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DJABA QUELLS FALLON CLOSURE FEARS
Magnus Djaba, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon Group UK, has dismissed suggestions that Fallon London could close after its major client Cadbury kicked off a creative review. Djaba said he was “proud” of Fallon’s new-business record in 2016, citing successes including Expedia, ebookers.com and Axa, but conceded that the shop needed to “push its creative standards”.
REGIONAL PUBLISHERS COURT ADVERTISERS
Two dozen regional publishers in the UK have called on national advertisers to reject a “blind programmatic adbuying” trap that is leading to brands being associated with extremist content online. The open letter, published on 3 April by 24 local news publishers including Johnston Press, Newsquest and Archant, calls on ad agencies and brands to direct spend towards them amid brand-safety concerns.
CADBURY DENIES ‘AIRBRUSH’ CLAIMS
Cadbury has refuted claims that the word Easter has been “airbrushed” from its marketing communications. The chocolate brand said the accusations were “simply untrue”. The statement was made in response to comments from the Church of England that Cadbury had dropped the word from its National Trust Egg Hunts.
COTY STRIKES £180M BURBERRY BEAUTY DEAL
Burberry will give global beauty giant Coty control over the British brand’s fragrances and cosmetics arm in a deal worth about £180m. Coty, owner of Calvin Klein fragrances and Rimmel, will pay £130m for a ten-year licence to manage Burberry perfume brands and buy about £50m in stock as part of the deal, which begins in October.
VCCP WINS DOMINO’S CREATIVE PITCH
Domino’s has appointed VCCP as its lead creative and strategic agency for the UK and Ireland after a competitive pitch process through Hamilton Associates. Incumbent Iris will continue to work on the pizza chain’s digital business. St Luke’s and The Brooklyn Brothers also pitched for the account.
DREAMS LAUNCHES M&C SAATCHI CAMPAIGN
Dreams, the beds retailer, released its first ad campaign by newly appointed agency M&C Saatchi yesterday (5 April). M&C Saatchi was appointed to the £20m account last year. The TV spot is narrated by actor Caroline Quentin.
NATALIE GROSS JOINS TH_NK’S SENIOR TEAM
Natalie Gross, former chief executive of St Ives-owned digital marketing agency Amaze, is joining Th_nk as part of a new-look management quartet. Th_nk chief executive Tarek Nsier is taking the new role of founding partner and Gross is joining as managing partner. Rick Curtis, Amaze’s chief strategy officer, is also joining Th_nk as a partner, while Anita Rajdev continues in her role as chief operating officer.