Brexit, ad fraud and #MeToo – what does the future year hold for the marketing industry? January 7, 2019 We are out of the cold December of 2018, and have now entered the, well, even colder January of 2019. Last year was a momentous one for the marketing industry – there was the fall and rise again of adland stalwart Martin Sorrell; the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) finally came into force; [...]
FTSE 100 ends its worst year since the financial crash in the red December 31, 2018 The UK's FTSE 100 blue-chip index ended its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis in the red, as a strong pound pulled down exporter shares. The FTSE 100 lost 0.1 per cent in trading on the last day of 2018, while the FTSE 250 added 0.2 per cent after a rally on Friday when they both closed [...]
Outgoing Unilever chief makes plea for unity in speech to shareholders December 6, 2018 Outgoing Unilever boss Paul Polman has asked shareholders to trust his successor as he prepares to step down next month. The Dutchman announced his resignation months after investors shot down plans to combine the company’s London headquarters with that in the Netherlands. Polman, 62, said investors will have to trust his successor Alan Jope, a [...]
Unilever invests in India with €3.3bn deal for Horlicks December 3, 2018 Unilever has agreed to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s nutritions arm, including Horlicks, a week after press reports the two were in exclusive talks. The €3.3bn (2.9bn) deal will give the British-Dutch consumer goods company a substantial presence on the growing Indian market. It will buy GSK’s health food drinks portfolio in India, Bangladesh and 20 other mainly [...]
Polman bows out of Unilever with a rich legacy, but a tarnished reputation November 29, 2018 When Paul Polman announced his plan to quit as boss of Unilever last autumn, he had plenty of reasons to think he would be leaving the consumer goods giant on a high: he had fought off a £115bn takeover attempt from Kraft Heinz earlier in the year and forged a reputation as a champion of [...]
Unilever chief executive set to retire at the end of the year after shareholder revolt against plans to scrap dual-listed structure November 29, 2018 Unilever’s chief executive is set to step down at the end of the year, the company revealed today. Paul Polman will retire by the end of 2018, the maker of Dove soap and Marmite said, staying on to help with the transition as the company’s president of beauty and personal care, Alan Jope, takes up the [...]
Owned-social networks are replacing Facebook as a way for brands to market to their communities November 27, 2018 Two months ago, I helped Blewbury in Oxfordshire become the first village in the UK to launch its own social network. We were inspired by the MP Matt Hancock, who during his tenure as digital minister launched a social network for his constituency. His decision to call it “Matt Hancock” attracted much media attention. But [...]
RewardStyle founder Amber Venz Box talks influencer marketing and fashion November 26, 2018 Fashion retail is a risky business. Like many sectors, it has been disrupted by the rise of the internet, as consumers increasingly shop on their phones rather than on the high street. So with fewer people browsing in shops, there’s a question of how best to advertise a new dress or a trendy handbag. Traditional [...]
MPs and businesses urged to boycott Google and Facebook over alleged failure to tackle UK terror November 22, 2018 Tech firms such as Google and Facebook have come under fire from the UK's parliamentary security committee, as a report published today urged businesses to boycott the social media platforms until they do more to tackle extremism. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said continuous appeals to social media firms to stop their systems from being [...]
It’s time to go with the flow: The UK needs to accept global economic competition and come out on top November 4, 2018 | City Talk UK 1-1 Rest of the world. So reads the scoreboard from two recent corporate stories: Dyson’s decision to produce its electric cars in Singapore and Unilever’s to stay put in London. With Brexit beckoning, there is more focus than ever in Britain on its place in the world, and how that can be affected by [...]