Christmas adverts 2015: PayPal could be investigated after ASA receives hundreds of complaints as festive ad implies Father Christmas isn’t real November 3, 2015 The UK's advertising body is considering whether to investigate PayPal's new festive ad, after receiving hundreds of complaints from parents concerned that it suggests Father Christmas might not be real. The ad, which broadcast for the first time on British TV during The X Factor's Sunday night showing, shows two brothers attempting to catch their [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: What retailers must do to rival John Lewis when it comes to winning consumers’ hearts and minds November 3, 2015 People around the country celebrate (or lament) the fact that Christmas seems to be starting earlier with each passing year. Fairylights adorn high streets, the newest children’s toys fill up shop windows and festive sandwich flavours pop up in supermarkets, often before the Halloween decorations have even come down. Love it or hate it, there’s [...]
Amazon and Argos deals are winning UK Black Friday 2015 and Christmas online shopping race November 3, 2015 It looks like Father Christmas is planning to do most of his shopping at Amazon and Argos this year after an analysis of Google’s most popular Christmas search terms showed that the two retail giants have taken the greatest share of visits over the last three months. Linkdex has crunched data on 7,000 Christmas-related keyword [...]
Christmas adverts: John Lewis, Sainsburys, Burberry & Marks and Spencer beaten by Universal for most shared festive ad of all time November 2, 2015 It's that time of year already. John Lewis is poised to unveil its Christmas advert on Friday (8am if you're really keen) and once again will be launching in on social media first, followed by a grand pushing out to TV audiences at the weekend. It has become an iconic start to the festive period, [...]
Announcing our Christmas appeal to raise £1m for new Maggie’s centre at St Barts November 2, 2015 With the festive season nearly upon us, City A.M. is delighted to announce that we will be supporting cancer charity Maggie’s during our 2015 Christmas Appeal. The Square Mile has proven to be exceptionally generous during recent campaigns; City Giving Day, an initiative of the Lord Mayor, was a huge success and contributed to the [...]
Italy’s Franklin & Marshall to launch its second London store November 2, 2015 Vintage Italian sports retailer Franklin & Marshall is to open its second UK store in Wembley Park’s London Designer Outlet (LDO) next month after launching its debut store in Covent Garden last year. The company, known for its varsity jackets and vintage polo shirts, announced today that it will open a 1,301 square feet outlet [...]
Selfridges’ tills ring with record full-year profits November 1, 2015 Selfridges has post record profits of £155m for last year as the upmarket department store chain pushed ahead with its online expansion overseas and expanded its UK stores. The retailer, which has just unveiled its famous Christmas window displays on Oxford Street – this year inspired by the 12 signs of the zodiac – said [...]
Ahead of Black Friday 2015, are you ready for a truly digital Christmas? October 30, 2015 One look at Hamley's top 10 toys for Christmas 2015 and it’s hard not to think this year’s toy requests have been beamed in from Mars, with various intelligent robots powered by artificial intelligence, such as Clever Keet, an electronic bird that repeats and ‘learns’ phrases you say. In fact, it seems computing and interactivity [...]
Halloween 2015 could be worth as much as £400m to retailers October 29, 2015 We're used to grinches complaining Halloween is an American import they wish would go away, but it looks like Halloween in all its (fake)blood-soaked sugary glory is here to stay, bringing a welcome boost to retailers. Sainsbury's says Halloween is now the third biggest retail event of the year, after Christmas and Easter. Last year Planet [...]
CBI’s monthly distributive trades survey: Retail sales growth slows after a strong September October 29, 2015 Shoppers stayed away from the high street this month in what could be a "little bit of a breather" before the festive period gets into full swing. The CBI’s monthly distributive trades survey showed 38 per cent reported sales volumes rose on a year ago, while 20 per cent said they were down. The gap of [...]