Posts made in March, 2015

on Mar 25, 2015

By Minda Smiley A former employee of sports apparel company Adidas has opened up to the Wall Street Journal about why the brand passed on a sponsorship deal with basketball legend Michael Jordan. The source, apparently a former distributor who has not been named by the publication, claimed that when Jordan was playing for the University of North Carolina, he wanted a sponsorship deal with Adidas when he went professional. It is reported that the brand wanted to endorse Jordan, however executives in Germany decided shoppers would prefer taller players and wanted to sponsor centers instead. The source reportedly told the Journal: “We kept Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 25, 2015

By Michael Feeley Electrical Safety First, a UK charity to promote the importance of electrical safety, has launched an online and mobile game to communicate safety messages to consumer audiences. Available for free via the organisation’s website and a dedicated microsite and developed by digital agency Code Computerlove, the game challenges players to tackle a series of supposedly ‘unbeatable’ electrical challenges like rewiring a house, installing a new circuit and installing garden lighting. If the consumer completes the task and ‘wins the game’ they are presented with a Part P certificate to sign, which would be the case if the Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 25, 2015

By Gillian West Molson Coors has appointed Arc to its below-the-line (BTL) agency roster, joining incumbent Life. The appointment follows a competitive pitch process which ended this month. As part of the pitch Arc presented the winning response to a ‘convenience channel’ brief that will be implemented in 2015. Andy Cray, director of brands at Molson Coors, said the brewer wanted to “work with partners that can help deliver our ambition to be first choice for consumers and customers.” “The Arc team was hugely impressive during the pitch process and the ideas they presented demonstrated that they fully understand the creative approach required to connect our Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 25, 2015

By Jennifer Faull WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell has said the advertising industry doesn’t report transparently and called out competitor Omnicom’s “barter business” as a unit which runs without disclosure. Speaking at an Advertising Week Europe session titled ‘Business is Media’, Sorrell was asked by Bloomberg anchor Francine Laqua to comment on what he saw as the next big thing to disrupt business. He shrugged off the question, saying he “didn’t know”, but suggested the revenue figures companies report “mirrors disruption” and the biggest issue he sees is that the industry doesn’t “report transparently.” “It’s about time you as a responsible investigative journalist ask the Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 25, 2015

By John McCarthy Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL), parent company of Three, has agreed to buy O2 UK from Telefónica for £9.25bn. The acquisition will create a network boasting 33 million UK customers and will help HWL establish a dominant position in the market. David Dyson, chief executive of Three said: “Three’s leadership in mobile data together with O2’s strength on network coverage is a great combination that will bring very real benefits to businesses and consumers throughout the UK. “The highly complementary network assets will deliver market leading coverage and capacity for talk, text and data and will be well placed to satisfy rapidly growing Read full story › Source: The Drum...