Marketing news

• The rum war rages on: Bacardi insists its Havana Club is ‘Forever Cuban’ despite criticism from Pernod Ricard

  08-01-2018 23:32
  Bacardi is fighting back claims that a campaign called ‘Forever Cuban’ for its Havana Club rum is misleading since the liquor is actually made in Puerto Rico.
  The criticism comes from rival spirits company Pernod Ricard, who also markets a brand of rum under the name Havana Club. The two have been locked in a trademark battle over the name for more than 20 years.
  Bacardi claims that its version of Havana Club is the real deal since the company paid the Arechabala family, the original
  
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• ESPN and Dr Pepper sweeten deal, add six-year extension as official sponsor of College Football Playoff

  08-01-2018 23:06
  ESPN announced that Dr Pepper, a longtime sponsor of NCAA college football championship games, will remain the official sponsor of the College Football Playoff (CFP) until 2026, and will be the presenting sponsor of the championship trophy.
  The beverage brand was the first official sponsor of the NCAA's new playoff system for college football in 2014, when the sports league dropped its BCS (Bowl Championship Series) for a four-team, single-elimination bracket. The contract initially was set to e
  
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• R/GA and LA Dodgers’ accelerator enters third iteration, renamed Global Sports Venture Studio

  08-01-2018 22:37
  The Los Angeles Dodgers and R/GA Ventures announced the expansion of their tech growth accelerator - which had marked success in its first two iterations -  and their ambitions to take their studio and its offerings global. The new entity is now known as the Global Sports Venture Studio.
  The first-of-its-kind partnership between the Major League Baseball team and the agency started in 2015, where the two entities picked 10 startups at different phases of development. The success of the
  
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• Chevy invites real families to impromptu reunion in new Traverse SUV

  08-01-2018 22:16
  Chevrolet is positioning its new SUV, the 2018 Traverse, as the ultimate family vehicle with a new campaign by Commonwealth//McCann that literally brings families together.
  With a new spot showcasing the all-new 2018 Chevrolet Traverse, the agency asks: Why give up style for practicality when you can have it all in the perfect package?
  The ad, ‘Reunion,’ takes the ‘real people, not actors’ concept to a new, emotionally resonant level by surprising people not only wit
  
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• V8 looks to a younger audience for its veggie juice in new campaign

  08-01-2018 20:18
  The Campbell Soup Company is introducing what they hope is a younger audience to its products in a creative campaign for V8 Original Vegetable Juice.
  ‘The V is For Vegetables’ is the title of the latest work from Campbell’s, created by agency Anomaly, and its simplistic title is the sentiment the brand is trying to relay to its customers. Drinking V8 Original Vegetable Juice is simple, and simple, plant nutrition is unquestionably good for you.
  “V8 is simple nut
  
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• IAB chief welcomes Matt Hancock appointment as new culture secretary

  08-01-2018 20:16
  Prime Minister Theresa May has promoted digital minister Matt Hancock to her cabinet to serve as her new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, replacing Karen Bradley. Hancock has made the move following May’s reshuffle today (8 January) with Bradley, appointed in 2016, moving to take the post of Northern Ireland secretary. 
  DCMS Permanent Secretary Sue Owen welcomes @MattHancock back to the department in his new role as Secretary of State for Digital, Cu
  
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• IAB & IPA chiefs welcome Matt Hancock appointment as new culture secretary

  08-01-2018 20:16
  Prime Minister Theresa May has promoted digital minister Matt Hancock to her cabinet to serve as her new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, replacing Karen Bradley. Hancock has made the move following May’s reshuffle today (8 January) with Bradley, appointed in 2016, moving to take the post of Northern Ireland secretary. 
  DCMS Permanent Secretary Sue Owen welcomes @MattHancock back to the department in his new role as Secretary of State for Digital, Cu
  
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• WPP's Kantar combines founding properties into single consultancy

  08-01-2018 19:12
  Kantar,  WPP’s data investment management arm, has announced the launch of Kantar Consulting, a specialist sales and marketing consultancy designed to "switch on growth" for brand owners and retailers.
  The new consultancy, set to rival the likes of Accenture, combined Kantar’s four founding brands to create this entity. The combined assets of these Kantar brands - Kantar Added Value, which covered brand positioning and cultural understanding; Kantar Retail, Kantar’s r
  
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• Innovision reports 80% fall in pre-tax profit

  08-01-2018 18:45 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Innovision, the independent brand experience agency, has reported an 80% drop in pre-tax profit for 2016.
  
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• Birds Eye casts a younger silver fox in the role of Captain as brand repositions

  08-01-2018 18:29
  Captain Birds Eye, the frozen food brand’s ubiquitous jolly mascot, has been replaced by a younger, more rugged model as part of a £8m repositioning campaign.
  The fresh-faced seafarer (aka Riccardo Acerbi, an Italian model), sports a salt-and-pepper beard, a penchant for navy clothing and a relaxed demeanour. The look is contrast to the previous Captain, who with a fluffy white beard and full navy regalia was less of a hunk and more of a cartoon.
  The transformation is representa
  
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• A new year's resolution? How about a crack campaign for our financial wellbeing

  08-01-2018 17:56
  It’s January, the start of another new year and a classic time for setting new goals. But what are we going to do this year that is different from the last? The ‘new year, new me’ mindset shouldn’t just apply to diet and fitness; it should also apply to our spending and saving habits which can be just as bad for our health. 
  While the figures have yet to be reported, retailers will be hoping to see that people spent more on Christmas this year. Consumer con
  
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• Louis Vuitton creates Selfridges pop-up with pickup trucks

  08-01-2018 17:43 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Louis Vuitton, the luxury fashion brand, is creating a pop-up using retro trucks to showcase its latest menswear collection.
  
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• Bob Wootton: 4 ways to get value from digital media in 2018

  08-01-2018 17:43
  Many will be pleased to see the back of a turbulent 2017, not that forecasts for 2018 are much better. Brexit, the return of inflation and the spiralling cost of running an increasingly civilised but densely-populated country all threaten in their own ways.
  Ad spend continues to pour into online, notably into Google and Facebook, which GroupM, the world’s largest media buyer, estimates suck up 84% of it to the detriment of most other media – even digital media.
  Yet if you’ve be
  
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• British cider brand Aspall targets fame as part of Molson Coors

  08-01-2018 17:12 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Aspall, a cider brand founded in Suffolk in 1728, is set for international expansion following its acquisition by Molson Coors.
  
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• Betsafe pits Man City against Saracens in battle of the ball games

  08-01-2018 17:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Betsafe is aiming to establish once and for all which sport involves greater skill, football or rugby, in a video content series featuring superstars from Manchester City and Saracens.
  
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• Secret Escapes appoints global brand development director

  08-01-2018 16:54 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Online travel agent Secret Escapes has hired Lousie Nolder as its new global brand development director.
  
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• Newgate watches obtains a new brand identity with help from Run2

  08-01-2018 16:37
  Newgate, a British manufacturer of watches and clocks, has appointed digital marketing agency Run2 to develop branding and creative campaign concepts for Newgate Clocks and Newgate Watches accounts with a timeless brand positioning.
  The timepiece manufacturer required an identity that made it stand out in the marketplace, specifically building its presence on social channels. Run2 worked with Newgate to dissect the history of the company and the elements that make up the brand; its research
  
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• The7stars appoints PHD's Harwood as strategy chief

  08-01-2018 16:11 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The7stars has appointed PHD's UK innovation chief Simon Harwood as head of strategy.
  
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• Carat's global strategy director moves to 360i as head of media

  08-01-2018 16:07 via campaignlive.co.uk
  John Thomson has joined 360i Europe as its new head of media from sister Dentsu Aegis Network agency, Carat, where he was group strategic planning director.
  
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• Weight Watchers creates healthy pop-up drive thru

  08-01-2018 16:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Weight Watchers UK is creating a "drive thru" pop-up that offers healthy food while people are out and about.
  
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• Viacom snaps up influencer platform Whosay as it looks to bulk up branded content offering

  08-01-2018 15:59
  Viacom has inked a deal to acquire influencer marketing shop Whosay as it looks to scale its branded content offering and help advertisers create campaigns that are consistent across both digital and TV. 
  The media giant, which owns MTV and Comedy Central, said in a blog post that it believes Whosay's "deep reach into next generation advertising and marketing platforms and solutions" will help boost its in-house capabilities. 
  Founded in 2010, Whosay isn't a regular influencer net
  
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• Crafting brands: A modern mindset with a deep past

  08-01-2018 15:30
  In a new series focusing on industry craft, Fine partner and chief strategist Josh Kelly looks at how a craft mindset can influence all aspects of branding, from how products are made, to how services are delivered, and (most of all) how creatives are guiding the story.
  “Can you use your craft to help explain ours?”
  It’s the question Chipotle and CAA asked years ago when Gee Staughton, now art director at Portland-based animation studio House Special, helped design the groundbr
  
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• Fiverr announces 2018 as ‘the year of do’ in latest campaign

  08-01-2018 15:00
  Online gig marketplace Fiverr and its global agency of record, DCX Growth Accelerator (DCX), have introduced the next iteration of their breakthrough ‘In Doers We Trust’ campaign, marking 2018 as ‘The Year of Do.’
  The next phase of the multi-million dollar integrated marketing campaign brings an enhanced direction to the creative while ramping up its unapologetic tone.
  Portraying real members of the Fiverr community, the creative was shot by photographer Platon – wh
  
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• How the gender pay gap impacts female marketers’ career progression

  08-01-2018 14:55
  The gender pay gap, and its effect on female progression in business, is a pervasive and persistent problem that shows no signs of abating. 
  According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average gender pay gap for full-time female workers has been stuck at 14.1% for the past three years. The gender pay gap for women in their 20s is five times greater than it was six years ago and as it stands the pay gap means that from 10 November 2017 – Equal Pay Day – w
  
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• Ad of the day: New York Times Golden Globes ad shines spotlight on the power of journalism

  08-01-2018 14:07
  The New York Times used an ad slot during the Golden Globes to remind viewers of the power of independent journalism, commandeering the annual awards show to make reference its investigation into the sexual misconduct of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. 
  A simple and bold creative from Droga5 interrupted the broadcast, showing the words 'he said, she said' on a white background before text appeared on-screen stating: 'The truth has power. The truth will not be threatened. The
  
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• Volkswagen shrugs off lingering dieselgate scandal to accelerate lead as world’s largest car maker

  08-01-2018 14:04
  German vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen has extended its lead over Japanese rival Toyota as the biggest player in the sector over the course of 2017.
  Volkswagen estimates that it has achieved global sales of 10.7m vehicles for the past year, ahead of its arch Far East rival which is forecast to shift 10.35m vehicles over the same period.
  VW Group has been kept in the driving seat courtesy of ongoing demand for its Audi, SEAT and Porsche brands which have been in greater demand than Toyota’s
  
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• Accenture: Large-scale agency M&A is 'not our game' as we have 'amazing momentum'

  08-01-2018 14:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Accenture will not consider a takeover bid for a large ad agency group because its chief executive says there has been a "100%" failure rate with such deals.
  
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• The anatomy of the modern marketer

  08-01-2018 13:44
  What does the future of marketing look like? Last year, MOI Global undertook a six-month project to find out. Consisting of three global dinner discussions, a survey and top marketing thought leadership from some frankly badass panellists and speakers, Disrupt Forum 2017 uncovered many of the answers.
  We started by dissecting the anatomy of the modern marketer. Today’s buyer has all the power, and any marketer who wants to redress the balance needs to adopt a new way of thinking.
  
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• Innocent Drinks experiments with programmatic OOH buying to promote Super Juice range

  08-01-2018 13:07
  Innocent Drinks is trialing a fresh digital out-of-home (DOOH) programmatic buying method that will allow it to target audiences based on geo-location data. 
  The UK brand is the first to use the automated trading desk technology that has been developed by its media planning agency, MediaCom. 
  The campaign will light up DOOH screens in cities such as Manchester, London and Birmingham to promote the smoothie makers' new Super Juice range. It will use anonymised audience data to inform th
  
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• A city of contrasts: Seattle creatives weigh in on why it is essential for creativity

  08-01-2018 13:00
  Seattle is one of those cities that’s difficult to pin down. It’s wildly independent but also home to some of the biggest names in business, including the behemoths Microsoft, Starbucks and Amazon. The people who are molding the creative industry are a mix of corporate-trained business people and free-thinking independents, which makes for a vibrant mix and one that has the Emerald City leading the way in the Northwest and beyond. Some of Seattle’s best creatives weigh in on wh
  
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• St Pancras International marks 150 years with dray beer delivery

  08-01-2018 12:57 via campaignlive.co.uk
  St Pancras International is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a horse-drawn dray that will deliver a beer that has been brewed for the occasion.
  
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• Karen Blackett becomes WPP’s first UK country manager

  08-01-2018 11:20
  Karen Blackett has been appointed as WPP’s first ever UK country manager.
  Blackett will become the face of the world’s biggest advertising group in the UK after taking up the post with immediate effect. She will remain in her current position as chairwoman of MediaCom UK for a sixth month transition period.
  In the role Blackett is well placed to make good on her pledge to build on WPP’s dominant position in UK advertising by identifying organic growth opportunities to boos
  
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• Creative Work of the Week: Range Rover tackles the ‘world’s largest’ speedbump with Spark44

  08-01-2018 11:13
  The first Creative Work of the Week of 2018 goes to Jaguar Land Rover and its stunt involving a Range Rover Evoque and a 1.5-metre-high speed bump.
  The hidden camera video sees a ‘council official’ approach drivers in south east London who are flummoxed by the temporary bump in the road. As most struggle to mount the urban hill, causing back-ups in traffic, the Evoque naturally conquers the traffic calming measure to the apparent surprise of passers-by.
  Released on the brand’s
  
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• Nick Theakstone and Tom George promoted to new GroupM management roles

  08-01-2018 10:57
  GroupM has overhauled its management team amid the ongoing restructuring by parent company WPP of its media agencies. 
  Former UK chief executive Nick Theakstone has been elevated to the role of global chief investment officer in a role which brings responsibilities for all aspects of GroupM’s global media investments, trading activities and commercial partnerships.
  Theakstone’s arrival dovetails with that of Tom George who has simultaneously been named as UK chief executive
  
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• Nick Theakstone and Tom George appointed to GroupM management roles

  08-01-2018 10:57
  WPP-owned GroupM is overhauling its management with the arrival of two new faces to give its leadership team a New Year shakeup.
  Former UK chief executive Nick Theakstone has been elevated to the role of global chief investment officer in a role which brings responsibilities for all aspects of GroupM’s global media investments, trading activities and commercial partnerships.
  Theakstone’s arrival dovetails with that of Tom George who has simultaneously been named as UK chief executive
  
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• Wilson tours US with pop-up museum experience

  08-01-2018 10:54 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Wilson, the US sports brand, has created a mobile pop-up that shows how the company handcrafts its leather footballs.
  
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• Wilson tours US with museum experience

  08-01-2018 10:54 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Wilson, the US sports brand, has created a mobile pop-up that shows how the company handcrafts its leather footballs.
  
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• Creative Works EMEA featuring Brothers & Sisters, Isobel, BBH London and more

  08-01-2018 10:45
  Welcome to The Drum Creative Works.
  As always, this section is dedicated to showing the best creative work and gives you, the reader, the chance to decide which work we feature as our 'Creative Work of the Week'.
  We're using our five-star voting system, so to vote for your favourite, make sure you click on the stars. The winner will be chosen based on the average rating and the number of votes cast.
  Voting closes for this week on Monday 15 January.
  For project information, credits and
  
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• Gravity Road names Duncan Snowden as distribution and tech director

  08-01-2018 10:21
  Independent creative agency Gravity Road has turned to Duncan Snowden, formerly vice president of strategy at Brooklyn-based creatives Big Spaceship, to serve in the newly created role of director of distribution and tech.
  In this position Snowden will be charged with heading up Gravity Road’s creative distribution and tech divisions with a view to growing both segments of its business still further.
  Gravity Road co-founder Mark Eaves, commented: “Making ideas travel is something tha
  
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• Want to join a martech startup in 2018? Here’s what you need to know first

  08-01-2018 10:15
  Almost 70% of executives will spend more on martech platforms in 2018, according to a recent survey by Conductor. Marketing technologist Scott Brinker’s 2017 martech lumascape grew 40% last year to nearly 4,900 companies.
  So, it might seem like a good time to leave your agency or brand for some exciting marketing technology company. But think before you jump ship. Martech startups are like other high-tech startups – and the industry can be crazier than the portrayal in the TV sh
  
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• Suzuki 'dodgems' ad evades ban despite 35 complaints over bad driving

  08-01-2018 10:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  An ad that depicted Suzuki cars as fairground dodgems has avoided a ban from the ad watchdog despite attracting 35 complaints that it encouraged irresponsible driving.
  
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• Suzuki ad imagines cars as fairground dodgems

  08-01-2018 10:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Suzuki's new campaign, "Enjoy the Ride", depicts its cars as fairground dodgems in a push to market the Japanese brand as fun to drive.
  
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• BBC iPlayer basks in Christmas surge as viewers desert broadcast TV

  08-01-2018 09:59
  The BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service has gone from strength to strength over the Christmas break having registered a sharp increase in streaming requests led by an EastEnders Christmas special and a Peaky Blinders box set.
  Viewers are increasingly turning to catch-up services such as the iPlayer to get their daily fix of small screen fare, rejecting the traditional requirement of tuning into a scheduled broadcast at an allotted hour.
  In a sign of these changing patterns of behavior, mor
  
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• BBC gender pay gap row comes to a head as China editor Carrie Gracie resigns

  08-01-2018 09:33
  The BBC has suffered the loss of its China editor Carrie Gracie in a sign that the long running row over a gender pay gap at the corporation is beginning to affect its talent pool.
  Gracie surprised colleagues by announcing that she would quit her role as China editor last week, citing anger that male employees are more likely to earn more than their female counterparts, with two-thirds of its highest earning stars being male.
  Despite this Gracie will remain in the employ of the BBC, where she ha
  
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• Samsung, H&M, new culture secretary: Everything that matters this morning

  08-01-2018 08:46
  Samsung on course for record profits
  Samsung expects to deliver its highest ever profits for the final quarter of 2017, fuelled by its memory chip business. The South Korean company says operating earnings will come in at 15.1 trillion won (£10.4bn) for the final three months of 2017, up 64% year on year. However, that is slightly below analyst expectations as the strong currency in South Korea impacted results.
  The expected record profits come despite a high-profile scandal at the top of
  
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• Nestlé, Facebook, Diageo: Everything that matters this morning

  08-01-2018 08:46
  Brands and publishers brace to lose traffic in Facebook News Feed reshuffle
  Last year, Facebook said it was testing a separate News Feed for media and brand posts. And unfortunately for publishers, this news has now been confirmed in a blog post by Mark Zuckerberg.
  The move means that the social media platform will be downgrading posts from media outlets and brands in favour of posts from friends and video content.
  In a post to Facebook today, Zuckerberg said he is instructing the company’
  
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• CES, Christmas sales, Volkswagen: Everything that matters this morning

  08-01-2018 08:46
  CES opens amid gender row
  The annual Las Vegas showcase of new technology, the Consumer Electronics Show, starts today, but its opening has been overshadowed by a failure to shake off criticisms about the diversity of its speaker line-up. All of its headline speakers for 2018 are men.
  On Friday, CES’s organiser, the Consumer Technology Association, wrote a letter to its chief critic Gina Glantz, founder of the not-for-profit group Gender Avenger, promising to “redouble” effort
  
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• Carphone Warehouse, YouTube, The Sun: Everything that matters this morning

  08-01-2018 08:46
  Data breach costs Carphone Warehouse £400,000
  Carphone Warehouse has been fined £400,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for a data breach in 2015, affecting more than three million customers.
  Hackers accessed names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and the marital status of customers via a data breach of Carphone Warehouse’s online division, which operates the OneStopPhoneShop.com, e2save.com and Mobiles.co.uk websites. The breach included historical pay
  
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• Amazon, Just Eat, Asda: Everything that matters this morning

  08-01-2018 08:46
  Virgin Trains stops selling The Daily Mail after concerns about its ‘editorial position’
  The Daily Mail has accused Virgin Trains of “censoring” consumer choice after it made the decision to stop selling the newspaper on its services, as it was “not compatible” with its brand or beliefs.
  The train operator sells a limited selection of newspapers and magazines on-board its services and did offer first class passengers a free copy of the paper.
  However, emp
  
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• Salary Survey 2018: The best and worst paid industries

  08-01-2018 08:00
  Gambling and gaming has emerged as the industry where marketers are most happy, and while there are a number of contributing factors (working environment, potential to advance) another big one is financial remuneration.
  Indeed, gaming and gambling is one of the top three best paid industries for marketers, according to Marketing Week’s annual Career and Salary Survey, with an average salary of £56,271, just behind FMCG (£57,196) and consumer electronics (£56,510).
  By
  
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