The week in marketing

Marketing, Tuesday, 08 September 2009, 12:00am,

- BA in 'opportunity' ad.

British Airways has launched its biggest ad campaign for two years in a bid to revive flagging passenger numbers. A leisure-travel push will include nine documentary-style TV ads based on the concept of 'opportunity', highlighting rare events around the globe, such as the migration of the wildebeest in the Serengeti. A tranche of business-focused ads, meanwhile, promote face-to-face contact at events such as the Mumbai Fashion Week.

BA seizes on opportunity, page 14

Watch the ad at marketingmagazine.co.uk

- O2 merges branches

O2 is combining its mobile contract and pay-as-you-go teams into one division, with the aim of focusing marketing activity on target segments of the customer base, rather than types of mobile packages. It is expected that 10% of O2's 235-strong marketing team will leave as a result of the changes.

- RFU hires BBH

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has appointed Bartle Bogle Hegarty to create a campaign for November's Investec Challenge Series of international matches between England and Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. The agency won the business from Lowe London, which will remain on the RFU roster. The campaign will go live later this month. The RFU and BBH also plan to work together on an as-yet unspecified series of other advertising projects.

Read Ed Kemp on sports at marketingmagazine.co.uk

- Utterly Butterly site

Utterly Butterly has launched a website to coincide with the second phase of its sponsorship of ITV1's Do The Funniest Things comedy franchise, the latest series of which begins this Saturday. The site will include a fortnightly competition to win digital camera equipment for the six weeks of the sponsorship, as well as an 'Utterly Family Fun' page with games for mothers and children.

- Typhoo backs sports

Typhoo is supporting its 'Sports for All' initiative with an ad campaign tracing the brand's heritage. The tea brand's partnership with the Federation of Disability Sport will be promoted in ads voiced by Slade singer Noddy Holder.

- Dogs Trust activity

Dogs Trust is to launch a fresh TV ad campaign to encourage more people to sponsor a dog. The 'Long live dogs' activity, which breaks next Monday, will celebrate the relationship between humans and canines. The work is a departure from the charity's previous ads, which have featured case studies of individual dogs.

- Wall's assigns ad task

Kerry Foods has handed the £2m ad account for its Wall's sausages brand to Saatchi & Saatchi. The business was previously held by Beattie McGuinness Bungay.

- Radox ties with Lette

Radox has teamed up with author Kathy Lette to produce All Steamed Up, a splash-proof book that women can read while in the bath. The novella was written to form part of the Radox 'Be selfish' campaign, which urges women in the UK to consume luxury goods without guilt. The book will be available to order free online from today (Wednesday).

- HH signs WAG

Clothing brand Helly Hansen (HH) has signed up Melanie Slade to be the face of its nascent high-end lifestyle brand, Ask & Embla. Slade, the girlfriend of England and Arsenal footballer Theo Walcott, was selected because of her strong association with both fashion and sports. She came to prominence when Walcott was chosen as part of the England squad for the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006.

- Virgin's voucher offer

Virgin Atlantic and John Lewis are running a promotion to encourage consumers to fly during the economic downturn. Passengers buying a qualifying return flight with Virgin Atlantic will be eligible to receive up to £200 in John Lewis vouchers.

- Brylcreem relaunches

Brylcreem has unveiled a revamped range, backed by a multimillion-pound integrated campaign. The range includes three new offerings: Cream, a multipurpose styling product, Clay and Extreme Gel. The brand is also preparing to reveal the latest 'Brylcreem boy', rumoured to be London Wasps and England rugby star Danny Cipriani.

- ITV to add channel

ITV is planning to launch a one-hour timeshift of its main ITV1 channel next month. ITV1+1 will launch on digital satellite and Virgin Media's digital cable service. It is thought certain programmes, such as GMTV's morning show, will not be timeshifted.

ITV1 looks to plus points, page 17

Jeremy Lee on media at marketingmagazine.co.uk

- easyJet hires Dunne

EasyJet has appointed former AOL Europe chief executive Dana Dunne as chief commercial officer. Dunne replaces Saad Hammad, who joined private-equity firm Gores Group as managing director. Hammad was responsible for the appointment of Publicis to easyJet's £20m pan-European advertising and direct marketing accounts last year.

- CO2 activity

Waterwise, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to increasing the efficiency of water use in the UK, has launched a campaign to persuade consumers to spend less time in the shower to reduce their CO2 emissions. The 'shower power' campaign is being fronted by former Olympic athlete Kriss Akabusi.

- NME Radio in gig tie

NME Radio will promote the launch of video game Colin McRae: DiRT 2 on Xbox and PlayStation 3 with a free showcase performance tomorrow (Thursday). The show will feature artists from the game's soundtrack. The gig is to be held at The Arches in London Bridge. Performers will include post-punk/art-rock outfit The Rakes, lo-fi indie pop project Dinosaur Pile Up and metalcore band Glamour of the Kill.

- John Lewis value line

John Lewis has launched a value range designed to make its 'Never knowingly undersold' proposition resonate better with consumers. The range, which launches next week, comprises 100 essential basics for the home, including £1 mugs, utensils and towels from £1.50 and two pillows from £4.

- Tories take Churchillian tone

The Conservative Party has launched two ringtones using lines from famous speeches made by former prime ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

Thatcher's iconic 'The lady's not for turning' line is used for one of the ringtones, while the other is a clip of Churchill's World War II rallying cry: 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.'

The activity is part of the Conservative Party's History Week on conservatives.com.

Earlier this year, the party introduced a ringtone of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's 'I've saved the world' slip-up, which was downloaded by thousands of people.