NEWS GENERAL:
Pubs closing at record rates
Pubs are closing at a record rate with the loss of 24,000 jobs in the past year. Research for the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) showed 52 pubs closed every week in Britain for the first six months of the year, an increase of a third on the same period last year.
NEWS GENERAL:
Industry launches new £100m responsible drinking campaign
The UK Drink Industry is investing £100m into a major new campaign to curb excessive drinking. The Campaign for Smarter Drinking sees many players including S&N and Diageo join a host of major retailers in a bid to reduce drinking amongst 18-34 year-olds.
Sales Promotion accounts for at least 13 per cent of UK marketing budgets, according to research published by the Chartered Institute of Marketing – and the figure could be much higher.
According to the CIM’s Spring 2009 Marketing Trends Survey, when asked what proportion of their total marketing spend went on different areas, Sales Promotion came second, on 13 per cent, just after Public Relations on 13.2 per cent.
Third was Field Marketing, on 12.9 per cent, then CRM on 12.7 per cent, Advertising (excluding online) on 12.4 per cent and Direct Mail on 11.8 per cent.
Annie Swift, chief executive of the ISP, points out: “It comes as no surprise that Sales Promotion gets so much of the UK marketing budget, particularly in the current economic situation. Sales Promotion is all about ‘do’ advertising, not ‘do nothing’ advertising – it is marketing content designed to change behaviour and, as such, can be delivered through almost any media channel.”
NEWS GENERAL:
Code consultation events kick-off
The first in a series of 10 government-run consultation events on the controversial mandatory code of practice kicked off Tuesday 7th July in Newcastle. Over the next six weeks, the events will give licensees the chance to have their say on the code, designed to crackdown on irresponsible promotions and operators.
NEWS GENERAL:
Diageo announces 840 jobs losses at packing plant and distillery closures
Scottish operations hit by restructuring plans. Drinks giant Diageo is to close a packaging plant and a distillery in Scotland as part of a multi-million pound restructuring programme with the loss of 840 jobs.
Steam Lokomotiv had started this season in fine form and with an unbeaten run of 4 games they were in a commanding position at the top of the table. Unfortunately for Steam a long mid-season break seemed to upset their rhythm and recent performances have been somewhat disappointing.
Steam’s ailing condition was not helped by a 3 week absence from Graham Granger who had to fly to the France to checkout a state-of-the-art 6-colour printer. His trademark left foot drag back has been sorely missed. The defence suffered a further blow losing Craig Freeman, the youngest and fittest team member, for two weeks. The management is staying tight lipped but it is understood Freeman was partying at famous Newcastle strip joined ‘Metrosexual’ until the early hours of this morning and he may well be on the bench in weeks to come to think about his attitude.