The week in marketing

Eurostar has appointed Italian design consultancy Pininfarina to redesign the interiors and refresh the exterior livery for its fleet of 28 trains. The overhauled trains will be unveiled in 2012.

- Steinlager Pure debut

Lion Nathan has appointed MS&L London to spearhead the launch of Steinlager Pure in the UK. Press ads, breaking later in the year, will promote the lager's ingredients - New Zealand barley, hops and water, with no additives and no preservatives. The campaign will be aimed primarily at Londoners.

- Weber adds sauces

Barbecue brand Weber has launched a line of BBQ sauces with AB World Foods. The range, comprising three variants - Original, Hot 'n' Spicy and BBQ Relish - will be available in stores from this month. The distinctive bottles feature a prominent Weber logo on colour-coded labels.

- Hurley Originals line

Duchy Originals has signed up Liz Hurley for a co-branded organic food range. The actress and model will supply Duchy with organic meat from her Gloucestershire farm. The line is due to launch in October. The deal follows an overhaul of Duchy Originals' packaging with a focus on provenance.

- Puma motorsport site

Sports brand Puma has launched an 'Access All Areas' campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its entry into the motorsport arena via its partnership with F1 team Williams. The website Pumamotorsport.com will use the brand's associations with F1 teams including BMW Sauber, ING Renault, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari, and Ducati in Moto GP and superbike racing. The site is intended to act as a hub for news, opinions and fans' experiences.

Ed Kemp on sports marketing at marketingmagazine.co.uk.

- S&N hires Space

Scottish & Newcastle UK has appointed Space to promote Birra Moretti, which it claims is Italy's number-one beer brand. Space has been briefed with creating an integrated campaign aimed at both consumers and the trade to drive awareness, sales and distribution of the beer in the UK.

- ASA bans Courage ad

A poster for Wells & Young's Brewing Company's Courage beer has been banned by the ASA. The complainants said the ad implied that drinking the beer would give a man confidence to make negative comments about a woman's appearance.

- Marie Curie-Nike tie

Nike is to offer free running vests to supporters who join Marie Curie Cancer Care's Daffodil Team at running events across the UK. The first event at which the vests will feature is the London Marathon on 26 April. Participating runners will also receive a 10% discount on running gear and footwear at Nikestore.com.

- Virgin Media top job

Virgin Media has promoted Jonathan Webb to the new position of executive director, Virgin Media Television. The role will include responsibility for ad-sales house IDS. Webb's remit already included leading Virgin channels such as Living and Virgin1. His promotion follows the departure of Virgin Media's chief executive of content, Malcolm Wall, earlier this month.

- Charity hires North

Victim Support, a charity that helps people cope with the effects of crime, has appointed Guy North as executive director of marketing. North joins the organisation from BBC Worldwide, where he was head of global superbrand development. He will be responsible for raising the profile of the charity and boosting donations and funding, as well as seeking corporate sponsorship.

- Estate agents vs BBC

Estate agents have warned the BBC that they will withhold their licence fees after the broadcaster aired a series encouraging people not to use their services. Axe the Agent? showed viewers how to avoid paying agents' fees by buying and selling property over the internet themselves. Estate agents have written a letter of complaint to BBC director-general Mark Thompson. Some have also encouraged members of the trade to refuse to pay the licence fee.

Jeremy Lee on media at marketingmagazine.co.uk

- Durex ad hits the spot

A TV ad for Durex, promoting its pleasure-enhancing gel for women, has escaped a ban by the ASA. The ad features a montage of silent clips of women apparently in the throes of sexual pleasure, accompanied by music from Mozart's The Magic Flute.

- Marketing conference

Marketing is to hold a one-day conference on 1 July at the Grange City Hotel, London, looking at how brands can responsibly engage children and their parents.

For more details call Rosie Foster on 020 8267 4533 or visit www.kidsparentsmarketing.com

- GMTV elevates Poole

Simon Poole has been promoted to the board-level role of sales and marketing director of GMTV. Poole, formerly sales and marketing controller, had been acting sales and marketing director for the past 18 months, following Clive Crouch's move into the chief operating officer role.

- Galaxy's Alliance

Mars has signed up to the Rainforest Alliance Certification scheme. As a result, all Galaxy milk chocolate bars will carry the seal in the UK and Ireland when the scheme goes live next year. Mars has committed to certifying its entire cocoa supply by 2020.

- Wildfowl web overhaul

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust website is being revamped by digital agency One Black Bear. The overhaul includes the introduction of a feature to let users 'fly along' live with migrating swans through Google Earth. Users are able to track the flight path and location of whooper swans as they make the journey from Iceland to the UK.

- Yorkshire extends Welcome

The Yorkshire Tourist Board has been renamed Welcome to Yorkshire ahead of the biggest investment in tourism in the region to date.

Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, which funds the organisation, is supporting tourism in the area with a £30m spend over the next three years.

McCann Erickson has been appointed by Welcome to Yorkshire to deliver the campaign promoting the region within the UK. It will feature straplines including 'Get to know Y', and 'A long weekend in Yorkshire isn't long enough'.

MOST READ

Marketingmagazine.co.uk's most clicked-on stories for the week ending 10 April 2009

1. Brawn GP sponsors reap rewards from Formula One wins
2. Sainsbury's rebrands pollack as colin
3. British Army uses Doom-style online video game in recruitment drive
4. 70s British brand Mellow Bird's in comeback
5. Specsavers under attack in new ad campaign for free varifocals
6. Debenhams awards £15m ad brief to JWT
7. The Marketing Profile: Paul Nevett and Matt Close of Unilever
8. AXA reviews £30m marketing roster

This article was first published on Marketing