One of the big stories of recent weeks has of course been the apparently parlous state of the Chinese economy, which had a lot of commentators, investors and journalists gnawing at their fingernails early last week. You can see why. China is the world’s second-biggest economy, and its growth fuels our growth. Our economic wellbeing […]
This week I thought we’d take a look at a subject we’ve not covered before – the regional press. Time was, 20 or 30 years ago, that publishing a local or regional paper was practically a licence to print money. In the days before the internet, or so-called hyper-local bloggers, local papers were the best […]
We’re delighted to announce the sale of Just:: Health Communications, one of the UK’s largest independent healthcare marketing companies, to Havas Health, the healthcare discipline of Havas Group. Just:: Health is known for its innovative work and for providing services to global clients in public relations, medical communications, public affairs and digital communications. Founded in […]
So, why all the fuss about Google rebranding itself as Alphabet? Why all the news coverage, and why the 5 per cent spike in the tech giant’s share price as soon as the rebrand was announced? First of all, we have to remember this is Google we’re talking about, one of the world’s biggest tech […]
Far be it for me to question how Sir Martin Sorrell and WPP go about their business, but my first thoughts whilst on holiday when I heard that WPP was to buy out Chime Communications was: “Why?” After all, on the surface at least, it looks like a very unusual move. Firstly, £374m is approximately […]
Sir Martin Sorrell, as we all know, likes to expand into new and growth territories: Asia-Pacific of course, but also India, South America, southern Africa, the old Communist bloc countries of Eastern Europe and Turkey. But I wonder what Sir Martin will be thinking about Iran. I suspect he and other ambitious figures in the […]
Back in May, I wrote about US mobile phone giant Verizon buying AOL for $4.4bn, and about how it was a great deal for both acquired, and, especially, the acquirer. Two months on I still hold by that view, especially following the news late last week that that AOL was stalking mobile ad network Millennial […]
Over the past few months we’ve found ourselves talking a lot about what’s known as ‘content’ – storytelling, which is after all at the very heart of marketing communications. A great story is still the most effective way of cutting though media clutter, and it’s been clear for some time that video marketing is a […]
I was fortunate enough to be at Cannes Lions last week, networking, enjoying the glitz, the mecca that is the Palais, seeing some great work, rosé on the Carlton Terrace, catching up with old friends and celeb-spotting… But for me the most interesting piece of news of the week was not the awards or the […]
Sometimes ad agencies and networks are like the proverbial London bus: you never hear from or about them for ages, then all of a sudden they engage in a flurry of activity. So it is with Dentsu. In the three years my colleagues and I have been writing this blog, we hardly ever wrote about […]