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| Welcome to Europe Latest update: 07 September 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Unicom, the trade association which represents a majority of Italian companies involved in the communications industry, has called on the country's competition authorities to launch an investigation into WPP's dominant position on the advertising market in Italy. Lorenzo Strona, head of Unicom, has asked the 'Antitrust' - as the 'Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato' is popularly known - to investigate the position as a result of WPP's takeover of Grey. That deal, Unicom says, means that the holding company now controls over one-third of the advertising market in Italy, according to the local industry newsletter AdvExpress. Strona's call has been backed by Marco Testa, head of Italy's leading independent ad agency, Marco Testa. "At a time when the market is suffering, with commissions falling, we are witnessing the continual expansion of WPP. Sooner or later clients will wake up to this, but when?", he tells rival publication Pubblicità Italia. Speaking in the same magazine, however, Marco Benatti, country manager for Italy for WPP, counters that official limits on concentration already exist and that, to a certain extent, the phenomenon benefits the market. Elsewhere in Europe this week, Martin Sorrell, head of WPP, took advantage of a trip to Paris to take a 'pop' at the French-based rival group Havas. Briefly a rival in the pursuit of Grey - the US-based network recently acquired by WPP for $1.3 billion - Havas is currently the subject of speculation as an outside investor, Vincent Bolloré, gradually increases his shareholding ahead of a possible acquisition attempt. Sorrell did not know, he said, whether Procter & Gamble, a key client, had influenced the Grey deal in any way but that Havas had repeatedly lost P&G accounts in the past. Question marks, he says, now hang over the group as a result of Mr. Bolloré's 22% stake. Click on the link below (left) to visit the site of AdvExpress, which published the story about WPP's potential monopoly problems in Italy, in Italian. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the site of Le Figaro in France, where a longer version of the interview with Martin Sorrell is available, in French.
11.11.04
Saatchi & Saatchi has developed a new campaign designed to build acceptance of Spain's gypsy communities among the general population, says the Spanish industry newsletter Marketing Directo. The work has been produced on behalf of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, a non-governmental interest group which was able to call on financing from the European Social Fund, and uses the slogan "Conócelos antes de juzgarlos" ("Know them before you judge them"). Its aim is to bring to an end the prejudices that still exist in Spain against gypsies, Marketing Directo says. The agency's approach draws a parallel between this and other forms of discrimination which would appear unjust or unjustified were they to occur: for example, if a bus driver were to react to the refusal of one passenger to pay his fare by throwing all his passengers off the bus. Developed with the aid of qualitative studies among both the public and gypsies, the campaign takes in TV, radio, internet, outdoor and merchandising and will run in two waves - one now and a second to launch in spring 2005. Click on the link below (left) to read this story and see an example from the campaign for yourself, in Spanish, on the Marketing Directo website. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit Saatchi & Saatchi's Spanish website or - recommended - here to go to the gitanos.org website where you can see versions of the campaign prepared for the internet and examples of all the pieces ('piezas').
11.11.04
Germany's discount grocery retail giants are not normally noted for the quality of their service, with barebone presentation and a minimum of in-store assistance. One, however, looks set to break that image with news that Lidl is mounting a recruitment drive and planning changes at the checkout to ensure customers are served quicker and better, says the magazine Der Spiegel. Traditionally, Lidl and arch-rival Aldi keep the prices of their products low by making savings in personnel costs and store outfitting. That one of them is now willing to change its formula may be largely attributable to the longlasting consumer slump which, it appears, is now even affecting the discount sector. After years of unbroken growth, Der Spiegel says, sales at Aldi have been falling for some months: during September alone, according to market observers, revenues were down 3% on a like-for-like basis. According to the grocery trade 'bible' Lebensmittel Zeitung, Lidl is facing even harder times, with sales down 6% year on year. This is in part due to a price-war being waged between the two chains and Lidl may be admitting that that is not the right way to turn the situation around. Click on the link below (left) to read a fuller version of this article for yourself, in German, on the Spiegel website. Alternatively, to see what a Lidl checkout looks like on a good day, click on the link below (right).
10.11.04
Adidas and the England and Real Madrid football player, David Beckham, are set to unveil their Beckham-branded lifestyle collection on November 18th, writes the German advertising magazine Werben & Verkaufen (W&V). It was first announced in March of this year that the sportswear manufacturer had produced a logo for future products based around the shape Beckham's body forms when taking his 'trademark' free kicks (click here to see that press release, in English, on the Adidas corporate website).
Sales in Germany, W&V says, will be exclusively through outlets operated by Otto, Sport Scheck and Foot Locker. PR and point-of-sale promotions will support the launch. Click on the link below (left) to read a fuller version of this story for yourself - in German - in the pages of W&V. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the Adidas site or here to go to an earlier story on this page in which it is shown that, according to the accountants at Real Madrid, Beckham is, officially, 'worthless'.
10.11.04
Trading income at Spain's private television companies during the first 9 months of 2004 exceeded that of the state-run channels operated by RTVE. Not only that, says the business newspaper Cinco Días, but their share of the audience has been greater than that of RTVE since July of this year. Given that it also receives public funding, RTVE' s overall income remains greater, although even that source is under pressure from the European Union. Of its competitors, Telecinco made the strongest gains, Cinco Días says, up over 28% during the period. Antena 3, the other leading private station, increased its revenues by over 22%. RTVE has been achieving significantly- lower audience figures over the past year, a time during which advertising expenditure has been growing strongly. Above all, however, its income has been hit by the fact that it can no longer sell on the rights to soccer matches, as these can be bought directly by its competitors from whoever owns the rights. Football, as ever, remains an attractive crowd puller in Spain. Click on the link below (left) to read a longer version of this story for yourself, in Spanish, in the pages of Cinco Días. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit Antena 3, the broadcasting empire which grew out of a single, national radio station once Spain's airwaves were liberalised 15 years ago.
10.11.04
Individuals interrupting play at major sporting events is nothing new, but a recent incident at last Sunday's Norwegian football Cup Final between Brann and Lyn may have been something a little out of the ordinary. The man in question, who has not been named, entered the pitch wearing nothing but a pair of briefs but painted entirely in the colours of the Lyn - including a faithful reproduction of the Puma logo which adorns the team's shirts, painted on his breast. Rumour has been rife ever since that the invasion was, in fact, a guerilla marketing stunt dreamt up by the sportswear brand and its events marketing agency, Studio 54. Contacted by the local advertising magazine Propaganda, neither party would confirm or deny the report. When asked by Propaganda about the incident, the country's football association was also in the dark but said that it would be 'extremely serios' if that were the case. Puma is known to have resorted to guerilla marketing tactics in the past to promote its links with Lyn. The game, for the record, was won 4-1 by Brann, thus recapturing the title for the first time in 22 years. Click on the link below (left) to read a fuller version of this story for yourself - and to see a bigger picture of the invader - in Norwegian, in the pages of Propaganda. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to read a report of the game - again, though, in Norwegian.
02.11.04
When they shop, people are like rats. Store workers may have been thinking it for decades, but now a Dutch professor has gone 'official' with a theory that seems to add substance to anecdote. Stijn van Osselaar, professor of consumer behaviour at the Rotterdam School of Management, says that the similarities between the reasoning of shoppers and rats bear 'striking' similarities. His theory, says the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, is intricate, but is based on the fact that shoppers are likely to manifest learned behaviour in selecting their purchases. "If you've learned that Calvé peanut butter is tasty and that it's made by Calvé, then that's what you remember. If you then hear that the reason it's so nice is because there are so many peanuts in it, that's less important. There's little point in telling you subsequently that such-and-such a retail brand doesn't contain as many peanuts". Another of van Osselaar's conclusions, Algemeen Dagblad says, is that we often buy unnecessarily- expensive brands. Not that consumers are dumb, he says, but because they think like rats. "I prefer to say that these animals are clever". Van Osselaer's learnings, he says, allow manufacturers and marketing experts to apply directly to their own research. They shoould, he continues, not make the matter more complicated than it is - after all, consumers don't. Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in Dutch, on the website of Algemeen Dagblad. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the site of the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), which presents itself as a 'gateway to the world' or here - and which is enough to make one think that there is a perverse kind of collective theory- forming going on at the Rotterdam School of Management - to go to a page on the site where another professor, Muel Kaptein, professes to having observed rat-like behaviour in the workplace (and which, for once, is written in English).
02.11.04
Barcelona football club's proud status as standard bearer for the Catalan nation, coupled with its financial strength, has meant that it has been able - unlike most other top teams - to resist the trend for selling advertising space on players' shirts. The subject has become a regular feature of annual general meetings and, until now, the vote has always gone against. Now that could be set to change, says the news agency AFP, with an offer arriving at the club that could be worth between € 13 million and €17 million per year. And the 'suitor' who would want to lay out so much money to associate itself with one of the world's most high-profile football teams. Rather disappointingly, it is the online betting company betandwin. Based in Vienna, Austria, betandwin is said to be in negotiation with 'Barça' over the length of the contract, expected to be between 3 and 5 years, AFP says. Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in Spanish, on Yahoo's Spanish-language news service. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the home of FC Barcelona on the web.
01.11.04
Earlier this year, Heineken announced it was linking with Krups to take a fresh approach to the beer-drinking market, (click here to see the story reported on this page, in English, by From Europe With Love or here to see a longer feature relating to the system). Called BeerTender and consisting of a dispensing machine made by Krups and specially- designed barrels of draft beer, supplied by Heineken, the system is on trial in the Netherlands before potentially being rolled out in other countries. This week, Heineken announced that the one-millionth barrel of BeerTender had been sold. In addition, from the end of October barrels of two additional beers - Amstel and Brand, both made by Heineken - will also be available for the BeerTender system. Since Heineken and Krups linked to launch the initiative, rival InBev (formerly Interbrew) has introduced a similar system, developed in conjunction with Philips (click here to see a report of that launch, again in English, on From Europe With Love). Alternatively, click on the link below (left) to read this latest story for yourself, in Dutch, on the website of the financial newspaper, De Financiële Telegraaf, or click on the link below (right) to visit the BeerTender website.
01.11.04
France's economy minister, Nicolas Sarkozy - and, it has to be said, one of the most energetic occupants of that office in Europe - has announced a € 2.5 million promotional campaign to make the French aware of how by making minor adjustments to their driving behaviour, they can reduce the country's petrol-related energy bill by 10%, writes the news agency AFP. On Friday, Sarkozy launched what has been termed as the "chasse au gaspi en voiture" ("pursuit of car-related waste"), designed to encourage the French to make those savings by way of "simple, daily acts". "The French have to know", Sarkozy said, "that you can save a lot of money by looking after your car well - inflating the tyres to the correct pressure, buying a car that doesn't use too much petrol and that is not so polluting". Sarkozy's campaign is based around 10 simple pieces of advice, contained in approxiimately 20 million brochures to be distributed in the nation's service stations. Drivers will be promised that the savings to be made are the equivalent of five full tanks each year. To read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in French, on the AFP website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit the French government's French website - English version and, it has to be said, rather impressive - click on the link below (right).
28.10.04
Hard times are ahead for the likes of Snickers, Nescafé and Co., writes the newspaper Die Welt, with cheaper retail brands set to chase traditional manufacturer brands off German shop shelves over the next 5 to 6 years. That, at least, is the opinion of consultants A.T. Kearney. Kearney reckons that potential gains of € 300 million are there to be won by retailers over the period, thus boosting private label's share of the German grocery market to 35%. And that's not even counting hard discounters like Aldi. According to a study released to the newspaper by Peter Pfeiffer, head of A.T. Kearney's consumer goods and retail division, the majority of this increase in revenues would come directly from makers of traditional brands, with the most affected being those companies whose brands are only the 2nd- and 3rd-largest in their category. Brand manufacturers, Pfeiffer says, have already had to take big hits as discounters have grown their business over recent years, much of it deriving from the sale of own-label and 'no-name' brands such as Tengelmann's 'A&P' and Aldi's 'Tandil' detergent, which retail, on average, at about 55% less than their branded counterparts. Now retailers are expected to try to extend their private label offering into premium segments. "Our studies show", Pfeiffer tells the paper, that the consumer perceptions between retailer and manufacturer brands have become blurred". Out of 500 interviewees spoken to by Kearney, practically all confessed to having a positive perception of own label, to the point where such products could now be labelled as "quasi brands". German retailers, however, have been slow to truly exploit the full potential offered by private label goods, unlike their foreign counterparts such as Carrefour and Tesco. Click on the link below (left) to read more about A. T. Kearney's view of the German private label market, in German, in the pages of Die Welt. Alternatively, visit Kearney's German website by clicking on the link below (right).
28.10.04
Unilever's Dutch subsidiary Unox has issued a statement to clarify that the webcam placed in a C1000 supermarket in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn were not installed at its request. Unox was obliged to respond to the accusation on account of the fact that the camera was pointing directly at a shelf carrying the company's smoked ('rookworst') sausages. In fact, the camera was set up on the initiative of Gerard Rutte, a Dutch retail expert who has launched a web platform, allesoverfabrikanten.nl ('everything about manufacturers') designed to serve as a focal point for manufacturers, suppliers and supermarkets. Companies subscribing to the site can - among other things - keep an eye on what is happening in individual stores and observe consumer reactions to their products. Unilever is, indeed, a subscriber to the site, as are Heineken, Smiths crisps and Lever Fabergé Nederland. The fact that the camera was set up to point at its products is pure chance, Unox says, despite claims in the media to the contrary. In fact, its managers had not even looked at the images and, in any case, other forms of market research are preferable as they provide more information relating to the purchase decision. To read a fuller version this story for yourself, in Dutch, on the website of AgriHolland Nieuws, which published it, just click on the link below (left). Alternatively, click here to visit the 'allesoverfabrikanten' site or on the link below (right) to visit the Unox website.
27.10.04
The past 22 years, says the French newspaper Le Figaro, have seen a continual stream of brand extensions in the detergent sector with the leading player, Procter & Gamble, having made no new brand introduction since the launch of Vizir, in 1982. Now, however, P&G is looking to extend its 'iconic, male' household cleaning brand, Monsieur Propre, into the clothes detergent category. Mr Propre Lessive, as the new product is known, is intended to fill a gap in the company's range, Le Figaro says: a practical, effective detergent that is easy to use and also has a fun, approachable character. The launch, which is being conducted in conjunction with the ad agency Grey, will use an initial phase of sales promotions and press/ public relations using the line: "Pourquoi le T-Shirt de Mr Propre est-il si propre?" ("Why is Mr. Propre's T-shirt so clean?). An advertising campaign is set to follow in December, the magazine says. To read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in French, on the Le Figaro website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit Procter & Gamble's French website and, specifically, the page dedicated to the current and historic status of the Mr Propre brand, click on the link below (right).
27.10.04
They are (apparently) a familiar sight on the streets of the Swedish capital of Stockholm, but now the city's authorities have had enouugh and are to enforce legislation barring the use of cars as mobile billboards to advertise local porn clubs, writes the advertising industry newsletter Dagens Media. In a press release issued to local media, city councillor Margareta Olofson says that it should be possible for the inhabitants of Stockholm to go about their daily business without being confronted with degrading pictures of half-naked women and that regulations forbidding it would now be enforced. Stockholm has long sought to disassociate itself from links with the porn industry in visitors' minds. Two years ago it fought a battle to prevent a foreign company from launching a porn-related site at the address stockholm.com. Commenting on the latest development on Dagens Media's website, one visitor asks just how far the new regulations may go. Will, for example, 'sexist' advertisements for women's underwear now be banned in the city? To read this story for yourself, in Swedish, on the Dagens Media website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit the official public face of Stockholm, in English, just click on the link below (right).
26.10.04
Ikea's latest advertising campaign in Norway features pictures of people's naked bottoms and invites shoppers to select the sofa from its furniture range that best suits the shape. A cheeky approach, but one that is not to everybody's taste, it seems. Principal among those voicing their protest, says the local advertising magazine Propaganda, are two women's groups: Kvinnefronten (The Women's Front of Norway) and Krisesentersekretariatet (The Women's Shelter). "The effect of the campaign may be to evoke associations of prostitution", the two groups state in a joint press release, adding that the advertisements may contravene paragraph 1 of the country's marketing law and questioning the relevance of showing images of naked bottoms in the context. The country's consumer ombudsman, however, has ruled that the Ikea ad does not contravene any law or guideline as the bottoms shown are not presented in a sexually- procative context or manner. To read a fuller version this story for yourself, in Norwegian, on the Propaganda website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit Ikea's Norwegian website, see one of the bottoms and select a sofa from the company's extensive range which suits it, just click on the link below (right).
26.10.04
Belgium's Catholic church is not known for seizing the initiative and putting itself in the spotlight by way of exploiting modern means of communication, but a campaign running since October 12th is currently changing all that, writes the newspaper La Dernière Heure. In what is an unprecedented step, the Fondation Saint-Paul - a foundation which exists to encourage young people to explore and respect the gospel of Saint Mark - has called in an advertising agency (Grey) to produce a free postcard, poster and internet banner campaign targeting 15 to 25 year-olds and inviting them to 'save themselves' by visiting a dedicated website and learning more about the foundation and its activity. "Because the today's young people are the bosses of tomorrow", spokesman Xavier Cornet tells La Dernière Heure, "and because one can sense a great spiritual thirst among them". The fact that they are targeting purely young people could concern some, the paper says, given that any cult - whether recognised by the state or not - could use similar means to reach similar audiences. Indeed, no legislation exists to restrict their ability to do so, although the cost of mounting promotional campaigns does constitute a practical barrier. Fondation Saint-Paul, however, enjoys significant backing which, although it is a religious organisation, is obtained independently of the church. Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in French, on the website of La Dernière Heure. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the website of the 'Fondation' where you can see examples of the posters and visuals developed by Grey. To visit the 'save yourself' website itself, click here. If you want to visit Grey's Belgian website - where the agency bills itself as 'a marriage agency between brands and consuimers' - just click here.
26.10.04
The film 'Super Size Me', in which a man feeds himself for an entire month on nothing but McDonald's hamburgers, launched in Spain on October 15th, writes the local industry newsletter Marketing Directo, but many potential filmgoers may have remained oblivious to the fact, due to an advertising blackout imposed by the country's TV stations. Notro Films, which has distribution rights in Spain, is accusing the TV companies of 'censorship' after a decision by the country's self-regulatory comunications authorities instructing them not to air a campaign originally planned to run between October 10th and 14th. The ads, the authorities decided, did not constitute fair competition and denigrated the company, people and products associated with the McDonald's brand. Although it could also be suspected that McDonald's - one of Spain's leading advertisers - might have exerted pressure in the matter, the company says it had no contact with TV stations over the campaign. To coincide with the film's launch, McDonald's has been running a print campaign focusing on its extended product range, including healthier options. Click on the link below (left) to read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in Spanish, on the Marketing Directo website. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the McDonald's Spain website (and where the current special offer, on the 'Big Tasty', certainly has a 'super-size' feel about it. Or click here. to visit the website dedicated to Super Size Me, which is, as the site claims, 'a film of epic portions'.
25.10.04
Aldi, the German-based discount retailer of groceries and household goods, claims it sold out of 30,000 pieces of art stocked in its Dutch stores over the past two weeks. More commonly an environment for simply-branded, low-priced consumer staples, Aldi first branched out into art last year in a successful promotion run in its German stores, writes the online newspaper De Volksrant. Now, having extended the concept to neighbouring Holland, it is considering running the promotion in furthr countries. The works offered - all limited-edition pieces signed by the artist concerned - sold for €12.99. Aldi's aim in running the promotion (and apart from making money) is explained by a company spokesman as: "to make the work of young, independent artists accessible to a broader public. In addition to driving demand for contemporary art, the promotion has served to generate a significant amount of publicity for Aldi, which normally limits its own promotional efforts to product leaflets and newspaper advertising. Artists happy to see their pictures displayed alongside cat food and crisps included Robert Heykoop, Corinne Annelies and Thessa van der Voort, De Volkskrant says. Work ranged from realistic to abstract and the promotion sparked a lively aftermarket, with pictures bought at Aldi prices later being offered for sale - often on the same evening - for as much as €150. To read a fuller version this story for yourself, in Dutch on the Volksrant website, just click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit the Interview NSS site and read up about other recent studies conducted by the agency, just click on the link below (right).
25.10.04
Migros has unveiled its answer to the highly-successful in-home coffee preparation system marketed by Nestlé under the name 'Nespresso', writes the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger. First announced on this page in September, the new system is to be branded 'Delizio' and has, Tagesanzeiger says, been designed by the same man originally responsible for dreaming up Nespresso. 57 year-old Eric Favre, who runs a small company in the 600-inhabitant village of Saint Barthélemy, was 28 when he first entered service at Nestlé and his idea for a domestic coffee machine using capsules was first patented in 1978. Nestlé didn't realise the potential of Nespresso until seven years later, when it set up a division, headed by Favre, to manufacture and market the machines. Now Favre is set to make life difficult for his former employer, Tagesanzeiger says, with the launch of Delizio, a device using similar technology but able to serve tea in addition to coffee. The idea was developed after Favre left Nestlé and was licensed to the Italian maker of espresso machines, Gaggia, for all markets outside Switzerland. In contrast to Nespresso, which uses aluminium capsules, Delizio uses plastic ones which can simply be thrown away with the rest of the domestic waste. Migros hopes Delizio will help it to boost its share of the Swiss coffee market - already in the region of 50% - even further. An initial price of SFr. 298 has been set, although with Christmas on the horizon, special offers are to be expected over the coming months. Click on the link below (left) to visit the Tagesanzeiger website, where you can read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in German. Click on the link below (right) to visit the dedicated Nespresso website where you can compare the virtues of the 'original' to its more recent rival.
25.10.04
Clear Channel, the media owner and outdoor advertising site operator, has had a ruling against it confirmed by the appeal courts and will now be obliged to take down 23 large-format poster sites it had erected in Vallée de la Rance, around the French town of Dinan. The sites were, the court ruled, illegal and the judgment could have ramifications for similar sites across France, increasingly the target of 'anti-advertising' lobbyists, says the newspaper Libération. The ruling was made on the basis that Clear Channel had violated environmental regulations operating in Dinan and designed to ensure that the landscape retains its natural beauty. The court case was prompted by the interest group Paysages de France, which says it is opposed to "all forms of visual pollution". This is the first ruling of its type but given the principle, Clear Channel and other operators of such sites - such as JC Decaux, will clearly have to sit up and take notice. While the regulations are very precise, punctilious even, Benoît Busson, a spokesman for Paysages de France, tells Libération, they are largely inored because it is in the interests of both parties concerned in the transaction - the site operators who can sell the space and the local authorities who charge them for the location. "For the first time", Busson tells the paper, "we took on the poster company directly here. "Until now we had just gone after the authorities". Clear Channel is, in fact, France's second-largest operator of poster sites, smaller than Decaux but larger than the country's other, historic poster firm, Giraudy, largely as a result of its having taken over Dauphin "Given their size, it was a bit like David and Goliath", Pierre-Jean Delahousse, president of Paysages de France tells Libération. "But we wanted to try. And that encourages us to reorient our strategy in the direction of the poster companies". To read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in French, on the Libération website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit the Clear Channel's French website, click on the link below (right).
25.10.04
A number of Norway's leading manufacturers of branded goods have commissioned ad agency TBWA to produce a campaign stressing the quality of 'original' manufacturer brands compared to own label products marketed by major retail chains, says the local advertising magazine Propaganda. In Norway as elsewhere, Propaganda says, retailer brands are becoming an ever firmer fixture in shopping baskets, not least because they tend to be sold at prices lower than those of traditional brands. This has prompted the country's branded goods association, Dagligvareleverandørenes - whoes members include Cederroth, Findus, Grilstad, Midelfart, Osram and TINE - to respond with a collective promotion designed to remind consumers that these brands stand for quality, recognisabilty, safety and innovation. The concept presented by TBWA Oslo, Propaganda says, is a local adaptation of work that has already been proven to work internationally. The campaign, originally produced by Vienna-based Demner Merlicek & Bergmann has, indeed, been running in Austria since 1997. Click on the link below (left) to visit the Propaganda website to read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in Norwegian. Alternatively, lick on the link below (right) to visit the website of one of the companies mentioned in this article, TINE - which makes and markets a range of grocery products including desserts, drinks and yogurts - or here to see the campaign reported on the Austrian advertising site, Horizont.
22.10.04
A contentious week in Spanish advertising continued on Friday (click here to see an earlier story about Renault angering Madrid metro workers) with the consumers' association, Facua, disputing fashion firm Hugo Boss's decision to use fashion models as ball girls at the Masters Series tennis event it has been sponsoring in Madrid. Like many other tournaments around the world, the event usually calls on the services of young boys and girls from local tennis schools to pick up balls and deliver them back to the players. Taking advantage of its sponsorhip rights, however, Hugo Boss enlisted a team of attractive young women to run around the courts. This, says Facua, contravenes the general law on advertising in Spain which, in article 3a, prohibits "advertising which harms the dignity of a person or which renders vulnerable the values and rights recognised by the Constitution, in particular in relation to women and young people". Hugo Boss, in using models instead of young amateurs, is accused of being sexist which Facua says, contravenes that article. Manuel Santana, Spanish tennis legend and organiser of the event, has said that Boss can continue to use the models. Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in Spanish, on the Marketing Directo website, the marketing industry newsletter which originally printed it. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the dedicated page on the website of Spain's leading sports newspaper, Marca, which covers tennis and where this issue is definitely overshadowing the matches themselves - not least as a result of the photo opportunities it has generated. Or if you'd like to see the story covered, in English, by the BBC, just click here.
20.10.04
Dutch discount drugstore chain Kruidvat has been ordered by an Amsterdam judge to stop altering the packaging of L'Oréal products stocked on its shelves, writes the online newspaper Zibb. The ruling is likely to lead to L'Oréal products disappearing from the retailer's shelves altogether. Kruidvat resorted to its practice of altering product codes on the items sold in order to conceal where it had sourced them from. In the Netherlands, L'Oréal only distributes its products through approved perfumeries and drugstores that meet certain quality criteria. Holes in its distribution system, however, meant that Kruidvat was able to obtain L'Oréal products on the open market and offer them in its stores. The retailer also resorted to the same practice for other luxury brands. Makers of these are now likely to seek similar rulings against Kruidvat and other drugstores acting in the same way. To read this story for yourself, in Dutch, on the Zibb website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, to visit the Kruidvat website and decide for yourself whether this is an environment suited to 'luxury' products, simply click on the link below (right). For comparison, visit L'Oréal's Dutch website by clicking here.
12.10.04
French cinemas and theatres will soon be able to install mobile phone scramblers, the country's industry minister Patrick Devejian said on Sunday. Devejian was endorsing a decision taken by France's telecommunications regulatory body, ACT, "authorising, within halls of entertainment, radio-electrical installations which will render mobile telephones inactive", says the newspaper Le Figaro. The permission will come into effect once published in the Journal Officiel, in which all new laws must appear. It will be subject, Le Figaro says, to two conditions: the scramblers must not cause an increased failure rate of calls made outside the theatre itself, nor must they affect the cinema's ability to comply with regulations relating to emergency calls. Cinemas and film distributors have been asking to be allowed to install such devices for some years with a view to combating piracy. To read a longer version of this story for yourself, in French, on the Le Figaro website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, see the latest headlines in respect of attendance at French cinemas on the website of CBO Box Office by clicking on the link below (right).
11.10.04
Who, at some time in the past 30 years, has not bought, sought, swapped or collected Ferrero's colourful children's confectionery, Kinder Sorpresa? It's a question that invites the sophisticated reader to say "well, me", but Kinder Sorporesa - which Ferrero describes as 'fun and ironic, characterised by narrative themes specially designed for boys and girls of any age and going from shops into Italian homes for 30 years now, handed down from father to son, representing a symbol of generational continuity...' is 30 years old this year and the company is putting on an exhibition in Rome to celebrate the fact. From October 7th to 24th, visitors to the Complesso del Vittoriano will have an opportunity to survey three decades of (again, as described by Ferrero) 'an innovation that has revolutionised the world of gadgets for children and is a symbol of play and creativity'. Right-click on the link below (left) to visit the section of Ferrero's Italian website dedicated to this world of chocolate and gadgets for yourself. Alternatively, to enter Ferrero's website by the front door, click on the link below (right).
08.10.04
Only Milka chocolate manufactured by Kraft Jacobs Suchard (KJS) has the right to be packaged in lilac-coloured wrapping, according to a judgment made in a Karlruhe court this week, writes the newspaper Kurier. The judge ruled against a rival Verden-based company that had launched a chocolate and waffle mixture through Aldi stores, packaged in Milka-like lilac. That product has since been withdrawn. Lilac, said the judge, had come to 'embody' Milka and there was therefore a risk that consumers would assume other products sold in the same colour packaging were produced by the same firm. In general, Kurier says, colours can not be registered as trademarks as they are not normally understood as an indicator of origin. Milka, however, is an exception, the judge considers, because it has been proven before that a majority of consumers associate its packaging colour only with that brand. Lilac has been associated with Milka since 1901, when that colour was applied to the first packaging developed for the chocolate bar of that name. Since 1973, advertising for Milka has also been based around a lilac-coloured cow. A lawyer for Verdene Fabrik, that lost the case, says that the fact that brands can 'own' a colour gives major companies the opportunity to buy up the entire rainbow. Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in German, in the pages of Kurier. Alternatively, prepare yourself for a lilac experience and visit the Milka website by clicking on the link below (right).
08.10.04
The long-running battle as to what can and can not be sold as yogurt in Spain entered a new phase this week as the country's advertising self-regulatory authorities ruled in favour of dairy company Leche Pascual and against a complaint by Danone. Danone and other makers of yogurt containing 'live' cultures - grouped in the trade association AEFY - have long complained that products sold by Leche Pascual should not be allowed to be promoted as 'yogurt', as they are pasteurised and therefore possess inferior qualities. So far, judgments have tended to go Pascual's way, as was the case this week. Autocontrol de Publicidad, the regulators ajudged that advertising produced for Leche Pascual which compared its own 'long-life yogurt' favourably to 'short-life yogurts' and pointed out the 'problems', 'limitations' and 'restrictions' linked with the latter - as a result of the fact that it has to be kept chilled and does not last as long - should be allowed to continue to run. Click on the link below (left) to visit the website of the magazine that published this story, the Spanish marketing journal Ipmark. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to the Leche Pascual website and find out what all the fuss is about or here to visit a website set up by the company especially to deal with questions of health.
07.10.04
Since 1991, marketers of alcoholic drinks in France have been barred from vaunting the 'subjective' qualities of their product under the terms of the 'Loi Evin' law. But a proposed amendment, due to be examined in the National Assembly on 13th October, could change all that, says the newspaper Libération. Although denounced by professionals engaged in the struggle against alcoholism, the proposal, which comes from France's wine-making community, suggests that, once more, promotion "should be able to contain references which relate to the qualitative aspects of the product". Although small changes were made, it passed through the Senate last week, heading for the National Assembly. French advertising agencies have been creative in their approach the legislation in place, creating advertising which - although largely factual - exploits a kind of twilight zone between what directly relates to the product and what associations you can create in people's minds. The country's ministry of health is at pains to stress that there is no intention to alter the wording of the 'Loi Evin' while the author of the law itself, Claude Evin, says that if the proposals go through, his legislation would be "totally dismantled". To read the rest of this story for yourself, in French, on the Libération website, click on the link below (left). Alternatively, toread the entire text of the 'Loi Evin', which also governs promotion of tobacco products in the interests of public health click on the link below (right). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
