The week in marketing

Marketing, Tuesday, 09 June 2009, 12:00am,

- Viral anti-drinking ad.

The Home Office has launched a viral ad aimed at changing drinking behaviour among 18- to 24-year-olds, as part of the government's wider 'Know your limits' alcohol-awareness campaign. The film, created by VCCP, shows a reporter asking young people to act out the kinds of embarrassing, anti-social and potentially dangerous behaviour associated with being drunk.

To watch the ad, visit marketingmagazine.co.uk

- Hovis 'lad' spot sequel

Hovis has unveiled the follow-up to its epic 'Go on, lad' TV ad as part of a £1.5m campaign for its new range of bread rolls. In a twist on the previous activity, which featured a boy running through scenes from the 19th century to modern day, the latest ad, created by MCBD, has a girl as its central character and is set wholly in Victorian times.

To watch the ad, visit marketingmagazine.co.uk

- C4 archive on demand

Channel 4 is putting its entire back catalogue online free of charge. More than 4000 hours of archive content will be available via its 4oD catch-up service from July.

- Heritage appointment

English Heritage has hired Mark Lawrence as its marketing director. Lawrence, who starts on 22 June, previously worked for the conservation body's marketing department from 1988 to 1994. He joins from Kuoni Travel, where he has been sales and marketing director since 2004.

- Rail upgrade activity

Network Rail is rolling out a £2.4m advertising campaign to promote the completion of its £9bn upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, which runs between London and Glasgow. The campaign encompasses TV, press, outdoor and cinema activity.

To watch the ad, visit marketingmagazine.co.uk

- Sony phones go green

Sony Ericsson has introduced two 'green' handsets as part of the company's efforts to cut its carbon emissions. The handsets will have a carbon footprint 15% that is lower than current models by using reduced packaging, paints containing fewer solvents and recycled plastic.

- Radio marketer exits

Global Radio marketing director Nicola Thomson will leave her job at the end of the month. She will be moving to New York after her husband, Peter Thomson, who works at media agency M2M, was promoted to a position based in the city. Thomson, who has been at Global Radio for a year, joined from Bauer Radio's Magic 105.4, where she was marketing director.

- Ibuleve in C4 tie-up

Healthcare products group Diomed Developments has signed a seven-figure deal to sponsor Channel 4's long-running words and numbers quiz show, Countdown. It is the group's first major TV broadcast tie-up and will be used to promote its Ibuleve pain-relief gel. The 12-month deal will span all Channel 4 transmissions as well as the 4oD on-demand service.

- Lanson tie-up

Lanson has boosted its association with tennis by agreeing a deal to become official Champagne supplier for the Aegon British Tennis Series. The Champagne house is also continuing its link with Wimbledon. Lanson products, including Black Label Brut NV and Rose Label NV, as well as its Gold Label Vintage and the Noble Cuvee range, will be served at public and VIP hospitality outlets at the Aegon Championships (previously known as the Artois Championships) and Wimbledon.

- Sony's World Cup site

Sony is rolling out a website targeted at football supporters to complement its sponsorship of ITV's coverage of the 2010 World Cup. Digital agency Dare has built on the theme of the TV sponsorship idents created by ad agency Fallon. These use the image of a beating mechanical heart made up of Sony products to represent England fans' passion for their team.

Read Ed Kemp on sports at marketingmagazine.co.uk

- Primark made-up

Primark is making an attempt to tap into the high-street cosmetics market with the launch of an own-label make-up range. The Beautiful Colour Cosmetics range includes waterproof and colour mascaras, liquid liners, concealers and lip glosses. Product names include Flirty Winks, Foiled Again and Ta Ta for Now.

- Climate Week event

The creators of National Family Week are to launch an event themed around the environment and climate change. Climate Week, which has been pencilled-in for March 2010, has already received the backing of Conservative Party leader David Cameron and signed up The Sun and Daily Telegraph as media partners. Sponsorship agency Generate has been appointed to identify further potential partners.

Read Gemma Charles on environmental issues at marketingmagazine.co.uk

- Yorkie sponsors ride

Yorkie is sponsoring Thorpe Park's Stealth ride following a deal agreed between Nestle's food-service arm, Nestle Professional UK, and the theme-park's owner, Merlin Entertainments Group. Stealth is one of Europe's fastest roller coasters.

- Thomas Cook festival

Travel operator Thomas Cook is to organise a music festival in Pyrenean winter sports hot-spot Andorra, the first event of its kind run by the company. The Big Snow Festival will run over seven days and nights from 14 March next year, with a line-up to include British dance music DJ Judge Jules. A campaign to promote the festival is expected to be rolled out in August.

- TCM targets youth

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is targeting a younger audience with a new on-air look and a wider catalogue of film titles, including Any Given Sunday, Boogie Nights and Caddyshack. A new series of idents focuses on viewers' reactions to films and celebrates famous film quotes. TCM is also launching a website, www.tcmuk.tv, which will feature articles, video clips and a weekly blog, as well as channel listings.

- Unilever rations ice-cream

Unilever is pulling in-store promotional activity for its ice-cream brands after a problem at its new cold-store facility in Gloucester left the company unable to meet supermarkets' requirements. A spokesman for Unilever, whose brands include Magnum, Solero and Wall's, said that a broken crane had slowed down its distribution operation. In an attempt to ease the problem, Unilever has been rationing its ice-cream stocks to supermarkets and vendors.

The timing could not have been worse, as last week was not only the inaugural National Ice Cream Week, but demand for ice cream also increased sharply during a mini-heatwave. Fredericks Dairies, which makes Cadbury Flake 99 Cones and Del Monte Smoothies, went into 24-hour production to meet consumer demand.