Sir Martin Sorrell and wife Cristiana Falcone are about to diversify July 18, 2016 WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell wooed wife Cristiana Falcone by requesting a "strategic partnership" – but now it seems the pair have taken their synergies a step further, after it emerged Falcone is pregnant with their first child. World Economic Forum adviser Falcone – who is also on the boards of Viacom and Revlon – is due in November, according to [...]
“Good result, job done”: Meet the Independent newspaper’s last chief executive July 18, 2016 It’s been a tough year on Fleet Street. Hundreds of national newspaper jobs have been lost. Publishers have suffered double-digit advertising revenue declines. And, if you include Trinity Mirror’s failed New Day, three titles have been closed. Right at the centre of the decision to close the other two of those newspapers – the Independent and Independent [...]
Personal Messenger: EchoMany’s Tim Redgate talks film trailers and false personalisation July 18, 2016 Four fifths of UK brands say they’re personalising their marketing to some extent, but that doesn’t mean much,” says Tim Redgate, founder of EchoMany, which sends personalised videos to targeted audiences on social media by embedding relevant user data. “If a brand writes a consumer’s name in an email, that counts. But it isn’t real personalisation.” There [...]
Pokemon Go is showing the potential of augmented reality advertising July 18, 2016 Augmented reality apps have been around since 2008 and the first Android handset, the T-Mobile G1. But it has taken until 2016 for the technology to find a killer app. The genius of Pokemon Go, which launched earlier this month, goes beyond the addictive gaming mechanics and into the business strategy underpinning it; Pokemon Go is [...]
Brexit hits advertising industry, with spending forecast to fall this year and next July 14, 2016 The UK’s advertising market is expected to shrink this year and next after last month’s Brexit vote. The IPA Bellwether Report has downgraded its adspend forecast for this year from 3.3 per cent growth to minus 0.2 per cent. And the market is expected to shrink further next year, by 1.3 per cent, down from the [...]
Sky News plans to ditch business bulletins, putting more jobs at risk July 13, 2016 Sky News is planning to scrap business bulletins, with six jobs at risk. The proposal comes shortly after it emerged that around 50 studio roles across Sky News and Sky Sports News could also be made redundant in an automation move. The channel said the business cuts will not affect its flagship business programme, Ian [...]
More magic from Harry Potter? Bloomsbury reports nine per cent revenue growth July 13, 2016 Bloomsbury Publishing’s shares leapt this morning as it reported a nine per cent jump in revenue. The publisher will today unveil a 2020 growth plan to investors and analysts, targeting “significant growth in digital revenues over the next five years”. The company also wants to take steps towards “being a non-consumer publisher in the B2B [...]
BBC spends £26m on severance payments… reduces headcount by 54 July 12, 2016 The BBC spent £25.9m on severance payments in 2015/16, a 43.6 per cent year-on-year increase. The total was spread across 448 staff, with 75 of them receiving between £100,000 and £150,000. In 2014/15, 303 staff were paid £18m in severance payments. However, the BBC’s annual report showed the corporation’s average annual headcount in 2015/16 reduced by [...]
Job cuts, celebrity pay and further savings: What we learned from the BBC annual report July 12, 2016 The BBC today published its annual review for 2015/16. Here are some of the things we have learned from the report. Job cuts might not cut it During a year in which cost savings at the BBC came under close scrutiny, as the government prepared its white paper for its next royal charter period, the [...]
BBC set to highlight cuts, savings and the Night Manager in annual report July 12, 2016 The BBC is set to highlight reductions and savings made in relation to senior managers and “talent” in its annual report today. Published at 11am today, the corporation will report that it has cut one in 10 senior manager roles in the last year, reducing the number from 401 to 356. The report will also [...]