The X Factor’s Cheryl Cole signs global deal with L’Oréal
August 29, 2009
Singer and talent show judge to start by fronting launch of new UK-aimed range of beauty products
L’Oréal has signed a global advertising deal with the Girls Aloud singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole that will initially see her front the launch of a range of beauty products targeting UK women.
Cole, who has been signed on an initial one-year deal, is the first British woman to be signed by L’Oreal Paris since a young Kate Moss in 1998.
“I have always loved the brand and have always wanted to say the iconic phrase ‘because you’re worth it’ so to be given that opportunity is absolutely amazing,” said Cole. “Every woman has the right to feel beautiful and L’Oréal Paris makes that aspiration achievable”.
Cole will appear in a major TV ad campaign in October following the launch of a new range, Elvive Full Restore 5, in the UK next month. It is the first time that L’Oréal Paris has launhced a standalone product range specifically for the UK market.
L’Oréal’s stable of “faces” is primarily made up of US stars – such as Eva Longoria, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Aniston and Beyoncé – although it has also signed the Indian actor Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire fame.
“The company is very international and we have a lot of US signings and we felt we were missing a UK celebrity,” said Gayle Tait, general manager of L’Oréal Paris. “We researched a number of options but Cheryl just tested so well with the UK public. She is considered the nation’s sweetheart and is held on great affection by the British public. We sign on personality as much as anything.”
Tait said that signing an initial one-year deal with Cole was standard practice but the L’Oréal had a practice of developing long-term relationships with its stars.
“We don’t tend to [end out] signing people for a year. We look for long-term commitments to develop,” she said.
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From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/advertising/rss
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Bloomsbury pins hopes on Blumenthal
August 29, 2009
The publisher of Harry Potter is now relying on celebrity chefs, such as the Michelin-starred Heston Blumenthal, to boost its sales following a drop in first-half profits
From: http://www.ft.com/rss/companies/media
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Gallery: How the Leading Social Sites Describe Themselves
August 29, 2009
I just wrapped up a nine-day swing through California, the majority of which I was in Silicon Valley. Every time I visit the Bay Area (which I truly love to visit) I am always struck by how technology pervades the region much more so than any other. Digerati chatter is everywhere, from the coffeehouses to the billboards that line US 101.
See and download the full gallery on posterous
From: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MicroPersuasion
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Quote: "In the future, everybody will be anonymous for 15 minutes."
August 28, 2009
From: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MicroPersuasion
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Independent will break even within two years, pledges chief executive
August 28, 2009
• Promise comes despite losses and writedowns
• Scotsman owner secures £485m financial lifeline
Independent News & Media plunged into the red in the first half of the year as the debt-ridden media group slashed the value of its titles.
Despite the grim figures chief executive Gavin O’Reilly pledged that the Independent and Independent on Sunday would break even within the next two years.
INM also announced the crucial sale of its South African outdoor advertising business, which gives it a further €98m (£86m) as it attempts to thrash out a restructuring with its banks and bondholders. However, it admitted that profits for the year as a whole will be below expectations as the advertising downturn continues to bite.
The news came as Johnston Press, owner of the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post, sealed a three-year £485m financing deal despite a 56% drop in half-year pre-tax profits to £27.5m. The new facility replaces its existing £424m deal and is a crucial lifeline for the business.
INM is still trying to thrash out its own restructuring and is in talks with bondholders and banks having, on Thursday, secured its fourth month-long extension to a repayment waiver. “We are getting closer,” said finance director Donal Buggy. “Everyone has to put forward their own negotiating position and that is what has been happening. Now everyone has had their say and we are getting down to the hard negotiating.”
To deal with the downturn, INM has been slashing its costs and selling non-core assets, which has raised intense speculation that the loss-making Independent and Independent on Sunday could be up for sale.
But O’Reilly – who took over this year as his father, Sir Anthony O’Reilly, was ousted after a dramatic deal with rebel shareholder Denis O’Brien – said the titles are on track to make money.
“The Independent remains an important part of the group and is certainly proving more resilient than most of its competitors,” he said. “Obviously from our point of view the focus is to ensure that it becomes a net financial contributor [to the group].”
It would break even “towards the end of 2010 and into 2011″, he said, assuming the advertising market did not collapse further. Newsprint prices were also coming down, which would help the group’s figures, while the two titles had only recently moved into the Daily Mail’s west London headquarters to reduce costs.
Overall, INM’s UK business – including its operations in Northern Ireland as well as the Independent – sank into the red in the six months to the end of June. As revenues dropped 28.5% to €82.6m, it made an operating loss of €3.8m, down from a €4.7m profit last year.
The advertising downturn forced INM to write down the value of its newspaper titles by €71.8m. Coupled with the cost of reducing staff and other exceptional items, this pushed the group into a pretax loss for the six months to the end of June of €48.5m compared with a profit of €96.6m last year. Before exceptional charges, INM made a pretax profit of €38.3m, down from €115.6m.
Revenues of €608.8m were down from €780.4m, with advertising revenues in its publishing businesses – including online – down 25.8%. Circulation revenues were flat as a result of cover price increases on selected titles.
O’Reilly warned that advertising markets remain depressed. “The group’s current forecast presumes a continuation of poor advertising markets to year-end.”
From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/advertising/rss
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Struq launches Web 3.0 behavioural ad targeting
August 28, 2009
LONDON – A new online ad service has launched, promising ‘Web 3.0 behavioural targeting’, where advertisers can tweak dynamic ads in real time to match users online activity.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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Nokia’s mobile bank accounts coming next year
August 28, 2009
LONDON – Nokia is entering the mobile banking market, just months after purchasing a stake in mobile payments company Obopay, with the launch of Nokia Money, which allows users to pay for products using their mobile handset.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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Lifestreaming: Follow Your Posterous Peeps with RSS
August 28, 2009
As I mentioned last night, as more of my friends join Posterous and use it as a hub to populate their I am becoming a huge fan of their built in reader. It's helping me discover all kinds of new, substantive content that is hard to find in Twitter or even multiple blog RSS feeds. Today I found out you can actually subscribe to the Posterous peeps you follow via RSS. Here's how.
From: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MicroPersuasion
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In a field of its own, our 20 page clothing catalogue for Countrywide Stores
August 28, 2009
We’re delighted to be working with Countrywide stores.
We’ve just completed a 20 page consumer catalogue featuring new and best selling lines in country clothing, footwear and equestrian.
Here are a selection of pages.
It can be shopped online at www.cwcatalogue.co.uk , ordered by post or phone 7 days a week, shopped in their larger stores or ordered for collection in a number others.
Front and back covers
Ladieswear spread
Footwear pages
Country look pages
One of the equestrian spreads
DFS ad banned by ad regulator
August 26, 2009
LONDON – A TV ad promoting the DFS half price sale has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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