring the red, yellow and blue chocolate bean brand characters. Electronic M&M’s Power Candy Handers and Mini M&M’s soft toys will be on sale. […]

Ford and VW on collision course

Marketing Week

These days being a standalone car company is almost as frightening as being a standalone global agency network. Both species know their days are numbered; the only issues are when they will surrender their independence, to whom and for how much. Such thoughts must preoccupy the Quandt family, controlling shareholders in BMW. Publicly, they are […]

Volkswagen boss defects to Volvo

Marketing Week

Volkswagen advertising chief Bernard Bradley, responsible for the car manufacturer’s &£35m UK ad spend, has left to join Volvo. Bradley, who handed in his notice earlier this week, has been VW’s communications manager for more than a year. He will join Volvo next month as regional communications manager for its Benelux region (UK, Ireland, the […]

NatWest boss to join MasterCard

Marketing Week

NatWest’s head of marketing for card services, Jeremy Nicholds, has left to join Europay International as general manager of MasterCard for the UK and Ireland. He is understood to have left NatWest early last month and takes up his new role next week. NatWest is the largest issuer of MasterCards in Europe, and has more […]

Mars claim out of this world

Marketing Week

Who is Mars trying to kid? The efficacy of cocoa in reducing heart disease may or may not be proven, but to argue by implication that a confectionery bar, whose other essential ingredients are fats and sugars, is good for you, takes the biscuit. My kids love Galaxy and Mars Bars and I’m quite partial […]

VW puts brakes on UK launch of bank services

Marketing Week

Volkswagen has applied the brakes on plans to launch a banking service in the UK, because of the uncertainty and increased competition in this market. VW was granted a UK banking licence two years ago, and said it would be offering telephone and Internet banking. The car company wanted to extend its customer base beyond […]

VW puts brakes on UK launch of bank services

Marketing Week

Volkswagen has applied the brakes on plans to launch a banking service in the UK, because of the uncertainty and increased competition in this market. VW was granted a UK banking licence two years ago, and said it would be offering telephone and Internet banking. The car company wanted to extend its customer base beyond […]

Mars shuffles roles in Euro petcare rejig

Marketing Week

Mars has restructured its petcare operation so that the marketing of brands such as Whiskas and Pedigree will be managed on a pan-European basis. The shake-up, as predicted in Marketing Week (January 6), is overseen by vice-president of European petcare marketing Anne Francke. It hands marketing chiefs in the UK, France and Germany extra European […]

Mars condemns poor ITV deals

Marketing Week

Mars is being forced to alter its advertising plans for this year following poor ratings for ITV programmes in January and February. The confectionery giant’s European media manager Angus McIntosh told the TV 2000 conference in Lisbon last week: “Mars has just had to write down substantially its ratings for the year based on your […]